"Now, Chinese food," Sali was grinning as they made their way toward the SUV. They had just gotten to the vehicle and Adele hit the button on the fob to unlock the doors when Ashe heard the noise.
"Move!" he shouted, shoving Sali and his mother out of the way. Denise, walking around the front of the car to the other side, was out of the way already when the minivan slammed into the side of Aedan's SUV. Ashe shoved his mother and Sali so hard to push them out of the way they all fell in a heap across the concrete median separating rows of parking spaces. Glass shattered, tires squealed and the impact as the racing vehicle collided with their SUV could be heard from blocks away. The SUV had been shoved halfway down the empty row of spaces and the minivan that hit it was crumpled like an accordion.
"Ashe? Ashe?" Adele was nearly hysterical as she reached for her son, while Denise pulled Sali from the pile and checked him over. People ran toward the scene of the accident to help while others used cell phones to call for an ambulance and the police.
"I'm okay Mom," Ashe said, sitting up and gazing at the two wrecked vehicles. Adele hugged him tightly anyway. Ashe felt shaky, Adele wept and Denise held onto Sali, although he attempted (unsuccessfully) to wriggle away from her grip.
"Mom," Ashe patted Adele's shoulder; she was shaking and too frightened to let him go at the moment. "Mom," Ashe repeated, "I think we need to get Dad here as soon as possible." Ashe had his eye on the western horizon—the sun was slipping below it, leaving them in early twilight.
"Honey, why?" Adele held him away from her.
"Because that's Georgia Daniels' minivan," Ashe replied, nodding toward the vehicle that had crashed into theirs.
* * *
Aedan and Radomir arrived quickly, with Marcus and Marco in Marcus' van. Sali and Ashe waited in a small room at the Clinton Police Department later while Adele and Denise answered questions about the incident. Ashe, hearing every word said, learned from another officer working in an office down the hall that Georgia Daniels hadn't survived the accident. What worried Ashe, however, was that she was the only one inside the minivan. Ashe relayed that information to Sali, whose face went pale.
"But," Sali said.
"Hush. We can tell our dads later," Ashe whispered. Sali nodded, his eyes wide. Aedan had slipped into the room earlier to be with Adele, and Ashe knew his father had likely employed compulsion to remain there.
"No, I don't think we need to go to the hospital; my son managed to push us out of the way before the crash," Adele told the officer as they walked out of his office. Ashe noticed the officer's nametag read Goodwin.
"Then he has good reflexes," the officer nodded. "Do you have your bags and things?" Ashe and Sali had unwittingly held onto the shopping bags as they went tumbling.
"I think so. Thank you, Officer Goodwin."
"Call me Eddie," he said, smiling and offering his hand. Ashe knew he was completely ignoring Aedan Evans, because Aedan had likely told him to do so. Adele and Denise shook hands with the officer while Aedan watched both women carefully. Ashe and Sali followed them out the door of the Clinton Police station, surprised to find Winkler, Jason and Trace waiting outside, standing around Mr. Winkler's van and talking with Radomir, Marcus and Marco.
"I'm hungry," Sali complained as he crawled inside Marcus' van.
"We can get something on the way home," Marcus sighed and climbed into the driver's seat. Trace loaded in with Sali and the others while Aedan, Adele and Ashe climbed into Winkler's van with Radomir and Jason.
"Are you hungry too, son?" Aedan sat on one side of Ashe, his mother on the other. Jason had climbed into the third set of seats. "That's quite the black eye," Aedan added, a slight smile quirking his lips.
"I'm a little hungry," Ashe admitted. "Mrs. Daniels is dead, Dad."
"I know," Aedan sighed wearily. Right then, Ashe wished he had mindspeech, that other rare gift that vampires sometimes had. He'd be telling his dad about seeing Mrs. Daniels with Principal Billings as Winkler drove.
"Will a burger do?" Winkler asked. The Sonic drive-in was the only thing open at the moment. The questioning had taken more than two hours and the other restaurants were closed.
"Yeah. And tater tots," Ashe's appetite was waking up. Adele hugged her son and kissed his cheek.
* * *
"Ashe, you should get in bed," Adele said later as they walked into the house.
"I know. Dad, can I talk to you for a minute?" Ashe asked, looking up at his father. Winkler had dropped Ashe, his parents and Radomir off at the house before driving toward Marcus and Denise's home.
"What is it, son?" Aedan sat down at the kitchen table. Radomir leaned against the kitchen counter, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I'm going to bed. Ashe, brush your teeth and go to bed too, when you're done," Adele went through the middle door, closing it behind her.
"Dad," Ashe listened while his mother's footsteps faded down the stairs, "Dad," he said again. "I saw Georgia Daniels in Greerson's Department Store while I was trying on clothes. Sali saw her too."
"You think she was watching your mother?"
"I don't know. She wasn't looking at us when I saw her."
"This is confusing, son," Aedan pinched the space above his nose. Ashe knew the gesture was a sign of frustration from his father, who'd never had a headache since becoming vampire.
"Yeah. But Mrs. Daniels wasn't alone." Ashe's statement caused his father's head to jerk upward.
"Who?" he snapped, gray eyes going red and boring into Ashe's blue.
"Principal Billings," Ashe whispered.
* * *
"What did you find?" Winkler was waiting for Aedan and Radomir to return from a quick reconnaissance mission.
"Car isn't back yet," Aedan replied. "We didn't get too close to the house in case he's looking for scent."
"I know how Marcus feels about this," Winkler said. "And I've got more information on the Daniels woman."
"What's that?"
"The gun used to kill Terry Smith and Megan Lindley was found in the back of her van, with her fingerprints on it. My contact in Oklahoma City called a few minutes ago to let me know," Winkler said.
"I don't believe for even a moment that she was capable of this." Radomir sounded sure. "I think this is a way to placate the authorities, leading them to believe they have the person responsible."