Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
“It doesn’t contain vampire blood. Well, not exactly. But we can deliver all of the ingredients here. You just have to prepare the solution, mix with your whiskey, and bottle. We’ll take care of the rest.”
I couldn’t lie, I was incredibly excited to help, but I knew very little about running the distillery’s equipment. That department was Uncle Jimmie’s and Maybell’s, whom he’d been teaching. Slowly. Very, very slowly. Maybell was accident prone.
“I’m sorry, but the only two people around here who could do it are my uncle and sister, and they’re both on moonshine right now, thanks to my ex.”
“Isn’t there anyone else?” he asked.
I gave it some thought, my eyes drifting towards the bar. “Joe.” Joe used to bartend for us but then moved over to the distillery because he wanted regular daytime hours. He’d been out on vacation, traveling to all of Elvis’s historical sites, like Memphis, Tennessee; Tupelo, Mississippi; and Las Vegas, Nevada, with his new girlfriend, Elvira. I hadn’t met her yet, but she loved Elvis. Had to be special. “He’s on vacay for another week, but if I can track him down, he’s a maybe.” Joe was easily persuaded with extra vacation time. The man saved those days like a squirrel hoarded acorns.
“Let me know what he says by tomorrow.” Charlie hunched over a little, looking worried, and I couldn’t blame him. This situation was a powder keg rolling down a hill of lit matches. “In the meantime, I need to test our recipe on you. I could only get a small batch made, and we aren’t sure we have the potency dialed in.”
I cocked my head. Is he…?
He went on, “You’re the only person I know with significant experience drinking the stuff.”
“Heck no. I’m not going to be your guinea pig.” I started to get up. “Let me see if my sister—”
“No. If she’s already on it, that won’t work. You’re our only option. If our recipe isn’t powerful enough, it won’t function, and we fail.”
Charlie was asking me to purposely open myself up to the influence of moonshine. “I can’t.”
“You have to.”
I gritted my teeth. “I just risked my life to get off the stuff and escape vampire Sandals.”
“I didn’t know they have one, but this isn’t about you, now is it?”
I hate you. “If I drink it, what good is that? You’re not a vampire. You can’t command me.”
“Our ally is standing by.” Charlie pulled his cell from his back pocket and set it on the table.
My brain played a quick match of pickleball.
Yes.
No.
Don’t be selfish.
Yes, be selfish. That stuff is dangerous.
But so are tornadoes, and I live in Tennessee.
“Fine,” I said. “But you’d better not make me do sex stuff.”
“Masie,” he snapped, acting like I’d kicked him straight in the heart.
“What?” I snapped back. “I trust absolutely no one right now, and that includes you. Well, okay, I trust you more than a vampire, but what’s to say you’re not on moonshine, convincing me to drink moonshine, so that I’ll make more moonshine, and you and your evil vampire buds will use it for nefarious purposes?”
He slowly bobbed his head, mulling. “You need proof.”
“Does a possum like bananas?” I said.
“Errr… I really don’t know.”
“Yes. The answer is yes,” I said.
Just then Ashley came up with my order. “Well, hi there.” She batted her eyelashes at Charlie. “Who’s your friend here, Masie?”
Not now, Ashley. Couldn’t she put her chick-boner away for ten seconds? “Table ten is waving atcha,” I grumbled.
“I’ll be back in a sec to take your order,” she said with a dumb giggle to Charlie.
Dear Lord. I loved that girl, but she was definitely on the clock. The one that demanded a virile man, a big wedding, and a baby or two. Lately, every break she had was spent on Pinterest, perusing wedding dresses and baby rooms. Not that I could fault her. If it weren’t for Stark derailing my life, I might be perusing with her.
Charlie fixated on Ashley’s bun cakes as she walked away.
“Stop it. Ashley has a boyfriend, and we have serious work to do.” I pressed my finger into the table. “Show me your proof.”
He took his phone, tapped the screen, and slid it across the table. “My plan is already underway.”
I reluctantly grabbed the device. On the screen was a video feed, and though the image was dark, I could make out a wet stone tunnel with bars on either side. There were several pairs of pale hands reaching out from inside the cells.
“What is this?” I asked.
“Like I said, any vampires on the wrong side are quietly being rounded up. But I can’t tell you more. The less you know, the better. It’s for your own protection.”
Seriously? Stark also subscribed to this mantra. “Oh, baby woman-thing, your tiny brain is much too fragile to understand the male complexities of war. Also, your big tits get in the way of my superior thinkin’. You run off now and make me a quesadilla. Extra spicy!”