A Bite to Remember Read Online Free PDF

didn’t bother to hide her doubt. “What happened to make you close down all the plays? Was it just the combination of accidents?”
    Vincent grimaced, then reluctantly admitted, “I’m ashamed to say it, but no. I’ve been in the business a longtime, these things happen. Not usually one right after the other or anything, but I know how to deal with these sorts of events and we handled each emergency as it arose.”
    “Then what made you close them all down?”
    Vincent frowned, and began to fiddle with the corner of her notepad. “The actors and actresses made me close them down. In each play at least one, or sometimes two, actors or actresses and their understudies have suddenly quit, or walked off stage. They’ve all been leads. We had to scramble to replace them and delay openings, or temporarily close shows to allow the replacements to learn their roles.”
    Jackie considered this briefly and then asked, “How many plays have been affected by actors or actresses walking off?”
    “All of them. Two in New York. Two here in California. And two in Canada.”
    “Six,” she said with a frown. “And the lead actor or actress has suddenly quit from each of them?”
    “Yes.”
    “Are they under contract?”
    “Yes.”
    Jackie’s frown deepened. “I presume these contracts have some sort of legal provisos, or recourse, to prevent their just walking out?”
    “Oh yes,” he said with a harsh laugh. “I could sue every one of them into poverty for the rest of their lives, but none of them seems to care. Not that it matters, suing them doesn’t help me get the plays up and running in the meantime.”
    “And now one of the replacements—as well as her understudy—have walked as well?” Jackie murmured, thinking of the phone call he’d received earlier.

    “Yes. It was one of the two here in California and was the first of the six that was scheduled to reopen. The replacement actress and her understudy quit this morning,” he said grimly.
    “Hmm…I don’t suppose it could be a coincidence?”
    “No,” Vincent hissed the word through gritted teeth and then added, “I’ve been in the business for four hundred years. Having one play close down because an actor and understudy have walked out is rare enough, but having six at once?” He shook his head. “Definitely not a coincidence. Someone is out to ruin me.”
    Jackie bit her lip, watching her hand doodle nonsense on the pad as she thought. Finally, she glanced up and said, “I gather you’ve tried to read their minds? To see what was making them drop out?”
    “Their minds were blank on the subject. They just knew they had to quit.”
    “They were wiped, you mean,” she said dryly. “Which means your saboteur is another vamp…or at least someone with a vampire for backup. Although I suppose the contagious anemia made that obvious.”
    Vincent nodded grimly. Somehow, the fact that one of his own kind was behind the sabotage made it seem that much worse than it would have been were it a mortal.
    Jackie sat back in her seat with a sigh. She considered the escalation in events. Accidents to property, then arson, then accidents to people, then outright feeding on people, and now controlling them and making them quit. It sounded as though the incidents were quickly picking up speed and momentum.

    “How much time was there between the fire and the stage set accident where your actress broke her arm?”
    “A week,” Vincent answered, his expression curious.
    “And between the stage set accident and the male second lead being pushed down the stairs?”
    He paused to consider. “About five days.”
    “And then between that and the first person falling ill with this anemia?”
    “Three or four days, maybe, but then they started dropping like flies, one after the other.”
    Jackie nodded and made another note.
    “They got closer together as each incident occurred,” Vincent realized.
    Jackie met his gaze. “And more serious.”
    “From