Page 147
The urge to call Luc sends a thrum of urgency through me. Knowing my cousin, he’s probably kept Céleste out on the boat all day long, regaling her with all his fishing stories, but a niggling bullet of unrest pulses through me. The preoccupation I feared, as it relates to my feisty little firefly, has firmly hooked itself into me.
All I’ve done this whole ride is think about Céleste, which doesn’t bode well for her once she’s back in my possession. I suspect it’ll be an exhausting night for both of us.
Assuming the chatty migraine in the backseat hasn’t drained me entirely by night’s end.
Seems I’ll have to ask my cousin for another babysitting favor. Not that I want to throw this walking dumpster fire into his lap, but Julio’s flight comes in late tomorrow morning, and there’s no way in a cold and frigid hell that I can deal with Verónica for another hour, much less a whole night.
“Speeding is a brilliant idea. I’m sure the cops will love my collection of alcohol back here,” she says, and hiccups.
A truck up ahead catches my attention, and I lay off the gas, slowing the car as I approach where it’s parked in front of a tobacco shop, about a block from Main Street.
Luc’s truck.
The urge to ponder why he’d be in public with Céleste is quickly smothered by the frustration of not giving a shit why. There is no reason good enough to settle me right now.
Arms come from behind, wrapping around the front of me at the same time Verónica’s lips press into my neck. On instinct, I slam my palm into her throat and throw her off, perhaps a little too hard. She falls backward, gasping for breath, her hands at her neck. Attention divided between making sure I haven’t inadvertently killed a cartel princess, and not passing the parking lot, I mutter a curse.
Her laughter allows me to relent my focus of her. “I did it! I kissed the big bad wolf!”
Idiot.
A quick glance in the mirror shows bright red lipstick smudged across my neck and collar. Irritated, I growl, wiping it off with my hand, while I turn the car into the lot. Coming to a stop alongside the truck, I peer over at Luc, who has a phone pressed to his ear.
As I throw the car in park, he glances over, not once but twice, his eyes wide with surprise. It’s then I notice Luc’s face is bruised and bloodied, eye black and swollen. The sight of him sends alarms blaring through me, more so when leaning forward shows no sign of Céleste beside him.
Muscles vibrating with rage, I do my best to keep the inner turmoil in check, to keep from tipping off Verónica, even in her drunken stupor. I climb out of the rental car, and as I stride up to his truck, I try to settle the sharp spike of blood pressure that has my fists burning with the urge to punch something. “Where the fuck is Céleste?”
“She’s wit’ Brie. Okay? She’s wit’ Brie.” He holds his phone up for me to see. “I been tryin’a call, to see where dey are. Was supposed to meet dem up here. I walked t’rough da crowd, but didn’ see any sign of dem.”
The rage simmers and churns, boiling inside of me, as I do my best to keep my composure. “Why is she out of your sight?”
“Got a call from da shop earlier. Was told ol’ Theriot stole from me, but on da way to his house, I got pulled over. T’ought it was a cop. Guy asked about Céleste, and when I didn’ tell him nothin’, he beat my face wit’ da butt of his gun. I passed out, and when I woke up, I was lyin’ in da middle of da road. Guy took off.”
Cop was probably Aric, making me relieved he didn’t have Céleste with him. How the hell he would’ve known Céleste was staying with Luc is a big fucking question mark beating inside my skull right now. “She’s with Brie?”
“Yeah. I tol’ Brie to bring her to me, up here at dis festival. Somebody broke into Brie’s house earlier. But dey got out all right. Don’t worry.”
The more he talks, the more urgently I want to slam my fist through something. The intruder was undoubtedly Aric, though the path from Luc to Brie in his quest for Céleste isn’t clear. As much as Luc loves to fight, I doubt he’d have given that information so freely.
Although, I want to ask him why the hell he chose a festival over a quiet, low-key location, but I have neither the time, nor the care, to listen to his insouciant view of life, and how he thought she’d be safe here. Luc is the ignorance is bliss poster child. “They’re here. At this festival, now?”
“I think so. I can’t get ahold of Brie, but I tol’ her to meet me here. She’s safe. I promise. I just talked to dem about an hour ago.”
“I need you to do me another favor.” Poking my finger over my shoulder, I point to Verónica. “I need you to look after her for me. Can you do that?” Whether, or not, it’s a good idea to have him babysit the woman I’m charged to protect doesn’t matter to me. The woman I want to protect is in danger, and I need to get this one off my hands. Now.
“Yessir. I promise I won’t leave dis one alone. I promise you dat, Cous’.” It’s then that his eyes narrow on what I’m guessing is the lipstick on my collar.
Without wasting another second on his curiosity, I glance back toward the passenger window of the Lincoln, where Verónica is passed out in the backseat. “I also need your truck, Luc.”
42
Céleste
Swallowing back a gulp of panic, I bang a right at the end of the strip, rounding a bank, and book it down the canal’s boardwalk. A bridge just ahead crosses over the canal to a trail that disappears into a stretch of trees. A state park, where picnic benches are scattered about, adjacent to an empty lot.
Boots clopping over the old, wooden planks of the bridge, I dare a glance back, relieved to see no one has followed me here. The sky turns darker under the canopy of trees, and I take cover behind one of them. Peering around the trunk of it, there’s still no sign of the dirty fed. Maybe it wasn’t him. Still, not taking a chance, I remove my blade from inside my boot and wait.
The crunch of twigs from behind is the only warning, before arms come around my body and drag me backward into the woods.
