“A few,” Jimmy said, proving her point.
“So just because they said it was true, that
makes it so?”
Jimmy’s hand drifted to the knife at his side
again, and her heart skipped a beat. He didn’t unstrap it, but his
hand rested on the hilt. “You sure are a sassy bitch, you know
that?”
Behind Jimmy, a black shape coalesced from
the darkness. Evie couldn’t stop from gasping automatically. She’d
been hoping someone would show up, but she still wasn’t prepared
for a sudden movement out of nowhere. Jimmy whirled, the knife
whipping out of the sheath.
“Watch out,” Evie cried. She didn’t know if
it was Matt, but she damn sure hoped so.
Everything happened so fast then. The shape
rushed at Jimmy and she heard a dull crunch she recognized: bone
snapping.
Jimmy screamed, a sound that made the hair on
her scalp crawl.
Matt stood behind Jimmy, who doubled over,
cradling his arm. He was blubbering like a baby. “I fucking hate
you, Girard! I’m gonna sue your ass!”
“Shut the fuck up, you piece of shit,” Matt
growled. She heard the slide of a gun, and she rushed forward
automatically. But Matt ejected the clip and winged it into the
lake, and she realized he’d taken the gun from Jimmy.
“You okay?”
Her teeth were still chattering as adrenaline
flooded her system. “Yes.”
Jimmy was crying and groaning, and she hated
the sound of it. Hated everything that had happened. A rush of bile
flooded her throat. Nausea followed on its heels. She’d had nothing
more than a slice of Mama’s apple pie for dinner. It was currently
mixing with the swallow of wine cooler and threatening to make a
repeat appearance.
Evie pressed her hand to her lips and
concentrated on breathing.
“I’m sorry, Evie,” Matt said.
She wanted to sock him. And throw her arms
around his neck and hold on tight. “I told you it was a bad idea,”
she said through her fingers.
Matt dragged her into his arms and held her
tight. She could feel his mouth pressed against her hair. The gun
dangled from his right hand and a shudder went through her. Jimmy
hadn’t pulled the gun on her, but he’d had it and it had been
loaded. And he’d shot it several times in an effort to scare
people.
Bastard
.
Matt’s fingers glided down her spine, up
again. She no longer wanted to punch him. She just wanted to go
home and crawl under the covers. Forget that any of this ever
happened.
A siren sounded in the distance and was soon
joined by two more. “They’ll be here in a minute,
chère
, and
then we can go.” His mouth was against her temple as the Cajun
French slipped into his voice like melted wax.
While Jimmy whined and cried, the sound
crawled inside her and echoed in her head. She could still hear the
dull crunch of bone in that moment when Matt had disarmed him. Her
stomach heaved.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Evie choked
out. She pushed away from Matt, stumbled blindly—but he was there,
holding her up while she lost everything.
* * *
Sarah slipped on her tightest pair of jeans
and a Juicy Girl tank top, then swiped cherry-red lipstick across
her mouth. Then she grabbed her handbag and ran for the front door.
Any minute, Kyle Jenkins would be out front in his old Chevy truck,
honking the horn and getting impatient if she wasn’t ready to jump
into the front seat and slide over next to him.
This time, she was ready. Every week when
Mama went to bingo, Sarah sneaked out of the house and met Kyle.
Her heart beat hard at the illicitness of what she was doing, but
she couldn’t help it. Kyle was so handsome, so cool. He was
twenty-one and worked for his daddy over at the garage, rebuilding
transmissions and tuning up cars.
Mama would never let her date a guy like
Kyle, which was why she had to sneak out.
Sarah laughed then. God, her best friend
Mindy would be so jealous when Sarah showed up tonight with Kyle.
Mindy might have the hots for Craig Landry, but he was just a
senior.
Kyle could buy beer and daiquiris from the
drive-up window. And he was way handsomer than Craig, with dark
hair, the kind of muscles a guy got from working hard, and a wicked
smile that curled her toes whenever he turned it on her.
A minute later, as if thinking conjured him,
Kyle’s red truck pulled into the drive. Sarah popped the door and
slid inside, right over next to Kyle, who looked her up and down
appreciatively before kissing her quickly.
“You sure do look good, baby doll.” His
breath was minty from the candies he sucked between cigarettes.
“Thanks.” Her heart skipped a beat at the
look in his eyes. Oh, he made her all tingly inside—but they hadn’t
gone all the way yet. Maybe tonight, she thought. Maybe.
“Cigarette?” He held out the pack.
“Oh yeah.” She took it from him and slid a
cylinder from the paper, then put it in her mouth and fired up the
lighter. Sucking smoke deep into her lungs, she felt the calming
rush of nicotine fill her.
Yeah, baby. Yeah
.
Kyle reversed out of the drive and then they
were flying down the road, the radio cranked on high as Alice in
Chains belted from the stereo. They made a quick stop at the store
for some ice, and then Kyle was turning the truck onto a side road
they’d not been down before.
“Is this where the party is tonight?”
“Baby, the party is wherever we are.”
Sarah blew smoke into the air and fidgeted
with her hair. She had no idea what Kyle had planned, but it was
always fun, whatever it was. He’d been in jail a couple of times,
but nothing serious. A marijuana charge that hadn’t stuck.
Destruction of private property. He’d paid for that, however, and
the jail time had been waived.
Such a badass. That’s why she loved him.
Eventually they pulled into a clearing that
was empty of anyone else but them. A tiny feeling of apprehension
unwound in Sarah’s stomach.
“Where is everyone?”
Kyle put the truck into park and turned to
her. “It’s just us, baby.” His grin was turned up to high tonight.
“I thought we could smoke a little weed, drink a little beer, and
finally make love.”
Fear grabbed hold of her and wouldn’t let go.
“I’m not sure, Kyle.” She wanted to be with him, but she’d had some
vague idea it would be way more romantic than this. Not a pickup
truck in a field, but a bed, with candles and wine, and maybe even
some flowers.
“Why aren’t you sure, baby?” Kyle lifted a
hand and cupped one of her breasts. Her heart rate shot higher.
“We’ve been together for nearly a month now. Surely that’s enough
time for you.”
“It’s a big step. I need more time.”
She would do this, she really would, but it
had to be right first. She wanted to feel special, not like every
other girl Kyle had ever driven out to the woods.
Kyle dropped his hand away. “I’ve waited
longer for you than for any other girl. I’m tired of waiting.”
“Just a little more time.” She knew she was
begging. “I want it to be right.”
She tried to kiss him, but Kyle pushed her
away. “I’m tired of going home with blue balls every night.” He
shook his head as he started the truck. “Damn, I knew I shouldn’t
have dated a virgin. So fucking uptight.”
“Then let’s go to a motel.” It terrified her
to say it.
He looked at her in disbelief. “You think I’m
made of money?”
“Your house then.”
“My mother’s home.”
Sarah folded her arms over her chest. “I want
my first time to be special, Kyle.”
Kyle swore. “You think this ain’t special? I
buy you beer and weed, and I drive your ass all over town. But
apparently that’s not good enough for you. I’m beginning to think
you’re using me for the freebies, Sarah.”
“That’s not true.”
He gunned the truck. Sarah didn’t know what
else to say as he flew back toward the highway. Her heart was
hammering in her chest, her throat. She hated fighting, but it
seemed like they fought more and more often of late. And usually
about this.
Kyle didn’t say anything as he pulled into a
gas station on the edge of the town limits. He got out to fill the
tank—though why he hadn’t filled it when they’d stopped for ice she
didn’t know—slamming the door hard, and Sarah decided to go inside
and buy some potato chips before she said something she
shouldn’t.
She stood in the aisle, deciding between
regular and barbecue, then took her choice to the counter and
pulled out her money. When she paid and stepped outside, however,
Kyle’s truck wasn’t there. It took her a moment to realize that
he’d really left, that he wasn’t sitting nearby waiting for
her.
Fuck
. Now how was she getting home? It
was a good three miles, and she couldn’t call Mama for a ride. Evie
was out at the lake, but that was even farther. She glanced back at
the guy sitting behind the counter, arms folded, watching something
on a television mounted high above his head. She could ask him to
use the phone, but who would she call?
If she had a cell phone of her own, she’d
text Mindy. But Mama wouldn’t let her have a phone, no matter how
she begged. Still, she could ask this guy if she could use his.
Then she’d call Mindy and pray she reached her.
Sarah went back inside and asked if she could
use the phone. The guy grunted something and shoved an old landline
phone at her. Sarah punched in Mindy’s number—which, thank God, she
knew because she dialed it a lot.
“Come on, Mindy,” she muttered. But it went
to voice mail. Sarah tried again, just to be sure, but Mindy still
didn’t answer. She hung up without leaving a message and tried to
think of who else she could call. Not Mama. No way in hell.
She would call Evie, because she was pretty
sure Evie wouldn’t rat her out since she seemed so eager to get
Sarah to be nice to her, but she didn’t know Evie’s number. Sarah
frowned.
God, she was so using this to talk Mama into
a cell phone of her own. Not that she could say who it had happened
to, but she could use it as an example of why she should have her
own phone.
If she didn’t want to get caught, her only
choice was to walk. She briefly thought about staying at the store
and hoping someone she knew would stop, but time was not her friend
tonight.
Kyle was just angry. Tomorrow, he’d be
calling her up again. She might forgive him, but she might not.
Damn it.
Sarah left the store and started walking down
the darkened road. Town was a good mile away, but she wasn’t
scared. She’d lived here her whole life, and she knew the terrain
well. It was dark, with old oaks dripping Spanish moss over the
roadway, but the gators were out in the swamp.
Not only that, but it was entirely possible
someone she knew would drive by on the way to town. Not Mama, thank
God, because the Moose Lodge was the other way.
Sarah swatted a mosquito, cursing and
grumbling at the heat and humidity. Oh yes, Mama wouldn’t be able
to resist this story once she was done with it. Sarah could already
see that shiny new phone in her hand. A car rolled up behind her
and slowed.
“Hey, you need a ride?”
She didn’t look at the guy. “No, thanks.”
“It’s kinda lonely out here.”
“I’m fine.” Her heart kicked up, slamming
into her chest. How far had she walked? She looked back. The road
curved away and the gas station was lost around the bend.
“Maybe you can tell me where I can find
someone then.”
Sarah kept her arms tight to her body and
didn’t answer. Damn Kyle for leaving her.
“I’m looking for Evie Baker. Do you know
her?”
Sarah ground to a halt. The guy in the Taurus
was huge, the arm hanging out the window as big around as her
thigh. From inside the car, a woman with a ponytail watched her.
Movement from the backseat revealed another man, not as big as this
one. The man in the backseat raised his hand to his face. A
cigarette glowed red as he sucked on it.
“Why do you want her?”
“She’s a friend of mine.” It was the woman.
Her voice was raspy, like she smoked a lot. “I used to work with
her in Florida, at her restaurant.”
“What was the name of it?”
“Evangeline’s.”
Sarah considered that. “So why didn’t you
call her before you showed up?”
“Tried. She’s not answering her cell phone.
I’m just passing through and wanted to see her before we go on our
way.”
Sarah rolled her shoulders. Her cheek
throbbed where she’d slapped at the mosquito. Another one buzzed by
her ear, a big mother this time. “I might know where she
lives.”
The woman smiled. “So get in.”
“I shouldn’t.”
“Suit yourself. But if you could just give me
her address, I’d appreciate it.”
Sarah looked down the road. It was a long way
to walk. The car was inviting. If it was just men, no way would she
go with them. But there was a woman. A woman who knew her
sister.
Still, she was wary. “It’s on Fourth Street.
One-ten.”
“Thanks. You sure you don’t want a ride?”
Sarah looked both ways down the road. There
was no traffic tonight. If she kept walking, someone might come
along. But they might not, and she was tired of getting bitten by
mosquitos.
Besides, this woman knew Evie. Why else would
she come to a rinky-dink town like Rochambeau?
“All right,” Sarah said. Then she crossed to
the car and slipped inside.
EVIE SAT IN MATT’S BMW and watched the steady
parade of cars roll away from the scene. In spite of the heat, she
was cold. She hadn’t stopped shaking since Matt had materialized
from the darkness and broken Jimmy’s arm. Adrenaline still coursed
through her system, wreaking havoc on her nerves. Matt had told her
it was normal, but she felt so out of control. She felt like she
should be able to stop it, but she couldn’t.