Freeks(45)

“I’ll take care of everything,” Zeke interrupted me. “I’ll make sure they have enough water and food.”

I paused, trying to wrap my head around what he was saying. “Does that mean that you think the tigers had something to do with what happened to Seth?”

“It means that my tigers aren’t happy, and when they aren’t happy, people can get hurt,” Zeke growled. “I don’t want to see anything happen to Safēda, Mahilā, or anybody else here. So just stay away from them. Okay?”

“Okay.” I nodded. “I got it.”

I looked over at Mahilā, still continuing with her plaintive song, and I couldn’t help but wonder what the tigers knew that we didn’t.





25. secrets

The sun had begun its descent toward the horizon, and the sounds of the carnival played like a familiar song behind me. I waited just outside the main gates, on the edges of the gravel parking lot.

To keep my hair off my neck, I wore it in a side braid. The air had begun to cool, but only slightly, so I wore a light dress. The humidity still left a halo around the lights, making everything appear to glow more than normal.

Just when I began to worry that Gabe had changed his mind and wasn’t going to show, a cherry red Mustang pulled up in front of me.

“Ready to go for a ride?” Gabe asked, grinning at me.

“Definitely.” I hopped in the car, and he turned down the INXS that was blasting out of the tape deck.

We sped out of the parking lot. The T-top were off, so the wind blew through my hair and cooled my skin. When we hit the streets of Caudry proper, Gabe slowed a little so he could tell me about various landmarks in town—like the small local grocer, a diner that served the best crawfish in all of Louisiana, and the car dealership that Logan’s parents owned.

Then he turned, taking us away from the center toward the outskirts. We continued on a narrow road, with overgrown grass and wildflowers growing up around us, until the Mustang pulled to a stop on an old stone bridge that curved up over a river.

With the sun dipping completely below the horizon, the sky had become a dark shade of blue that shifted to purple to almost white just before it kissed the ground. Stars twinkled brightly in the dark parts of the sky, and the moon looked bright and fat hovering just above us.

Gabe got out of the car first, but he left the engine on, so the music played softly for us. He came around to open my door. I smiled and murmured “thank you” before following him over to the stone wall of the bridge. Then, like a good tour guide, he took on a loud explanatory voice and motioned to the river beneath the bridge.

“This is the Brawley River,” he explained.

I leaned over the wall, the stones pressing into my stomach, and stared down at the black water flowing beneath us. About a quarter mile ahead, I could see where the river met a large and equally dark lake.

“The Brawley River flows from Lake Tristeaux”—he pointed to the lake—“back to the Nukoabok Swamp, which surrounds the entire north side of Caudry. Lake Tristeaux is salt water, since the Gulf of Mexico bleeds into it. Since the Brawley River is a small river, it ends up being mostly salt water.”

I straightened up and looked over at him. “That’s cool.”

“I don’t know if it’s cool or not, but that’s not why I added it to your Caudry Tour.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Why did you?”

“Two reasons. The first is because Brawley is my mom’s maiden name.” He looked back down at the river, and something dark flickered across his gaze for a moment. Then he shook his head, and his smile returned. “This river was named after my family.”

“Wow.” My eyes widened. “Your family must be pretty special.”

He laughed darkly. “I don’t know if special is the right word. My family’s just been in Caudry for a very long time, and they’ve had money for a very long time. The combination of the two means that things get named after us.”

“I still think it’s cool,” I said, but he only shrugged. “And your uncle sounded pretty cool too.” He looked up at me in surprise. “Didn’t you tell me that he used to have huge parties where people from all over would come?”

“Yeah.” Gabe nodded, and an easy smile spread out across his face. “Uncle Beau was kind of legendary. He was larger than life, and everyone loved him. He was a local celebrity, actually, but he traveled all the time. He worked as a consultant for some oil company or something, so he went all over the country. And everywhere he went, he’d always make himself new friends.”

“He sounded like a great guy,” I said.

His expression turned somber. “Yeah, he was.”

“So what was the second reason you showed me the river?” I asked after he lapsed into silence.

He glanced up at the sky, then down at the watch on his wrist. “I thought I timed this better, but I guess we need to wait a few more minutes.”

“Okay?” I gave him a quizzical look.

“Trust me. It’ll be worth it.”

“I trust you.”

His smile fell, and he quickly looked away, staring down at the river again. “My uncle Beau used to tell me that since the water had salt in it, sharks would swim up the river. I never saw any when I was a kid, so I don’t know if it’s true.”