Retribution (Secrets & Lies #3)(36)

“At least you can do something about it!” I scream back, fully lost in my fear and anger. “At least you can protect her! What am I supposed to do? All I can do is crack this rock! So you know what? I'm going to crack this rock, and find the right piece, and maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to get some rest while I wait for Nathan to call. If he ever can.”

Carson stares at me, then takes a deep breath and storms out, slamming the door to the chapel behind him. I stare at the door for a minute then go get my chisel, going back to work. When the door opens again I don't even look up. “I'm not ready to talk to you yet, Carson. I'm sorry we fought, but I'm not ready to talk.”

“Actually, it’s me,” Andrea says, her voice tired, amused, and concerned at the same time. “And if you want a hand cracking that rock, we did a pretty good job at it last time.”

I sigh, setting my hammer down. “You're not angry with me?”

Andrea laughs lightly and shakes her head. “For what? For cursing Carson out? Or for making a racket that woke us up?”

“Any of it, all of it, I don't know,” I reply, dropping my chisel. “Did I just really curse at my brother?”

“Yep,” Andrea says, coming forward and wrapping me in a hug. “And you know what? He deserved it, too.”

I blink, startled. “But...”

“I don’t agree with everything he does,” Andrea chuckles. “I'm also your sister, remember. He was being a bossy jerk to you and to me too afterward. I told him as much when he came in and stormed around, bitching about what you said. Katrina's pissed at him about that, but she'll get over it.”

I nod, a relieved smile on my face. “I should apologize to him.”

“You can make up later. Isn’t that what siblings do?” She shakes her head, and goes over to the block of granite, picking up the chisel and tracing it along the line I'm making in the surface.

We take turns with the hammer and chisel, working through the night. Finally, just as Andrea's watch beeps to tell us it's three in the morning, I swing the hammer one last time. The stone cracks again, giving me a large piece that's kind of triangular. I pick it up and turn it over in my hands, smiling. “Perfect... just perfect.”

“Good,” Andrea says, yawning. “Because I'm beat, and my forearms are humming.”

I set the rock down and we go back inside, both of us surprised to find Carson still awake, Katrina sleeping on the couch. When we close the door, he comes over and looks at both of us, saying nothing. There's something in his eyes though, something I don't quite get. “Carson?”

“I'm sorry, Andrea. I was wrong, and I apologize from the bottom of my heart.”

I look at Andrea, whose eyes glitter with tears, but she swallows deeply and touches Carson's hair. “And our sister?”

Carson nods and turns without getting up, bowing deeper. “I'm sorry, Melissa. You were right, and I'm sorry that my fear led to me losing my temper with you.”

“There's no need to apologize. I understand your fear, and I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Carson says.

“Then there's nothing to worry about,” I tell him, putting my hand on his shoulders. “Is there, Andrea?”

Andrea shakes her head. “No, there isn't. I love you, Carson. But, if it's okay, can we just forget this and go to bed? I’m beat from swinging at that rock.”

Carson looks at me and I nod, smiling, and Carson picks Andrea up in his arms and carries her from the room. I watch them go, only to be interrupted when Katrina chuckles. “Cute.”

I turn and see her lying stretched out on the sofa, her eyes open and totally awake. “You heard?”

“I'm the Shadow, the Ghost in the Machine. I hear everything, I know everything,” she jokes, pointing at the open space on the couch next to her. “Have a seat. You look like you could use some sleep too, and if there's any bad dreams, I'll keep you safe.”





Chapter Fourteen





Nathan





The sun is rising just as I cross Lake Pontchartrain and enter New Orleans. I'd wanted to rush more, but in trading e-mails with Katrina, who stayed up all night monitoring communications, we decided that I'd do best to meet with Margaret just after dawn. I was able to grab three hours sleep at a truck stop in Mississippi, helping me a lot.

The hardest part about deciding where to meet Margaret was choosing a place she could blend in. With her surgical addictions, Margaret's had just about everything done, from Botox to tummy tucks. Her hair is bleached blonde to try and look younger and to blend in with the image of the DeLaCoeurs, her vanity contacts completing the look.

All of this work means I couldn't send her to my normal safe houses where she would stick out.

Which is why I decided to meet her where we are, at a hotel just outside the airport in the area of the city known as Camp Leroy Johnson because it used to be an Army airfield back during World War II. Close to two universities and the airport as well as the interstate, it gets lots of unique traffic on a regular basis, and I can keep anyone tailing her guessing as to where the f*ck she might be going.

I still don't know which of my two long-term safe houses I might stick her in, though. If she's off the sauce, I can take her to a little one bedroom house that I have north of the lake in Picayune, far enough from New Orleans that she might be able to blend in somewhat.