12. Dane

Dane

R afael takes her into his arms and glares at me over her head.

I scowl and turn around. I don't believe her. There had to be something that she saw, some feeling. She had to know something. How can you live that long with someone and not know?

I scrub my hand over my stubble. Terrance would've kicked my ass for that stunt. Shame floods me. I shouldn't have attacked her like that, but seeing the news this morning, and she just looks so…good. Her slightly sweet smell filling the car. It was infuriating. I shouldn't have lit into her. God, I'm a mess.

I turn around and clear my throat. Rafael lets go of her, and I don't miss the way she wraps her arms around her stomach like she's holding herself together. Not as tough as she pretends she is. I am an ass.

"I don't know if you're telling the truth, but I want to believe you," I say slowly. "We love Terrance, but I shouldn't have attacked you like that. Nothing excuses my behaviour."

She slowly lifts her eyes to mine, and I can see she's shocked silent.

"I can understand how you might be freaked out, with him back-"

"He's not back," she snarls and pulls on her hair before pacing quickly back and forth. "It's not him, trust me."

"I'm freaked that he's back, too," I say, ignoring her outburst. "So, let's do this. Let's find him and nail his ass to the wall. Maybe we can clear you."

She hisses a mocking laugh. "He's too smart. But I'm telling you, this is not Louis."

"Bullshit. He's arrogant and cocky. He'll have messed up somewhere." Her need to argue with me is driving me nuts.

She looks up at me, huge silver eyes, and in the despair, I see a tiny little spark of hope. At that moment, she reminds me so much of Rafael that I'm lost for words.

Rafael takes her hand, stepping into the silence.

"We can get him together," Rafael says, and it's a promise.

I look away from her seeking gaze, hating the feelings that are roiling through me. Why do I want to protect her? Seeing them together is doing something weird to me. I pace away from them and look down at the mine.

All right, let's focus on the puzzle. If he was poor, he's going to have family here. A record, someone will know him. Photos, doctors, school, records, he can't be invisible.

"Have you checked the school?" I ask curiously.

"All his photos are missing."

I kick a rock off the cliff and watch it until I can't see it anymore.

"Hospital?"

"His name doesn't exist. I tried voting, hospitals, and the school, and then someone started following me, so I stopped."

I whirl around. "Someone's following you? Is it Louis? He vanished after that day. Maybe it's him."

"There are always people following me. I'm the crazy woman who spent nine months in a psych ward suspected of being involved in over twenty-one murders. But they shouldn't have recognised me here. But someone did. I got a letter warning me off, one at work and one at home. So, I stopped." She closes her eyes. "And no, I'm positive it's not Louis."

"Just two letters?" I ask. There's something in her eyes, some hesitation.

"Uh, I actually have a full-blown stalker. I'm not sure if they are the same person or not, though," she adds quickly.

She pulls her phone out of her pocket and hands it to me. I take it and look through the messages. Shock roots me to the spot as I read message after message.

"Why haven't you gone to the police?"

She gives me a withering look that makes me wish I hadn't spoke.

I shut my jaw with a snap. Of course, she can't go to the police, they'd probably laugh her out of the station.

Rafael's hand is still tangled with hers. She seems to find some kind of comfort in his touch. I file that for use later.

The wind lifts her hair and whips it around her face. I haven't seen a colour like that before, it's so dark a brown it's almost black. Warmer than black. Richer. She glows with her own inner fire. Her body is full of sexy, compact curves. She looks feminine, like one of those paintings Rafael is always showing me from the Renaissance. She looks soft, the soft that always intrigued me. But more, I can't explain it, she captivates me.

I let out a growl and turn away from both of them. Focus, Dane.

"We need to see if there's a storage in the school or where they send it. But, first, let's retrace your steps."

She cocks her head to the side, watching me with pursed lips.

"Fuck it, let's go back to our place, eat some food, and talk in quiet. We need to discuss your lovely little tag-along privately, and I'm getting heebie-jeebies."

A slow smile spreads across her face. "Heebie-jeebies?"

My cheeks burn, and I shoot her a glare. "Get in the car, you two."

Rafael nudges her and leans down to whisper something that makes her eyes sparkle and a deep, husky chuckle leave her throat.

I stomp to the car and climb in behind the steering wheel. They stand out there, whispering for a minute. Rafael pulls her to the car ,and they slide into the backseat.

"I'm not a taxi," I snap.

They look at each other and laugh. What is happening here? I glance in the rearview mirror, and Rafael's brown eyes look gold, and they smile almost mockingly back at me like he knows something I don't.

Damn him.

I look away as I'm driving. Things haven't been the same since Terrance disappeared, but for a second there, it felt a little bit closer. I drive in silence, refusing to be drawn into their quiet conversation.

I turn into the place we've rented and park the car in the car park.

"What is this?"

"It's our place." Rafael laughs. "Come on, you'll love it."

She gets out and follows him. I hang back in the car for a moment. I wait, and it doesn't take long. Rafael comes trotting back to the car.

"What the hell?" I hiss at him.

His face shutters instantly, and I feel like an ass. "What?"

"She's your best friend now?"

Rafael shifts from foot to foot. I climb out of the car and stalk towards him.

"She's not our friend. We don't know if we can trust her yet, Rafe."

"I believe her."

"Oh, just like that?"

"Instincts, brother. I listen to them. You should try sometime." The haughty tone makes me reel.

He goes to turn away, and I grab his wrist. He spins back and raises his eyebrows and slowly looks down. I let go like its fire.

"If you can't trust her, trust me, Dane."

My chest aches as I watch him walk inside. Trust…it's such a dangerous thing to give someone, and I've been burned before.

I close my eyes and think of the horrified look in my mother's eyes when I told her my secret. The way my father walked out the door six months later with a younger woman in his car and another child in her belly. The dead look in my mother's eyes as she threw plates at me. As she screamed until they took her away.

The loneliness until Terrance paused as he was walking past and knelt down and smiled. Those dark green eyes that saw straight through me, saw my secrets, and it didn't matter. The one time I trusted, and it paid off. Until it didn't. Until he was gone, too.

I have to find him. Nothing else matters. I can't trust her, no matter how much Rafael asks, because she's holding the secrets to finding my brother, and if I have to tear her apart to get those secrets, I will.