Page 49 of The Lovely and the Lost
“You told him the truth, and he didn’t believe you?” I guessed.
Gabriel’s dark hair caught the sun. “Oh, he believed me. He was my soccer coach. I thought he was such a good guy.” The gleam in Gabriel’s eyes nearly took on a life of its own. “The sheriff knew exactly what happened, because my mom ishiswife.”
The hike down from the mountain didn’t take us to Hunter’s Point. We ended up two towns over instead.
“Wait here,” Gabriel said, like he hadn’t bared his soul to me, like I hadn’t been searching for the right words to say in return the whole way down. “I know the guys who work here.” He nodded to the local auto shop. “I’ll see if someone can give us a ride.”
I would have snapped, too. He was hurting the people you love. I’m sorry.All the things I hadn’t said cycled through my head as Gabriel disappeared into the garage. I’d known him just long enough to suspect he wouldn’t wantsorry.
“Still too good for the job I offered you?”
The question made its way to my ears over the din coming out of the garage. If I’d been one of the dogs, my ears would have perked up. The missing persons report had said that Andrés Cortez had worked in an auto shop. I slipped inside, ignoring Gabriel’s command to wait.
“I have a job,” Gabriel was telling a man whose upper half was hidden beneath a car.
“Old man Bennett will get tired of you someday,” came the reply. “If I were you, I’d clear out before he gets sick of playing Daddy Warbucks.”
“That old man,” Gabriel said, each word pleasant and precise, “could take on everyone in here—and then some.”
I wasn’t an expert at the art of persuasion, but that didn’t seem like the most effective way to ask for a ride.
“Can I help you, sweetheart?”
I turned toward the mechanic who’d asked that question. I couldn’t offer Gabriel anything in exchange for what he’d given me up on the mountain, but I could save him from having to ask someone who was giving him a hard time for a ride. “I need to borrow a phone.”
I dialed Jude’s number from memory. He answered on the first ring.
“Kira?” The hope—and tension—in Jude’s voice reminded me that I’d taken off without a word. Jude and Free would have set Duchess on my trail.
She didn’t find me.Knowing Jude and Free, they’d probably tried Saskia next.And she couldn’t find me, either.
“I’m fine,” I said quickly. “I’m with Gabriel.”
Jude let out a long breath. “I was in no way concerned that you might have been snatched by the person who took Bella or buried in post-tremor rubble. The phraselying in a ditch somewherenever even crossed my mind.”
There was no guilt trip like a Jude guilt trip.
“It’s a long story,” I told him, “but I promise that I’m fine. I just need you to come pick me and Gabriel up.”
There was a brief pause on the other end of the line. “Dare I hope this long story will be accompanied by an elaborate reenactment? Preferably with musical numbers?”
I told him where I was.
“On my way,” Jude told me cheerfully. “But fair warning: Free might have been slightly less optimistic than I was when your trail disappeared in the mountains. She called Mom.”
* * *
Jude came to get us in Gabriel’s truck. Free was with him.
“You abscond with our Kira,” Jude informed Gabriel cheerfully, “we abscond with your truck!” He paused. “I’ve never driven a stick shift before.”
Gabriel audibly groaned. “Move,” he told Jude. Free was sitting in the back of the truck. NATO, Duchess, and Silver were with her. Saskia was there, too, but the other three were giving her a wide berth. I took that to mean that she’d been a bit testy. I climbed in, positioning myself next to Sass.
If Jude had been worried, there was a very good chance that Free waspissed.
“Hey, Free,” I said, well aware that I might be poking a bear. Free stared at me. NATO snuffed in my general direction, and Duchess farted—loudly.
“Serves you right,” Free told me. She tossed my cell phone in my general direction. “How many times do I have to tell you that if you’re going to do something completely stupid and utterly inadvisable,I want in.”