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This was a much needed sabbatical.
Melody’s Red Audi drove in the direction of Vice City, towards the Piedmont Mall.
Raine had promised to meet us there. I’d bitten the bullet and hunted her down on social media, because, well, honestly at this point, I was desperate.
There’d been no more boxes and no more hints
Mateo just went from day to day like we were an average couple.
A large black Tahoe tailed us two rows back. We all pretended not to notice it, already knowing who was responsible for dispatching it.
“Amada means sweetheart, minha beleza means my beauty, and…damn, this one’s hot… meu means mine,” Peyton translated, butchering Mateo’s accent.
“Told you,” Melody agreed, switching lanes.
“Pet names, that’s all those are. I still think this is all revolving around this fucking game. Even if some part of me thinks I know him from somewhere else,” I added.
Peyton dramatically turned in the front seat and whipped off his sunglasses so I felt the full effect of his stare.
“He has never kept the same woman around longer than three months, you have a boat sitting on your lockdown finger, and he has a security detail on you. Look, doll, we grew up here. I’ve seen Mateo with other women, and none of them got half of what you’ve received already.”
“Except for Camilla,” Melody added.
“Who’s Camilla?”
“Mateo’s pregnant…I’m not actually sure what she was. I only know who she is because of what my parents do, and of course, I told Peyton. If he hasn’t told you…I don’t know. She disappeared when we were kids.”
Before my brain could run wild on a tangent with that new information, I shut it down.
“Can we have a Mateo free few hours?” I sighed, needing answers but craving some type of normalcy.
“We can do that,” Melody affirmed.
We ended up perusing the shops for a good hour or so. In that time, I learned Peyton’s father was still a tech whiz raking in big bucks on Mateo’s payroll, and Melody’s parents were still doing extremely well with their a law firm—also on Mateo’s payroll.
I was beginning to second guess dragging them into my problems yet again.
After grabbing a few things, we made our way to meet Raine near a Chic-Fil-A in the food court. I text her where our table was once we got our food, and dug into my fries.
“Did either of you ever see Mateo and Eva together?” I wanted to reel the question in the second I heard how eager I was to know the answer.
Peyton grinned brightly at me, laughing when I launched a fry at him.
“When Eva first came back around we were positive she was boning—ahem, befriending—Mateo,” Peyton began, “but the way they interacted around each other, it was as if he were repulsed by her. They didn’t touch. They didn’t really speak unless they were arguing, which tells you how much Mateo couldn’t stand that girl. You know how controlled that man is,” he finished.
“He told me he didn’t know her. Do you think he disliked her enough to potentially kill her?”
Melody shook her head, taking a sip of her shake. “He would only know her on a buyer/seller level. Getting rid of her, though…I don’t think that’s his M.O. I mean, yeah, he does get rid of people, but get rid of a chick because he’s tired of her?”
Peyton laughed sardonically.
“Don’t place a heart he doesn’t have in his chest. We need to focus on what we can figure out. Mateo is not that, but whoever else is involved…we might be able to.
“I mean, someone told Eva how to open the safe in Senior Remmington’s bedroom. I know you want to take credit for it, but you have to wonder who told her about the book in the first place.”
We fell into silence, none of us knowing what to say after that. My brain was forming scenario after scenario. Every time I sought out answers, I got more questions.
My phone buzzed and provided a necessary distraction.
