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But Brian should know her sister’s whereabouts better than anyone. “Brian, I have no idea.” She paused. “I haven’t spoken to her since she left with you.”
“Do you expect me to believe that?” Brian sneered at her. “You two are sisters, and thicker than thieves.”
We were until you came!Avery wanted to scream at him. Instead, she swallowed, her painfully dry throat constricting. “I don’t know where she is.” She stared into his eyes. “Have you ever known me to lie, Brian?”
He quirked his mouth and shrugged, a gesture she interpreted as conceding.
“The more important matter,” she continued, hoping she sounded in control, “is how you found me.”
He smirked, as if he were James Bond himself, hot on a clue. “I just went to the Hudson Apartments and asked for you.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “To be honest, I didn’t know you’d moved...here.” The store seemed to shrink under his scornful gaze. “Anyway, a very kind lady named Maggie told me you had moved to Estes Park, Colorado, and that you had told her to relay that information to anyone who asked. The rest was easy. I flew into Denver, rented a car. Got in this morning and was walking down the road and what do you know...I see your little face behind a booth at some gypsy market. Next thing you know, I’m looking this place up on Google Maps. And here I am.” He gave an exaggerated bow.
Avery still felt the urgency to get Brian away from her. Out of the store, out of Estes Park, out of Colorado, even. But overriding all other concerns was a whirlpool of fear about Addisyn. She couldn’t forfeit this opportunity—maybe her only opportunity—to find out more details.
“Brian, how do you not know where Addisyn is?”
For the first time in their exchange, Brian looked slightly uncomfortable. Maybe even guilty.
“We had a disagreement.” He cleared his throat, obviously refraining from saying more. “She, uh, left the city.”
Avery’s heart throbbed even faster—if that were possible. Questions sang in the air around her. Could Addisyn have finally realized the truth about Brian? But where was she now? And most of all, was she okay?
“So she broke up with you?”
Brian grimaced. “Like I said. We had a disagreement.” He waved his hand in the air. “I was a jerk. Forget it.” A pause. “I want to apologize to her, but...I have to find her first.”
“She’s not here. I figured she was still hanging off your arm.” Avery didn’t bother to sanitize her words of their scorn.
Brian’s face flushed. “Oohhh. I was waiting for that.” His eyes laughed into her stony ones. “Never thought I was good enough for your sis, heh?”
His eyes.Brian’s words faded to meaninglessness as Avery met his gaze and probed his soul. What was really driving Brian? She didn’t trust his platitudes. Apologize to Addisyn—or anyone? Him? Never.
What was she seeing?
Darkness behind his eyes. Shadows in his soul. Death wrapping around his face—slowly constricting, like gray smoke. Avery took a step forward. “I don’t know exactly what you’re doing.” Her voice was firm. Authoritative. No longer was she the weak one, cowering in fear. She had all the power of El Shaddai behind her. “But you are just using my sister as a—a pawn in some bigger game you’re playing.” The shock in Brian’s eyes told her she was on the right track. “Let me tell you this right now: You leave my sister alone. I hope by the granite peaks of the High Country you never find her. Even if I never see her again either, I’d rather she disappear from off the face of the earth than fall into your clutches. Now get out!”
Brian’s suave demeanor was gone. “You’re crazy.” The anger twisted his usually handsome features. “You always were crazy!” A single laugh coughed from his throat. “Look at you now, living in the boondocks and working in some shoddy backwoods joint.”
Avery’s skin tingled with fury. “How I live and what I do is of no concern to you.”
“Your sister was lucky to escape from you.” Brian’s voice was raspy with hate. He clenched his fists and took a step toward her.
She held up her hand, palm facing him. “Don’t you even think about it, Brian!”
For a single terrifying moment, he locked eyes with her, his breath hard and fast. Then he grimaced and backed toward the door. “You religious nut.” A few slurred derogatives stumbled from between his lips. “I should have known your sister would turn out to be as stubborn as you are.” He yanked the door open and glared at her. No more was he Brian the charmer. Instead he was Brian the explosively angry man, the man who couldn’t bear to be crossed. His eyes narrowed to slits as he spat the words. “Iwillfind your sister.” He cursed. “If it’s the last thing I do!”
The door slammed, and in a moment a car motor roared to life, tires screeching on the pavement. Avery stood stunned as the growl of the motor faded. Then she crumpled to the floor in a rush of tears.
Waves of shaking ripped through her body as she lay like a broken doll on the hardwood floor. The sobs overlapped, the panic squeezing her soul.
Black spots whirled before her eyes. She wavered, felt her head falling forward. She fought frantically for a deep breath.
“Avery!” She couldn’t answer the faraway shout. A dull roaring echoed in her ears.
“Avery!” This time the voice was closer.
She had been underwater, but she was rising through the waves...and then she surfaced, and snatched a great gasp of air. Someone was supporting her head and shoulders as she slumped on the floor. The face was blurry but gradually cleared.
“L-Laz!” she managed.
