Hearing my voice, Eve looks up, and it’s her turn to look shocked.“You?What are you doing here?”
As I get closer, I see that she’s wearing a thin cardigan.Her eyes are flashing with anger, but her lips are nearly tinted blue.
“Fuck!”I curse, pulling off my jacket and throwing it around her.“Where’s your coat?God damnit, Eve!”My hands brush against hers, and they’re icy cold.
I grab her wrist, pulling her arm inside the jacket’s sleeve.She doesn’t protest, letting me manhandle her.That scares me more.She would never let me get away with something like this if she was feeling like herself.Zipping up the jacket, I try not to think how my jacket dwarfs her completely.
“How long have you been walking like this?”I demand.“And in this weather?Do you have a death wish?!”
Eve glares at me now.“Are you following me?Get out of my way.”She moves her arms, but I cannot take her seriously when the end of the jacket’s sleeves flap around helplessly.
“You need to get to a warm place.”
“I will.I need to deal with him first.”
‘Luis Sanchez.’Why is that name so familiar?I think I’ve heard her on the phone with him.
I turn around to look at the man who’s now struggling to get to his feet.He looks between me and Eve, and his eyes tighten in anger.“What the fuck, Eve?Who the fuck is he?”
“None of your business!”she snaps.“And you’d better stay away from me, Luis.Or next time, I’ll forget that we used to be friends once.”
The man takes a step towards her, and it’s so like Eve not to flinch.But just because she thinks she can take on anything that moves doesn’t mean I’m going to let her.She has the self-awareness of a kitten.Despite the situation, my lips twitch, and I make a mental note to mention this comparison to her.It’s bound to piss her off.
“You’d better be on your way,” I say coolly to the man.“She clearly doesn’t want anything to do with you, so fuck off.”
“What was that?”Luis sneers.“You think I take orders from you, pretty boy?”
He comes towards me, swinging, but I use my palm to deflect his blow and land one in his stomach instead.Wheezing, he doubles over.
“You bastard!”He lunges at me, but something black comes flying at him from behind.He staggers forward, looking confused, eyes rolling to the back of his head as he falls flat on his face.
“Shit!”Eve hurries around me, crouching down to check his pulse.Then her shoulders relax.“Not dead.”
I stare at the unconscious Luis sprawled on the sidewalk, then at my sister who’s standing over him with her large purse still raised like a weapon.“Jesus Christ, Megan.What do you have in that thing, bricks?”
She shrugs, lowering the purse with a satisfied smile.“Fashion design textbooks.Turns outThe History of Haute Couturemakes an excellent blunt instrument.”
Eve checks Luis’s pulse again, her movements efficient despite the oversized jacket.“He’s drunk, too, so that probably helped.Dead weight falls harder.”She looks around the empty street, then turns to me with an expectant expression.“Can I borrow your phone?”
“Where’s yours?”
“Home.”
“What about your car?”
“Home.”
I study her face, noting the way she’s avoiding eye contact.There’s a story here, one she clearly doesn’t want to tell.“Eve?—”
“Here.”Megan steps forward, offering her phone.“Take mine.”
“Thanks,” Eve says, her voice stiff with discomfort at accepting help from a stranger.She dials a number and steps a few feet away, but I catch every word anyway.
“Marco?It’s me...Yeah, I know...Can you drop my car and my things at my apartment?...No, I don’t know where Luis is right now...Can you put Rafael on?”
There’s a pause as the phone changes hands.
“Raf?I’m at...”She looks around for a street sign, then rattles off our location.“Luis is here.He’s unconscious...No, he’s breathing...Just come get him, okay?...Thanks.”
