“What’s that?” asks Gigi, trapped in the computer. “Crap, I’m gonna be late for my meeting.”
“Door. Be right back.” Lamé disappears and quickly reappears, eyes wide.
I look behind them just as a woman walks in. She’s striking, with long black hair and the kind of lean, tragic good looks that would make her perfect for a period film. An intricate tattoo of what looks like a thorny rose stem curves from her shoulder down to her hand, the dark ink a sharp contrast to her pale, nearly transparent-looking skin. Her fingers, I notice, are stained and work worn.
“Hi, Twyla. I’m Grace.” With one of those secret Mona Lisa smiles, she sits down beside me. “I’msoexcited to meet you. Oh. Here. This is yours.” Leaning forward, she grabs something from the back pocket of her jeans and sets what looks a lot like my phone on the thick, battered wood of Lamé’s kitchen farm table.
“What’s that? What is it?” Gigi’s voice blares through the speakers.
Lamé stage whispers, “It’s Twyla’s phone.”
“Ohhhhhhhhh. And who’s the new woman? I love that tattoo, by the way.”
“Thanks,” says Grace.
“Liev’s partner,” comes Lamé’s reply. “Tattoo artist. Primal. She’s good people.”
Grace’s smile deepens as she watches Lamé.
“Dammit, I have to go,” Gigi says from the confines of her computer prison. “You’ll call me with updates, Lamé?”
“Yep.” They smile, looking around the room, as if they’ve arranged this themselves. “Or you could just get your ass to camp.”
19
Zion
“Heard you had quite a day.” Liev says from his front porch swing as I step outside, letting the screen door slam behind me. I’m freshly showered, dressed in clean clothes, ready to head out for the night.
At least I look okay. My insides are another story.
“I’ve got to get her to leave.”
His eyebrows flick up. “Twyla?”
“She’s signed up for a kidnapping. Two assailants. Very few limits.”
“Guess she’s enjoying herself.”
“Enjoyingherself? She’s doing it to torture me.”
“Fuck, man.” A low laugh rumbles deep in Liev’s chest. “You starting to fall for the Hollywood bullshit?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I mean, you sound like all the other bigwig pricks who think the sun shines out of their asses.”
My jaw goes tight.
“Fact is, she’s here, Zion. According to Grace, she likes it.”
“Graceknows her now?”
“Lamé, Max, Grace. They all love her, man. Hell,Ilike having her here.”
“What?You don’t even know her. Twenty minutes in your truck doesn’t count.”
“I don’t need to know her to enjoy this.” He squints up at the darkening treetops. “Easygoing Zion. Everything rolls right off you, nothing ever gets to you. Except this.” Liev wipes the sweat off his brow with the back of his thick forearm and meets my glare with a smirk. “Look at you, all worked up, angry. This shit’s fun. Better than TV.”
