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“We jus’ got rid of da body. And took some souvenirs. I don’ even trust dat couillon, which is why I didn’ tell him you were livin’ wit’ Thierry. I could’ve, but I didn’.” Cold wrinkled hands rub my arms, sending a shudder of disgust through me. “You got da frissons! Settle down, now. Need your rest, you. Big night ahead. Gotta git you cleaned up an’ ready to go. But first …” Jo scampers out of the room, and when she returns, the needle in her hand sends alarms blaring through me.

“No! No!” Kicking is futile, as she calls on her son to hold down my legs, and the bone crushing pressure has me crying out. My voice turns hoarse with the screams that rip from my throat.

A prick of pain stabs my thigh, and I seize beneath the weight of the man holding me down.

48

Thierry

Flicking my cigarette off into the grass, I stride up toward the entrance of the hospital, every muscle in my body tense and ready to throttle something.

The receptionist shifts in her chair, as I approach. “Can I help you?” she asks, her expression blank, like she suddenly doesn’t recognize me.

“Need to see Jude. And I’m here for my sister.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No.”

“Name?”

“Don’t fuck with me, Natalie.”

Clearing her throat, she slips her hand across her desk, as if to alert security, and I reach down and catch it in mine. “I wouldn’t do that.” Yanking my gun out, I point it at her skull. “Both hands flat where I can see them.”

Two trembling hands rest outstretched against the desktop.

“I want my sister brought down to me. Now.”

“Y-y … your sisssss-sister … isn’t here.”

“Bullshit.”

“It’s true, Thierry.” The familiar voice has me swinging my gun toward where Jude stands off to the side, hands held up in surrender. “She’s not here. She was transferred out.”

“Where the fuck is she?”

“Let’s talk. In my office?”

Shaking my head, I lurch toward her, and with her hands still held up, she backs toward the wall behind her. “No. You’re going to talk right here. You’re going to tell me where Frannie and Céleste are.”

“That’s a complicated request.”

“Allow me to simplify. Talk, or I’ll blow a hole through your forehead and get the information out of your receptionist, instead.”

Lips curving to a smile, she glances at the receptionist and back. “What do you say we go for a drive? Just the two of us?” When I don’t respond, her smile widens. “I can show you where your sister is. And Céleste.”

Fury ticks inside of me, like a bomb ready to explode. I jerk the gun, directing her toward the exit. Without any prompting, she nods back at the receptionist. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Please cancel my appointments for this afternoon.”

“Sure thing, Miss Bijou.”

Once out of the building, she heads toward what I presume is her Lexus parked in the front row spot.

I take hold of her arm, bringing her to a stop. “No. We’ll take my truck.”

“I’m much more comfortable--”

“I don’t much give a fuck what makes you much more comfortable.”