Blood Always Tells, Hilary Davidson [good book club books .txt] 📗

not much from the past couple of years could.

“I can’t explain it all right now, Des. The important thing is—”

“You’ve been seeing a married man. I thought you were done with that, but it’s still going on.” His voice was flat.

“I told you I broke up with him, and I did.”

“If you weren’t still involved, you wouldn’t have come up with a harebrained scheme to blackmail him.” Desmond was doing his level best to sound neutral, but he wasn’t succeeding.

“He wants to murder his wife.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re involved in that.” His voice was sharper now.

“I’m not. I’d never.”

“Okay. Where are you? You said something about Delaware in your message.”

“Delaware State Forest, but it’s in Pennsylvania. The Poconos, I think. There’s an airstrip nearby. A few tiny planes were coming in earlier, but nothing since it got dark.”

“Probably a grass landing strip. Okay, that’s good. You near a road?”

“We were in the back of a van with no windows, so I didn’t see the route. There’s no road here, just a dirt path. The house is supposed to be on sixty acres with a fence around it. I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s what the kidnapper said.”

“You ever go out there before?”

“Never.”

“Who’s helping Gary with his crazy plan?”

“He hired a guy named Max. He left a little while ago.” She didn’t want to elaborate on that subject. She knew Desmond had only contempt for Gary, and this would make it worse. “Do you remember me telling you about Gary’s creepy pal Tom Klepper? He helped set all this up. Someone is supposed to kill Gary’s wife this weekend, while we’re captives at this house. I just called Gary’s wife to tell her. Someone was trying to lure her to her country house, but I warned her.”

“Where’s Gary?”

“In the house. I told him I was going to get some wine, and I got his phone instead.”

“Is he trying to hurt you?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. He’s not violent, he’s just… desperate.” Dominique sighed and turned her head up to the sky. Her headache wasn’t so bad now, and the wind must’ve been blowing the clouds past, because she saw the first flicker of light in the sky. “Gary’s been trying to convince me he had no choice. It’s… it’s a long story, but he’s got this whole saga where he’s the victim of Trin and her family.”

“Trin?”

“That’s his wife’s name.” There was a loud beep and Dominique stared at the phone. The low battery icon was blinking furiously.

“Of course it is.” Desmond’s tone made it clear that he doubted all of this was happening. “I’m only worried about you. Where can you stay so you’ll be safe until I get there?”

“You’re going to come here?” Dominique whispered. Her heart was already a little lighter. Desmond would take care of her. He’d take care of everything.

“Of course I am. But you’ll have to sit tight for ten or twelve hours.”

“You’re at home?” Even though she’d lived in New York for a decade, metro Chicago was always home to her.

“Yeah, I—” There was another beep, which cut out something he said. “In the meantime, sober up. You’re slurring your words a bit.”

Dominique was outraged. “You’re the second person who said I sound drunk.”

“Tell your nerves they’ll answer to me if you drink another drop. Have some water.”

“I’m not drinking!”

“I’m kind of hoping you are. Like, maybe this is all a bad dream. See you soon.”

“Wait!” Dominique said. There was another beep. “What’s that thing you say, about running with the stars? I’ve been thinking about it all day, and I can never get it right.”

“‘Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.’ That’s Marcus Aurelius.”

“That’s it.” She stared at the sky. It was only beginning to reveal itself.

“Don’t do anything crazy. Or anything even more crazy than what you’ve already done, I mean.”

“I love you,” Dominique said. She wasn’t sure if he heard it. She felt guilty about landing him in such a mess, yet relieved for herself. It didn’t matter that she was thirty. Desmond was her big brother, and he always took care of things.

She got to her feet, suddenly much steadier. There was still no sign of any car on the dirt road. She didn’t want to think about what would happen when Max got back. As much as she wanted out of the house, it was too damn cold to hide outside. She’d wait for him upstairs.

Chapter 17

The first thing Dominique noticed when she walked into the house was the silence. She’d expected Gary to yell at her when he realized what she was doing. But, given how he seemed to suffer from attention deficit disorder, he’d probably gotten distracted by a spider or his iPad. She’d never feared Gary in her life. Why would she? He was snarky and laid-back and about as harmful as a puppy, excepting those recent murderous impulses toward his wife.

She tiptoed into the kitchen, planning to return Gary’s jacket and phone to the basement. She thought she could do it quickly, but there was Gary, sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a glass of champagne. He was wearing one of the freshly pressed shirts from the wardrobe upstairs and he smelled, faintly, of roses.

“There you are,” he said. “I was going to send a search party, but then I decided to give you some privacy for your phone call.”

“Gary.” Dominique didn’t know what to say. She sat in the chair across from him. There was an empty glass on the table in front of her.

“Who did you talk to?” Gary lifted the champagne bottle and poured her a glass.

“My brother.”

“Oh, sure, Saint Desmond.” Gary set the bottle down. “Does he ever get tired of flying rescue missions for puppies in his spare time? Or flying little children for surgery around the country?”

“Don’t mock him. He just tries to do the right thing.”

“Unlike a loser like me, right? Only, I