Dark Shadows (Gia Santella Crime Thrillers Book 11), Kristi Belcamino [ereader with dictionary .TXT] 📗

Epilogue

This was what I needed.

I hadn’t realized it until I stepped off the plane in Padang in West Sumatra.

We’d had a layover in Kuala Lumpur but I wanted to wait to eat until I got to Padang because it was famous for its food.

I strode through the crowded marketplace, inhaling the exotic scents, my stomach growling.

Stopping at one stand I ordered a Satay Kacang, basically beef on a stick smothered in peanut sauce, and walked, chewing on that, while I perused the other stands and picked out small food items to carry on the ferry later.

As I walked voices filtered past in several languages including ones I could easily recognize—English, Spanish, and French.

It was easy to weave through the crowd. I was traveling light.

All of my worldly possessions were in the leather backpack I had slung on one shoulder. I’d left everything behind in Barcelona at the last minute, including Nico’s pillow.

The backpack contained a few changes of clothes. I had decided to adopt a uniform for my travels.

I was wearing charcoal gray cargo pants, a black tank top, and steel-toed military boots with a custom heel that held a nice-sized dagger. In my backpack, I had two more pairs of the cargo pants, five more matching tanks, a pair of gray cargo shorts, a black military-issue sweater, sandals and a fold-up rain poncho. With that capsule wardrobe, I could account for varying terrain, temperature, and weather.

I felt lighter than I had in years.

But it wasn’t just the backpack.

Although my heart was still heavy with the loss of Nico, the dark shadows of dread that had been lying in wait since he first showed signs of Alzheimer’s had left me.

Now, I was on a mission.

Find Rose.

I’d had a dream on the plane.

I knew that she was calling out to me across space and time.

Even if she wasn’t answering her phone, it still pinged in a village on an island not far from here.

I was going to take the ferry there and then hire a driver and have them take me to the surf camp up the coast where locals and foreigners went to live simply and surf all day.

That’s where Eva had last traced Rose’s phone. Just last week.

I knew deep in my gut that Rose needed me.

And even if she didn’t, I couldn’t rest until I told her about Nico.

I knew that it would break her heart.

He was her only living relative left.

I knew how that felt.

Until Eva appeared, I’d thought I was all alone in the world, as well.

I needed to find Rose and tell her—she would never be alone as long as I walked this earth.

The End

Gia returns in DARK VENGEANCE. Follow Kristi Belcamino on Amazon or sign up for her newsletter (details below) to be notified of its release date. In the meantime, read on for a sneak peek.

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Dark Vengeance Prologue

Stepping out of the hired car, I handed the driver a wad of cash and promised more if he’d wait an hour for me.

I walked across the sandy dirt road and stood scanning the ramshackle village of huts scattered on the bluff overlooking the beach. Beyond the huts was the ocean.

The setting sun turned the water a molten gold color. More than two dozen surfers riding the crashing waves were reduced to graceful weaving black silhouettes.

Walking down to the sand, I scanned the surfers on the shore.

Several sat in groups. The sweet smell of marijuana was thick in the air.

I approached one group.

A tall black woman with the body of a swimsuit model and long hair in blonde braids looked over at me. She didn’t smile but she didn’t frown, either, so I kept walking.

Another woman, shorter with tanned skin and lank dishwater blonde hair, gave me the once over as she took a puff of a joint and passed it to a boy beside her. He had spiky dreads and a warm smile that he shot my way.

Two other boys, blonde and tanned were facing the water, giving commentary on the surfers in heavy Australian accents.

I sat on the sand nearby and watched the surfers for a few seconds.

The friendly guy with the spiky dreads leaned over. “Want some?” he asked, holding out a joint to me. He had a Cockney accent. I smiled and accepted the offering, inhaling and then passing it back.

“You new in town?” the tall woman with braids asked in a friendly voice.

I nodded. “I’m looking for my daughter.”

The group exchanged glances. I didn’t miss the zing of alarm that seemed to trickle through group. Now one of the blonde Australian boys was paying attention. He narrowed his eyes at me. “We aren’t saying shit to you. This is a free zone. Nobody asks questions. Nobody has a past or any history. We live for the moment.”

The guy with the spiky dreads said, “Yeah, man,” and reached over to bump fists with the blonde.

I waited a beat and then nodded. “I get it. I’m just here to tell her that her father died.”

The tall woman met my eyes. She stared at me for a long moment. Then she stood. “That’s a different story. Who is your daughter?”

I stood, as well.

“Her name is Rose.”

She laughed.

“None of us use our real names around here,” she said, and then looked at my phone. “Show me a picture.”

I glanced at the group that was still sitting on the sand. They suddenly seemed hostile.

Leaning down, I pulled up a picture of Rose from a few years ago. I had no idea what she looked like now. I hadn’t seen her since her boyfriend Timothy died six months before.

She’d left with her dog, Dylan, intent on hunting down the Sultan, a religious cult leader freak she believed had been behind