Dark Vengeance by Kristi Belcamino (libby ebook reader .txt) 📗

just a light breeze. I craned my neck and saw that the sun had come out again and lit the water up like it was a sea of fire. “How can that not be God’s work?”

I shrugged. “Maybe.” But then monsters like X kill innocents like Matteo.

“Sheesh, no maybe about it.”

I reached over for the cigarette pack lying on the blankets between us. After I got one out, she handed me her cigarette and I lit mine from it. I wasn’t seeing visions anymore. I was just feeling good.

After I inhaled and exhaled loudly, I said, “I used to believe in God until he took away everyone and everything I loved.”

“Shit,” she drawled. “God didn’t do that. Man did that.”

“True.”

“That doesn’t mean there isn’t a God.”

“Okay.” I didn’t want to argue about God right then. What I wanted was to lose this buzz so I could go do something that God would never forgive me for. And I realized that was the crux of it: How could I believe in God when I was a killer?

“I know what you’re thinking,” Makeda said with a smile and stood.

I scoffed.

“No, really,” she said. “I don’t have an answer for you. All I know is that I know people and despite what you have done, or what you do, you are a good person, Gia.”

“Thanks.”

She headed for the door. “I’ll be back. I’ve got to go tell them about Matteo. I can’t put it off any longer.”

I frowned. She saw it. “Don’t worry, I’m saving X for you to deal with. Be back soon.”

I sat there for a while on the blankets and finally gave in to what I’d wanted to do for days. I dialed Ryder’s number.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey yourself,” he said. He sounded like he was sleeping. I was glad he knew who I was right away. It wasn’t like we spoke on the phone on a regular basis.

“I’m really high,” I said.

“I figured there was some reason you would call.”

“I’m lonely.”

“Hold up? Who is this again?”

I crinkled my nose. Was he fucking serious?

He burst into laughter. “This sure as hell isn’t Giada Valentina Santella. She would never admit any vulnerability like being lonely. You must be really high.”

I made a snorting sound. “Like you know me so well.” I said. “We’ve spent a whole week together at the most. Maybe not even that. And how do you know my full name, anyway? Kind of creepy, Ryder.”

“I know you better than you think,” he said it in a low voice that was way too sincere for my liking. In fact, it made me wince.

“Whatever,” I said.

“What do you need, love?”

He called me love! I took another drag off my cigarette, exhaling before I answered.

“I don’t know.”

“What’s going on?” he asked.

I filled him in. It felt amazing to share all the details with him. It wasn’t like I could tell Dante or someone else all of it. With Ryder, I could just flat out state that I’d killed the bodyguard and found Matteo’s body as a matter of fact, without worrying about censoring my words or having him reel in shock. When I finished, he was quiet for a few seconds.

“Wonder what this guy’s story is.”

He was right. I hadn’t even tried to find out more. I thought about what Makeda had said: Everyone was here hiding from something or someone else.

“He’s definitely hiding something. That’s how I’ll get him.”

“Obviously X isn’t his real name, either,” Ryder said dryly. “If you get me his fingerprints, I can do some digging—I’ve still got connections back in the states. You did say he was American, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So as soon as you’re feeling back to yourself, go get those prints, Sherlock.”

I laughed. I was about to disconnect the call when he said in a low voice, “You sure you don’t need me to come out there and help you put suntan oil on your back.”

Hearing him say that and imagining his hands slicking oil all over my body made me suddenly crazy with desire.

“Damn you for putting that image in my head.”

He laughed softly.

I hung up without saying anything else.

21

The boy from the surf camp was so stoned, he didn’t even feel the needle that X slid into his neck. The boy’s head slumped to the side.

It wouldn’t kill him, but it would keep him out of the way for the time being.

X wanted him alive. He was a valuable asset—a mole in the surf camp. Once X had Rose, the boy’s life wouldn’t matter, but for now, he wanted him to be ears and eyes for what was going on.

The kid was smart. As soon as he’d heard X wanted the dog, he’d broken into the vet’s office and stolen the dog. All he wanted in exchange was the girl.

Fine.

She was becoming a burden anyway. She was no good at blow jobs, despite those pouty lips and bedroom eyes, and since he wasn’t a boob man, her plentiful offerings did nothing for him.

After years of pretending he was turned on by his marks, he was done. Faking enthusiasm for so long had made him lose interest nearly altogether. Except for women who had money. Now, they turned him on.

He’d given the girl the same injection earlier and told Kue and Khan that when they woke he should drive them back to the surf camp but drop them off about a half- mile away, out of sight of the others. He’d told the blonde boy how to reach him in the event that he knew something about Rose.

Now, he just had to make a public display of having the dog so word would get to Rose. He leaned down to scratch the dog’s ears and it licked his hand. The dog was sweet, but that wouldn’t save its life. He decided he’d do something he’d never done before: he’d drive into town and have lunch at one of the sidewalk cafes. With the dog by his side.

That should fuel the gossip.

Just as he was heading