Page 27 (1/2)
Chapter One
Bleu MacAllister
Southaven, Mississippi
My favorite violin and piano duet plays as I atteto do freelance investigation fro
The song “Tiotten” plays It’s a ree has been forgotten Three months and h I think of hi problem
I push the thoughts of Sin froh the photos fro to nail her cheating husband’s ass to the wall My aging coh raphs
“Dammit!”
Ies of my client’s husband and his lover flutter beforelike a scene from a stop-motion movie I don’t wish to watch for a second tiainst the trackpad in an effort to make it cease
“Stop Stop Stop, you son of a bitch”
My laptop finally obeys after a bit of physical abuse, but not before coe I have of Sinclair Breckenridge and ether
Wow … talk about coincidence I have thousands of pictures on this computer What are the odds it would land on this one?
It’s karma Or bad juju I don’t know Maybe the universe wants to torture me
The photo in front ofmy initiation ceremony at Thane and Isobel’s country estate We’re surrounded by the soft glow of candlelight and Sin is cradlingabout that moment He told me I was special and then leaned in to kiss my forehead He had not toldthose three words I recognized the look in his eyes because I’d been seeing it in my own reflection for some time
I avoid this picture Looking at it breaksit to the trash and delete it for good I want to but I can’t bring er That seems to be a common problem with me these days
I was on the plane home when I discovered the picture on round again The iether sent ht I was forced into the tiny lavatory to talk myself down I was lucky The episode wasn’t one of the bad ones but an enclosed area lacking proper ventilation couldn’t be worse when you feel like you’re s to death
I took thousands of photographs while I was in Edinburgh I must have at least five hundred of Sin—most of which are candid since he was usually unaware Those are my favorites I was always behind the camera—and never in front of it—so none of ether That’s why I treasure this one Many thanks to whoever used my phone to capture this moment
I touch the screen I strokelike the real thing I close ainst my skin
He rarely grehat I would call a beard He always kept his facial hair short and scruffy And I loved it, especially when he would drag his face down the center of my body just to hear me squeal But the best hen he’d push the crotch of s
“Holy shit, Bleu That’s him, isn’t it?” I jerk when I hear Ellison’s voice over my shoulder “That’s the man you ith in Scotland”
I’m so stupid I can’t believe I’ve allowed her to sneak up and catch raph I was preoccupied That’s my only excuse
Ellison has interrogated ue She’s on a need-to-know-only basis That means I haven’t told her shit But I want to I need so to ease
“Yes” That’s my Breck My admission feels like a ton of bricks lifted from my shoulders
“Damn That is one hottie Scottie”
“I know” I sigh as I prop my chin in my hand I look at the handsome face of the onlyto take me the way I am
Two men Both know the darkness I carry inside But they love me anyway
I’ve lost one I’ me
“My God, Bleu Look at the way he’s holding you … like you’re his everything I don’t kno you walked away from him”
You’d be surprised by the things you can do when you’re staring death in the face
“My job was over”
“You haven’t told ood?”
I recall the words he used to describe what being together was like for him “The best ever”
“You don’t think you’ll see hiain?”
“No” I won’t if I want to continue to live
I feel Ellison’s supportive hand on my shoulder “That’s too bad, sis”
“TellI don’t know”
Ellison plops down onfor the last three months I would et out and move on You can’t sit in t
his house and never socialize again”
Has she lost touch with reality? “Do I need to remind you that I’ve never socialized? This isn’t new for me”
“But you didn’t knohat you were reat sex There’s no turning back”
“I don’t want to have sex with anyone else” No one will ever make me feel the way Sin did I’m certain it would only be a disappoint
“I get it You don’t have to go out and find your next lay tonight but you do have to go out”
Says who? “No, I don’t”
“Please, Bleu I’ to Beale Street”
Beale is Mened to patrol it when I was on the force Nothing but trouble
“We’re ly in a couple hours You’ll have fun I promise it’ll help take your mind off your Scottish hottie”
I have some serious doubts about that but Ellison has dated a lot She probably knows the remedy for this pain better than I do
“Who’s going?” I don’t really handle people well, specifically silly females I have no patience for them
“Clancy and April” She’s counting people off on her fingers as she says their names “Bree, Ashley, and Callie for sure Maybe et there”
I don’t like to make small talk with people I’ab
Besides, I have a date I’et for a photo contest I plan to enter
Ellison must see my hesitation “I know you don’t love crowds but they’re all cool Swear”
My sister doesn’t understand how painfully aard going out is for me “I’d rather have toothpicks driven into my eyeballs”
“That can be arranged if you say you won’t go”
I guess I can drink whisky until I drown out the lady chitchat “I’ll go for the Johnnie Walker”
“Yes!” Ellison gives the air a fist pump “Be ready to leave at seven”
I’reed to this I’m southern but not country There are too many cowboy hats and boots in this place for me
I’ strangers take shots from their bared abdomens I swear I will beat Ellison’s ass if she tries either
Ellison’s neork friends aren’t my kind of people In their defense, I suppose not many are At least they’re better than the ones she had at her old job in Memphis
I hold up lass when our server comes around and she returns withto take quite a few more of these to achieve an acceptable level of ae is concerned
“You go, sista” Ellison holds up her drink “Here’s to getting wasted and forgetting about …” She shrugs and giggles “See? I’ve already forgotten what I’”
Her poison for the night is Long Island iced tea so she’s already drunk I know this by her annoying horselaugh Classic Ellison