24. Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-four
Grady Marlow
M y hand automatically claps over my mouth as I stare up at the east side wall of Hidden Treasure’s building. Standing in the alley with Wilder, Cal, and Charlie, all of us are in awe. Once the pictures we’ve snapped on our phones are taken, I point to the birds. “Look at that, you can see our names around the hearts… if you’re close enough.” Every sweep of my eyes over the wall I see something else. “Holy shit, look at the detail on the Drive-In movie screen.” Our girl is really fucking talented. I knew that, but this shows everyone that ventures through Lake Hollow.
“Those caricatures, they’re perfect,” Cal says taking another picture.
Remi walks up behind us, clearing her throat she says, “I heard there were four lunatics out here. Guess I should’ve known who it was.” She tugs at my shirt playfully. “How did you manage to get here without an entourage?”
Scooping her close with a hand around her waist, I give her a kiss near her ear. “Babe, this is incredible. The sketch you did, doesn’t even compare. I had to see it in person. Who gives a shit if I make the news, because then this will, too.”
She blushes while pushing me back. “Sir, we are in public.”
“That’s the point,” Wilder says teasingly. He puts his arms around her waist from behind her. Cal takes one of her hands, while Charlie backs up further to take a couple more pictures.
“Um, I’m all for gettin’ a little handsy, but let’s not do it for the whole downtown to see. I was called the town doorknob yesterday.” She wiggles away from us, dropping Cal’s hand. “Ya know… everyone takes a turn.”
I groan in irritation. “Are you fucking with us? It's disgusting that someone said that to you, babe.”
A warning goes off in my mind. We laid it all out for each other in my cabin a couple nights ago. It had to happen, but as a side effect I’ve noticed she’s been putting space between her and us. She doesn’t know who she can trust, and I don’t blame her.
Remi never dwells on the bullshit; she blows it off. She changes the subject with a wave of her hand then adds, “Meh. It was that woman on the corner of Main street and Eighth that said it, anyway. The one that mows her lawn twice a day. Keenan said her uppers don’t mix well with the thermos of Rum she drinks daily. I’m fine.”
“Rem, you’re destined for greatness. I mean it. You did this in what… five days? Unbelievable,” Charlie says, stepping our way. “I bet in the next day or two someone from the city will contact you about doing prints of it, putting it on travel brochures… you name it.” If they do, it’s because Gibson put it in motion.
We’re keeping Remi’s going away party a surprise. She’s not working tomorrow night, the plan is for Natalie to find her at eight, tell her that Skip is having problems at the Funpark and needs help closing up. She’s responsible for getting her there, but I’m worried she might be a weak link in the scheme. Natalie James is the ditsiest person I’ve ever talked to. For some reason, I’m the only one worried.
I’m all for devising a backup plan right now. “Rem, what are you doing tomorrow night?” Cal looks at me in confusion.
She blows a strand of her hair from her face, before scratching nervously on her elbow. Coming up with an excuse to stay away? Damn it. I’m not the only one noticing her reluctance in answering. She says, “Uh, so this might sound weird, but Father Chris mentioned a mural in the rectory at St. James that needs to be repainted. I’m having dinner with Keenan and then I’m going to scope it out.”
I know the mural she’s referring to. It’s existed on the wall into the rectory chapel all my life. The only thing that ever stood out to me is all the red fruit in the picture blended into the water of the river. It gave me nightmares as a kid.
“It needs to be redone, badly. You’ll understand when you see it. It’s a bit gruesome.” I make a face shaking my head.
Wilder turns to me. “I’ve never been in the rectory. Why’s it ‘gruesome’?” He mocks my word choice with air quotes, and a laugh.
Cal shivers and rolls his eyes. “The blood bath in the water?”
The church delivered many gloom and doom messages over the years, coupled with the mural that creeped me out, I have a complicated relationship with my Catholic faith. Their stance on loving the same sex doesn’t help. Charlie pipes up, “I’d forgotten about that mural. Sister Mary Margaret would tell us to shield our eyes when we’d walk through to the courtyard.” He chuckles. “Why didn’t they paint over it, or fix it when it was first done?”
Remi listens to us, biting at her thumb nail. She takes a shaky breath saying, “Charlie, did you know Daniel had started a club in the church and they were the ones that painted the mural?”
His brow furrows. “No. Who told you that?”
“Father Lowe, he was here earlier. He started a club called WPL… or Water Provides Life. Did you know that?” She’s watching him intently. My blood runs cold… because I’ve heard of it.
So has Cal and Wilder. We didn’t know who or where it had started.
Charlie looks at Cal. “Yeah. Let’s not talk about that.”