Chapter Nineteen #2
She loved that Wilder wanted a family for her brother.
She could hear the ring of truth in his voice.
He so easily could have condemned Salvadore and his way of life, but he took into consideration, as she did, that Salvadore’s only other choice was death.
If he wanted to live, just like if Guadalupe wanted to live, they had to comply with the cartel’s demands.
“There was such sadness in him. I felt that same sorrow in Guadalupe as well,” Harlow said.
“The anguish was so heavy I wanted to cry for both of them. And maybe for me. But I knew after they left, their lives would be the same, but I had you. I’ll always have you.
” That sorrow she felt for Guadalupe and Salvadore, she now felt at the loss of her parents, the weight of the loss crushing her.
She clung to the fact that she had Wilder and her friends to help her figure out how she was feeling, to find a way to mourn them.
“We’ll make certain Guadalupe doesn’t feel alone,” Wilder assured. “She’s essentially part of our family, whether she wants to be or not. It won’t just be about her security, Harlow. We’ll find ways to include her.”
Harlow wanted that…but…“I’m not certain Guadalupe can allow herself to genuinely care for anyone other than Salvadore.
I don’t blame her; she’s had to lead a double life since she was sixteen years old.
I held myself apart for a long time, Wilder.
Even from my friends. I didn’t know how to do anything else because that was how I survived.
It was Zahra who saved me. She thinks I saved her, but it was really the other way around.
Her family completely rejected her. She had a death sentence hanging over her, or she would have been forced to marry a man who was very vicious with women if they didn’t do exactly as he said.
Then she escaped to what we both thought would be a safe haven, and the senator attacked her.
But you know what? She was so resilient, so open to a real friendship with me, even after all of that.
I saw her kindness and caring every day, and that helped me to open myself to the friends I have now.
It’s still somewhat of a closed circle, and I struggle to show others my true self.
Guadalupe has had far more years of hiding in plain sight than I have.
It can be nearly impossible to share yourself after years of being closed off. ”
“I’m well aware, sweetheart, but if we keep extending our hand to her, eventually she may trust us enough to take that hand. We just need to have patience and understanding.”
“Like you did with me.”
“Like I do with you,” he corrected. “You’re still having problems at times, Harlow.
It’s natural. It will be for Guadalupe as well.
We’ll get there eventually. You have reached a point where you trust your friends.
You trust Rainier, Sam and Zale. Now you’ve let me in.
She’ll get there too. We’ll do it together. ”
She loved that about Wilder. He was willing to spend time making certain Guadalupe was comfortable with them.
“I hope you’re right. I want her life to be so much happier.
Not just to make up for what the senator did, but because she truly deserves to be surrounded by family and feel love every day. ”
“I can guarantee if we have a baby, she won’t be able to resist being a grandmother. She risked her life to protect you from her own son. That has to tell you something about how she feels about you. She’s already protective of you. I think we’re halfway there.”
“She did, didn’t she?” Harlow said, hearing the wonder in her voice. Guadalupe had done that. She’d even put herself in front of what she thought was a gun in order to try to keep Harlow safe. “She really meant that, didn’t she?”
“I want to marry you immediately, Harlow. We can get the license today and plan whatever kind of wedding you’d like to have.”
She heard the one single note in his voice that made her very aware he wasn’t as confident of her as she would like him to be.
“Love that idea,” she said readily. “Although you were the one who wanted the fairy tale, Wilder,” she reminded.
“I’d like it small and intimate, but if you want to go big, we can do that.
I’ll marry you any way you want it to happen. ”
“Small and intimate it is. If I don’t ask Rainier’s permission to marry you, he’ll likely stop the wedding. If I do ask him, you know he’s going to get all pompous and insist on walking you down the aisle.”
“Sam already informed me that if any of us got married, he was walking us down the aisle,” she said. “Rainier can have it out with Sam.”
Wilder laughed. “As long as neither of them objects, we’re golden.”
“If they object, I’m kidnapping you, so be prepared,” she teased. “I’ll drive the getaway car. I’m a good driver, took a lot of racing courses as well as defensive driving. They won’t have a chance to stop us.”
She deliberately said the silliest thing she could think of to show him she would follow him anywhere. Go with him anywhere. She was fully committed, and he needed to know that without a doubt.
Wilder leaned into her, framed her face with his hands and kissed her. Thoroughly. He didn’t have to say the words aloud; she tasted love.
—
The six women met at Shabina’s house because it was just easier to keep under tight security. Rainier had his men patrolling outside while he and Wilder stayed in the security room. Rush had agreed to allow Raine to join them, mostly because he could easily make her comfortable at Shabina’s.
“I’ve been really studying this situation with all the mysterious deaths,” Harlow greeted, not waiting to introduce the topic she couldn’t get out of her head.
She sank into her favorite chair. Shabina had the best furniture.
The absolute top-of-the-line luxury chairs.
Once seated, Harlow never wanted to get up.
Well, the exception would be when it came time to eat Shabina’s delicious food.
“I’m totally convinced someone is behind the deaths, that they aren’t random. ”
The other women murmured their assent. Even Shabina.
“I’ve come over to the dark side,” Shabina announced.
“I didn’t want to, because that means someone in our town is killing our friends once again.
Knightly is magical, but for some reason, along with the wonderful magic, it also attracts the complete opposite. ”
Stella waved her hand in the air. “I don’t want to think about it happening all over again, but I keep having those weird nightmares.”
“I enhanced the video and screenshots of the man in the hoodie creeping around Guadalupe’s house,” Raine said. “If you look very closely, when he’s crouched down right there”—she froze the screen, turning it so all of them could see—“he’s definitely releasing something into Guadalupe’s flower bed.”
They passed the laptop around, each of them studying the screen, trying to make out what the man was dropping into the raised bed where pansies and tulips grew.
“It’s a spider,” Harlow said as the small arachnid was caught in the light for a brief second. “He’s releasing a spider.”
“She’s right,” Vienna acknowledged. “That’s a spider. A very shiny one.”
Shabina leaned close to the screen. “That’s just creepy. A black widow? It isn’t a recluse. Why would he dump a spider into Guadalupe’s flowers?”
“If that spider has the very toxic venom that is killing people,” Stella said, “it would explain why my dreams are so disconnected. He isn’t doing the actual killing. His little pet spider is.”
Harlow sat back in her chair as Vienna passed the laptop back to Raine. “Did you find any connection between the four people who aren’t from here? I mean, other than that they all ate at the Sunrise Café and the Blue Heron Bakery?”
“Actually, yes. I reviewed the security footage from the Blue Heron Bakery,” Raine said.
“All four had a very unpleasant encounter with Bale Landry. He hit on Tammy Dailly, and she turned him down. He got ugly and followed her out to the parking lot. They appeared to argue, and then he punched the side of her car.”
“Bale did?” Shabina said. “Why am I not surprised? He has such a foul temper when it comes to women.”
“Malone Armstrong confronted him in the parking lot when Bale was yelling at Tammy,” Raine said. “They nearly came to blows. Malone went inside to get coffee, and Bale went over to his truck and keyed it. Or at least he appeared to.”
“You think he put spiders in both vehicles,” Vienna said, shock in her voice. “It’s inconceivable even for him.”
“It fits,” Raine said.
“What about the two brothers? What happened with them?” Zahra asked.
Harlow noted that she didn’t sound in the least surprised that Bale may have been the one to put deadly spiders in an enemy’s flower bed or vehicle.
It was diabolical and also cowardly. Bale was both.
Zahra knew that firsthand. He’d despised her because she’d been born in another country.
It didn’t matter that she had gotten her citizenship.
“He had a run-in with them almost immediately after he had the confrontation with Armstrong,” Raine said.
“Ray bumped into him accidentally and spilled his coffee. He apologized and offered to buy Bale a cup of coffee. Bale hit Ray and Doug jumped him. They were asked to leave. Bale was furious. He argued with Leon, the owner, but he was told to leave.”
“Did you catch him on surveillance near their car?” Stella asked.
“No, but it follows that if he’s the one planting venomous spiders and he did in Tammy and Armstrong’s vehicles, then he did in the Camello brothers’ car as well.”
“Widows don’t kill like that,” Vienna pointed out.