Three #2
SULLY HAD BEEN STUNNED WHEN Jack told him that Ofelia had taken off with Angelique.
That was the exact opposite of what he expected from her.
Ofelia wasn’t the type to run from her responsibilities.
And, sure, the party wasn’t technically her responsibility.
It was still out of character for her to abandon the cleanup.
He was suspicious, and he was never suspicious of his fiancée. She was the most honest person he knew. She was up to something, though.
Ben was equally as confused. Once everything at the party was under control and they’d identified four scratches that needed further attention, Sully had said goodbye to his boss. He was determined to track down Ofelia. Ben had caught him by the park exit.
“Angelique isn’t answering my texts,” he said in a morose voice. “Do you think she’s mad at me?”
Sully regarded the other man. He liked him, despite the fact that he was still learning about modern times and sometimes said awkward things. Ben didn’t always react in a way that Sully understood, though.
“She’s not mad at you,” he said finally, shaking his head.
Ben jerked up his chin. “What do you mean? Did she say something?”
“No, but Ofelia is gone, too.”
Ben absently scratched his cheek. “Do you think they’re doing something? Like … do you think they’re hunting the banshees?”
“No, I think they’re hiding something.” And that was the part that Sully couldn’t wrap his head around. What could they possibly be hiding?
“What?” Ben asked blankly. “What would they hide after an attack like that?”
Sully was halfway through a shrug when it hit him. He’d seen Ofelia and Angelique huddled together by the garden wall. The park had been buzzing with activity, but they were only focused on one another.
“They didn’t want my team to get too close to them,” he said finally, a full picture finally taking shape in his head. “They were careful to take off when all of the women at the party were being checked for scratches.”
Ben’s eyes went wide. “You don’t think —”
“That’s exactly what I think.” Sully gave Ben’s shoulder a hearty slap. “Let’s go. One of them is in trouble.”
“Do you know which one?”
Sully ran the images he’d collected in the immediate aftermath through his head. He was both relieved and full of trepidation when he gathered them all into one solid image. Ofelia had been wearing a sleeveless dress. It would have been hard for her to cover up a scratch or bite.
Angelique was another story.
“Let’s just get to them,” Sully said, keeping his cop face firmly in place. He didn’t want Ben panicking when there was no reason for him to panic. “I think I know where they’re going.”
“Is that a good or bad thing?”
Sully shrugged. “I have no idea. I guess I’ll find out.”
ANGELIQUE’S EXPRESSION WAS DUBIOUS as she looked around the room that Ofelia had selected to serve as her cage.
“I love what you’ve done with the place,” she drawled, gesturing toward the big pile of nothing in the room.
Ofelia rolled her eyes. “Bernie is bringing up an air mattress and some food and stuff. I texted him.”
“Ah, an air mattress.” Angelique mock clutched at her heart. “Just what I’ve always wanted.”
Ofelia gave her a sidelong look. “I’m doing my best.”
Angelique immediately turned contrite. “I’m sorry. I know you are. This is just … not what I saw happening today.”
She wasn’t the only one, so Ofelia just nodded. “Yeah, it’s a mess. We’re going to clean it up, though.”
“Because you say so?”
“I need my maid of honor, don’t I?”
A single tear slid down Angelique’s cheek, and Ofelia moved to her so she could hug the bereft siren.
“It’s going to be okay,” Ofelia promised. “I swear it.”
Angelia nodded as she swallowed around the ball of despair lodged in her throat. She couldn’t quite wish it away. “Thank you.”
They held each other a beat longer, then separated when Bernie appeared with a whole cart full of stuff.
“Where did that come from?” Ofelia pointed at what looked like a wagon with canvas sides.
“The construction guys had a bunch of them,” Bernie replied. “They said I could borrow one.” He pulled a big box out of the cart. “I had to buy a new mattress. I put it on that credit card you gave me for emergencies.”
“Okay.” Ofelia took the box. “That’s good.”
“I only put the stuff you told me to get on it,” he promised.
Ofelia gave him a dark look. “We’ll talk about that later. You should have purchased some stuff for yourself. I’m mad you didn’t.”
Bernie looked appalled. “Um … that’s not going to happen.”
“Yeah, we’ll talk about it later.” Ofelia shook her head and opened her mouth. She was about to tell Bernie where to store the food items — of which there would have to be more — when she sensed him. Sully was in the building.
“Oh, crap.” Ofelia dropped the box and rushed toward the door. She needed to get downstairs so she could head Sully off. She had no idea what she was going to say to him — she refused to lie — but it was already too late anyway. Sully wasn’t just in the building; he was in the hallway.
“Oh, hey.” Ofelia tried to look calm and cool as she brushed her hair out of her face. She knew she looked like a righteous mess, but there was nothing she could do about it now. “How are things?”
“Smooth,” Angelique drawled, smiling for the first time since she’d been scratched by the banshee. “You’re the one I want with me when we’re invaded by aliens, and people are tortured for information.”
Ofelia lobbed a scathing look in her friend’s direction and then tried to smile at her fiancé. “Did Jack give you my message?”
Sully glanced between his wife and her best friend and was even more convinced he was right. “Who was scratched?” he asked in a soft voice. He was convinced he already knew the answer, but needed to see how Ofelia would react.
The defeat that dragged down her shoulders hurt him.
“I was,” Angelique said, raising her hand before Ofelia could decide if she was going to attempt a lie. She pulled back her sleeve to show off an angry wound. “It was me.”
Sully briefly closed his eyes as Ben let loose a horrified cry and moved toward her.
When he opened his eyes again, he found a sullen Ofelia staring at him.
He was in no mood to fight with her. He understood why she’d done what she’d done.
It was one thing for strangers at a party to be put at the mercy of his team.
It was quite another for Ofelia to hand her best friend over.
“We’ll figure it out,” he said in a low voice when the silence stretched between them. “We’ll find an antidote if it turns out she’s infected, which we don’t actually know she is.”
Ofelia exhaled in relief and walked toward him. He pulled her into his chest and rested his cheek on the top of her head. “Thank you. I just … I couldn’t hand her over to them. I know that’s ridiculous because we work with them, but …” She didn’t finish it out. She didn’t have to.
“But Angelique is our friend, and we’re going to protect her no matter what,” he finished for her.
“Yeah.” Tears threatened to explode from Ofelia’s eyes, and she had to force herself to remain calm. “I have a plan.”
“Good.” Sully rubbed his hands over her slim back. “Another minute of this and you can tell me the plan.”
“Okay.” Ofelia swayed with him back and forth. “That sounds like a really good idea.”
“I thought you would like it.”