by Jax Abbey
“You better not be watching me,” Stella said in a stern tone. Finn snapped his head around so quickly he nearly got whiplash. He willed his nether regions into submission and took his robe into the bathroom. He took his time walking back into the room, stealing glances at Stella.
“So, I get the bed this time, right? Since you got it last time, and I slept on the couch?” Finn joked.
Stella pouted. “But I had to work a lot harder than you tonight. All you did was take off your clothes and shake your skinny butt.”
“Aha! You were looking at my butt!”
Stella blushed and stuffed her dirty clothes into her bag. “It was at eye level in the center of the club. There was no way I could avoid it.”
“Uh huh, sure,” Finn scoffed. “How about this? We share the bed. I’ll make a pillow wall and there won’t be any funny business. Not on my side or yours.”
Stella bit her lip, then shrugged. “Okay, but you better stay on your side!”
She climbed into her side of the bed and settled herself beneath the covers. Finn found extra pillows in the closet and fluffed them before lining them up along the center of the bed.
“That work?” he asked. Stella nodded and he shimmied under the covers. He turned out the lamp on his nightstand. He and Stella lay silently in the dark.
“You know, I don’t sleep with just anybody,” she said. “I mean, my bed is my sacred space.”
“I do,” said Finn, lighthearted. He hoped Stella wouldn’t realize he wasn’t just being facetious.
“Hey, Finn?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re being a jerk now.”
“Sorry, I’ll try to rein it in.”
They each woke up on their respective sides of the bed. Finn was disappointed to see the pillow wall remained undisturbed.
“We should probably get going,” he said. “The faster we meet my contact, the faster we can get back home.” And the faster I can forget about this woman.
Stella slid out from under the covers, stood, and stretched. Finn shifted to the side so she wouldn’t see the tent poking up on his side of the bed.
“Could you get Phoebe on the phone?” Stella asked. “I trust you that she’s alright, but I feel bad that the last time I spoke to her we were fighting.”
“Sure,” Finn said, swallowing deeply. Stella perched on the side of the bed while he dialed Billy’s phone number. He prayed this time would be more successful than his previous attempts.
“Ayo, it’s Billy. Drop me a line at the…” The beep sounded. Finn felt stupid leaving yet another message on Billy’s voicemail, but he didn’t want to let Stella know anything was wrong.
“Hey, bro, it’s me…just trying to catch up with you and Phoebe, so give me a shout when you can.” Finn ended the call and glanced at Stella as she bit her lip. He reached out and tugged a strawberry-blonde lock. “It’ll be fine. I’m sure Phoebe’s already forgotten about it by now.”
“You’re probably right,” Stella said. “She can barely remember her own telephone number. You mind if I grab the bathroom first?”
“Go for it,” Finn said. “I’ve got to call my boss, anyway.”
Stella grabbed clean clothes for the day and disappeared into the bathroom. Finn walked into the living room, closing the bedroom door behind him. He took a deep breath and dialed Julian’s number. He paced as he waited for Julian to answer the call.
“Hello, Jacob. Have you got the crown in your possession already?” Julian answered.
“Look, Boss, I know you said not to call until I got the crown, but there’s a situation.”
“A ‘situation’? I don’t like the sound of that.”
Finn kept moving as he choked out a recap of his journey so far. “And now Billy is MIA…with the girl.” Finn held his breath as he waited for Julian to respond.
“So after your foolishness at von Rothschild’s home, you devise a ludicrous plan in alliance with the idiot I call my son?”
Finn paused before answering. “Pretty much.” The other end of the line remained silent. “Everything was going fine until Billy disappeared. I thought he would come through this time.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Julian hung up.
Finn let out a sigh of relief. He hoped he could locate Phoebe before Stella realized she’d gone off the radar. Finn hated admitting his screw-up to Julian, but if anyone would be able to track down Billy, it was him.
Billy, 11:54 a.m.
Billy sat on the patio watching Christoph slowly and deliberately pick through a bowl of fruit salad. His jeweled walking stick balanced against the wrought iron table. Billy wrung his hands and waited in silence. Christoph either didn’t notice his agitation, or he didn’t care enough to acknowledge it.
“Uh, so I was wondering, when are we going to let the girl go?”
Christoph’s brow furrowed as he savagely speared a piece of cantaloupe. Billy gulped. “We’ve been over this before, William; she is our leverage.”
Billy blew out a large breath. “Yes, but you never said what for—”
“All will be revealed in time, William. She won’t come to any harm. We just need to get to your father.” Christoph finally looked up. “Now that we’ve settled that, would you like a bowl?” he asked.
Billy opened his mouth to respond when his phone rang, instructing him to “Fuck bitches and get money.” Christoph raised an eyebrow as Billy struggled to locate the phone. He was definitely getting a new ringtone. He glanced at the screen and then up at Christoph.
“It’s my dad,” he said. Christoph motioned for him to answer it.
“Hey, Dad,” Billy said breezily. He put the call on speaker.
“Don’t ‘Hey Dad’ me,” Julian barked. “I just got a call from Jacob. Where are you? Where’s the girl you’re supposed to be watching?”
“I’m great, Dad. Thanks for asking,” Billy snapped. “Did you really just call to scream at me?”
A warning tone crept into Julian’s voice. “Answer the question, William.”
“In case you haven’t noticed—and you haven’t—I’m an adult and I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to.”
Christoph rolled his eyes.
“William—”
“You want to know where I am? I’m at Christoph’s.”
There was a pause. “You’re with Christoph?”
“That’s what I said. Loud and clear.”
The other end of the phone remained silent. “Why?”
“Christoph believes in me. He sees my potential. He wants to know my opinions on stuff, and he treats me like an equal,” Billy said in a rush.
“William—” Julian began in a softer tone.
“No, Dad, it’s my turn to talk. I’ve been listening to you praise Alex forever, and then Finn came along and you worshipped the ground he walked on, too. For ten years, I’ve watched you treat him better than me. You could never find a single good thing to say about me, your own goddamn son.” As Billy grew more agitated, his voice increased in pitch and volume.
“You and I both know Alex doesn’t want to do this forever, so I figured it would finally be my time to shine. With the golden boy gone, I figured I would take his place, but instead you chose Finn. Finn! Some fucking jailbird orphan you rescued from the street. You put him before me.”
Julian started to speak again, but Billy talked over him. “I’m done being the low man on the totem pole. I’m done doing what you want when you don’t give a damn about me. And I’m done with this conversation.” Billy stabbed the button to end the call. He blew out a big breath and looked at Christoph.
“Well, then,” Christoph said. “Here’s an official welcome to the team, William.”
Billy smiled, but his satisfaction didn’t last long. “Uh, Christoph…do you think you could find me a place to stay? I’m pretty sure that conversation just got me kicked out of my dad’s place.”
STELLA, 1:02 P.M.
The Beetle was filled with an uneasy sile
nce as Finn steered it along I-10. Normally, Stella would try and come up with something to fill it, but she was preoccupied with her thoughts. She was worried not only about the fact that they couldn’t get in touch with Phoebe, but about her steadily growing attraction to Finn. Finn’s comments made her body react as if she were a wallflower with a paralyzing crush on the most popular boy in school, and that boy had finally asked her to dance. It was absolutely infuriating. He was an arrogant know-it-all who acted like everyone else had been placed in his path merely to do his bidding…but he wasn’t nearly as obnoxious as he was at first.
“You should really get satellite radio installed in this thing,” he joked. “I can only take so much Madonna.” Stella gave him a slight smile and gazed off into the distance.
Finn’s phone rang in his pocket. Stella watched as he pulled it out, answered, and listened for a bit. His eyes cut to her, then back to the road. After another moment, the Beetle nearly swerved off the road, and Stella, wide-eyed, made a grab for the steering wheel. “He WHAT?” Finn exclaimed.
After a few seconds, Finn dropped the phone and looked at Stella in a daze. A sinking feeling bloomed in the bottom of Stella’s stomach. She didn’t know why, but she didn’t think she was going to like what Finn had to say.
“What’s wrong?” she finally asked. As Finn opened his mouth to answer, “Heaven Is a Place on Earth” blared from Stella’s purse. She pulled out her phone and grimaced at the caller ID. Of course her father would be calling. She spoke to him maybe twice every year, and of all the days, he chose this one to call out of the blue? She let the call go to voicemail and turned back to Finn. “Answer me.”
Finn swallowed, navigated the car to the shoulder of the highway, and turned it off.
“What is it?” Stella squeaked. “What’s wrong with Phoebe?”
“Nothing’s wrong with Phoebe, per se,” Finn began, “but she and Billy are…missing.”
“What?”
“My boss is on his way to meet us in San Antonio. He has a private jet so he should be there at the same time, I think. Maybe a little earlier.”
“Again—what? They’re missing? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well, I didn’t think they were really missing,” Finn said.
“How long?” Stella said through clenched teeth. Finn widened his eyes innocently and shrugged. Stella reached over, grabbed his ear and started to twist. “I said…how…long…have…you…known?”
“Ow! Ow! Ow!’ Finn slapped her hand away and rubbed his aching ear. “Was that really necessary?”
Stella reached for his ear again and Finn leaned back out of reach. “How do we find her, Finn?” she shouted.
Finn hit the steering wheel in frustration. “I don’t know, Stella. Okay? I don’t know. I don’t have all the fucking answers.”
Stella faced forward, stiff-backed in her seat. “I want to call the police.”
“What? No. You can’t do that. Did you forget what I do for a living?” Finn asked in a panic.
“Did you forget that I’m a real person and not just some pawn in whatever stupid game you’re playing? That’s my sister.” As Stella picked up her phone, Finn reached for the back of his waistband.
“Are you fucking kidding me with that? I thought we were going to be friends.”
Finn swallowed hard and kept a hand on the gun. “Stella, I’d love to be your friend. Hell, I’d like to be a lot more than your friend, but this is my job. And Julian is my family. We’re gonna figure it out, okay? I promise.”
Stella crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head to the window. Finn grabbed the phone from her lap and stuffed it in his pocket. “I will do whatever it takes to find her, Stella. Julian will help—he’s really powerful.” Stella continued to ignore him. He hesitated. “We’ll figure it all out in San Antonio.”
At that, Stella’s head snapped toward him. She fixed with him with an icy glare. “Then what are you waiting for? Start up the damn car and drive.”
Stella couldn’t wait to get out of the Beetle. She’d spent the last leg of the trip pissed after Finn dropped the bombshell about Phoebe. She’d been upset before that she and Phoebe had argued, but now she was truly worried about her sister’s safety, because when it came down to it, they were sisters.
Stella thought she and Finn had made some kind of connection—at least that’s what it felt like to her. I am such a complete idiot, she thought.
“We’re here,” Finn said, pulling into a large, half-full parking lot. Stella spotted a dilapidated sign for Armadillo Ernie’s Super Flea Market and turned to Finn, enraged.
“My sister has been kidnapped by your friend, who is conveniently missing in action, and you want to hit up the flea market?”
“Stella, calm down—”
“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down, Jacob Finley Gilroy. Never tell an angry woman to calm down unless you’re ready to lose a limb. Put this car back on the road, now.”
Finn held his hands up in surrender. “You’re right, you’re right. I shouldn’t have said that. But Stella, you’re not listening. My contact is a vendor here at the flea market each weekend. He has a stand that sells replica Mayan artifacts.”
“Wait a minute. This magical, valuable crown we’ve been driving across the damn country for isn’t even real?” Stella’s face was on fire. She balled a fist and wound up her arm. Finn didn’t bother to stop her, and her fist collided with his upper arm, hard. If she was being honest, though, her hand probably hurt more than his arm.
“Oh, no, it’s the real deal. A pure silver imperial crown from Guatemala dating back to the eighteenth century. But to get some of this stuff into the country, we claim it’s a replica… That would be part of the illegality of the business,” Finn explained. “All I have to do is go to his booth, show him my ring, get the crown, and get my ass back to the car. I’ll be done here in ten minutes, tops. Julian should be calling any minute.”
Stella remained stony-faced and silent. There was nothing she wanted to say to Finn; she only wanted to deck him so he could feel an ounce of the frustration and hurt brewing within her.
Finn tentatively reached over and squeezed her shoulder. “Just stay put, okay?” he pleaded before pocketing the car keys and exiting the Beetle.
Stella jumped out of the car and slammed the passenger door shut, wincing as she did so. Finn stopped and looked at her, bewildered. “I told you to stay in the car!” he said.
“I didn’t come halfway across the country to sit in the damn car,” she said, stomping to catch up with him.
“Stella, be reasonable.”
Stella put her hands on her hips. “You lost your ‘reasonable’ privileges when you neglected to mention your friend has gone off script and legitimately kidnapped my sister. Right now I don’t even want to look at you, but I don’t trust you to go in there and come right back out. So are we getting this fucking crown so we can get my fucking sister, or what?”
Finn blinked at her, his mouth gaping. Then he sighed and waved her onward. “Just stay quiet when we get there, okay? No questions, no comments, nada.”
“I’ll do my best,” Stella promised, her voice dripping with sarcasm. I’ll do my best not to throttle you until we’re behind closed doors.
She followed a couple of steps behind Finn as they made their way to the entrance of Armadillo Ernie’s Super Flea Market, where a giant bronze statue of an armadillo wearing a sombrero lifted an arm in greeting. As Finn deftly wove his way through the maze of stalls, Stella experienced sensory overload and found herself curious, despite her anger.
Her eyes were assaulted by the bright, riotous colors of Mexican woven blankets and ornate Día de los Muertos dolls, whose ghoulish faces grinned at her. The aroma of fresh popcorn intermingled with that of empanadas and tamales, and Stella was desperate for a taste. It felt as if the market were a living, breathing organism, and she remembered all the little markets she and her mother had passed through on their travels in South Ame
rica.
She was alive, and it had been such a long time since she’d last felt this way. She wanted to forget the reason she was in this place and the circumstances under which she’d arrived so she could savor the moment. She stopped, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and spun around. When she opened her eyes, she found herself face-to-face with a taxidermied armadillo.
“Finn!” she hissed. He looked back at her and raised a brow, bracing himself as if afraid she was going to hit him. “Look at this!”
Finn sighed reluctantly and backtracked to the stall Stella stood in front of. The unmanned booth was filled with tons of taxidermied armadillos. Finn smirked. “You want one of these? I’m sure I can rustle up”—he picked up one of the smaller armadillos and flipped it over—“twenty dollars for one of these puppies. It would be a great dashboard decoration for Josie.”
Stella wrinkled her nose in disgust. “I think I can do without.”
Seemingly from nowhere, a tiny, white-haired woman with large bifocals sprang from underneath a table in the back of the stall. Finn swore while Stella shrieked and grabbed his arm. “You folks looking to buy?” the old lady asked. “Come the end of the day, it’ll be slim pickings.”
“I think we’re good,” Finn declared, quickly pulling Stella away. They both laughed nervously. “How the hell does someone find so many armadillos? And how long do you think it takes to stuff one?”
“I don’t want to think about it,” Stella answered. Being in the market helped ease some of her anger, but she was still extremely worried. She couldn’t do anything at the moment, so she let it go for the time being. And though she hated to admit it, she was enjoying being pulled along by Finn, her arm in the crook of his.
“Seriously, you sure you don’t want me to get you one of those?” Finn teased.
“Not a taxidermied armadillo, but I might accept one of those longhorn cattle skulls. You know how people put mustaches on their car grilles? Or Rudolph noses and antlers at Christmas? I bet if I put a skull on Josie, nobody would mess with her.”
