Page 37 of Gabe

How was I supposed to live in close quarters with him for an unknown amount of time now that I knew he had this softer side to him?

Despite sleeping in the same bed every night, we hadn’t done more than kiss, yet even that felt like too much for my nerves. Because of that, it was almost a relief to get out of the house.

Gabe had agreed to let me come with him when he investigated the location where Tansie Bell’s son was spotted. It was a good chance to give Newt and Sebastian some privacy, something I knew they were desperately missing, and maybe even provide an opportunity to figure out where I stood with Gabe.

Assuming I ever worked up the courage to ask.

We arrived in Baton Rouge. It was the same city where I’d been living before all this started, and a place I hadn’t expected to see any time soon. Yet, the fact that our investigation led us right back to the same place didn’t surprise me. Baton Rouge was the capital, after all. Other than New Orleans, it was the most important city in the state.

Gabe found a place to park the car in an out of the way parking lot, and I stepped onto the city street with an odd surreal feeling.

Although it hadn’t actually been that long since my peaceful life was interrupted, it felt like a lifetime ago, and even being back in the same area felt like stepping into an old outfit that no longer fit.

Like most cities in this part of Louisiana, there were a lot of rivers and bridges interrupting the streets. That was the consequence of building cities in an area with so much marshland and swamp. Water was an inevitable part of every citizen’s life. Yet, after living in a house out in the woods, where I saw nothing but trees every day, I found my eyes no longer accustomed to the landscape I’d once considered home. I couldn’t help watching the river as Gabe and I walked down the street toward the spot where Tansie Bell’s son had been seen.

A sign for boat tours of the nearest swamp caught my attention.

“Hey, Gabe. You ever visit a swamp?”

He eyed me for a moment, probably wondering if there was a hidden meaning behind my strange question.

“Yes. A few times, though not recently.”

I dodged around a few people on the street in order to stay at his side.

“I went on a swamp tour once for a middle school field trip when I was a kid. Tourists love them, so I was excited to see what all the hype was about.” Recalling the memory, I shuddered. “I fell out of the boat right into a slimy patch of algae. I’ve hated swamps ever since.”

A man talking on a cell phone as he walked tried to push between us. I was ready to step out of the way, but Gabe grabbed my wrist to keep me close. The man ended up bumping into us and looked up from his phone with an angry look on his face. His anger died the moment he realized how far he had to look up to meet Gabe’s eyes, and he immediately shuffled away.

It was one of the benefits to being tall, I supposed. People naturally got out of his way.

That was a luxury I would never know. I wasn’t the shortest person, especially not when I stood next to Newt, but I wasn’t particularly tall either.

Gabe kept walking as if we’d never been interrupted, and the hand on my wrist slipped around my waist instead.

“Did you have any help falling out of the boat?”

So distracted by the casual way he embraced me, I almost missed his question.

When I realized what he meant, I gave an awkward laugh and scratched at the back of my head. “According to the official incident report, I fell on my own.”

Gabe scowled down at me, but I had learned to read his expressions well enough to understand that he wasn’t mad at me, but rather mad at the situation. All I could do was shrug.

“Middle school wasn’t as bad as high school, but I still wasn’t exactly popular.” Gabe gave a little sound of acknowledgement, encouraging me to keep talking without saying a word. “Anyway, the point is that I hate swamps, and I’ve never understood why they attract so many tourists.”

“People like experiencing things that are different from their normal life. And swamps are certainly a different than most people’s everyday life.”

“If they want to experience something new there are a thousand things I can think of that would be more pleasant than slimy water and alligators.”

As we walked, Gabe started playing with my belt loop. It was such an automatic gesture, like his arm just belonged there around my waist, that it left me reeling.

We hadn’t even slept together, yet Gabe was treating me as if we were already dating. Our first kiss had only been a few weeks ago, and before that I hadn’t been sure Gabe even liked me. He really was a man of extremes, and I suspected he was the type to quickly commit once he decided on something.

We really needed to have a conversation about our expectations going forward, or this could get really messy.

I considered bringing it up right then, but before I could figure out how to start the conversation, Gabe announced that we’d arrived at our destination.

When reviewing a map of the area, we hadn’t found anything that would justify why a pedophile ring would need to bring one of their victims here. The closest thing we could find to a point of interest was the office for the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, which never seemed to actually be open based on their scant hours of operation. Other than that, there was a jewelry store, a few historical buildings, and several restaurants. All completely normal.

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