Page 60 of Sinful

I looked at him and nodded. “Yeah, I think that makes the most sense out of anything,” I said. “How about I look up and down the riverbanks? She mentioned to me that it’s nice to walk along there, but it’s probably very easy to slip because of the mud.”

“Good idea. The river runs for miles and miles, so we haven’t checked all the way along there yet.” Jean-Pierre was still staring at me like he didn’t quite trust me but also didn’t want to piss offAugustus by saying it out loud. “I’ll join you to ensure you don’t wander off into any of the trapping areas.”

“Thanks, Mr. Leclerc.”

We spent the next several hours wandering along by the river, carefully checking both sides. Of course, we came up with nothing. Jean-Pierre still regarded me with suspicion from time to time, but after several hours had passed, he seemed to soften slightly toward me.

“You really care about Rosamund, don’t you?” he asked as we trudged back up to the town.

“Of course. Like I said earlier, she’s been very helpful to me. She’s a really nice girl.”

“Hmph.” He grunted and rubbed his jaw. “I worry that all of this is a bad sign.”

“What?”

He cast his eyes toward the gray clouds above us. “Rosamund vanishing like this, so close to her ritual. The skies darken and open at the same time. It’s a bad omen.”

“The weather is always shitty this time of year.”

He let out a short, sardonic bark of laughter. “Your mother was very pragmatic too. You sound just like her.”

“What else do you remember about her?” I asked, resisting the urge to lunge at him and snap his fucking neck.

“Smart. Very smart.” He scratched the back of his neck, like he’d somehow sensed my fingers itching to grab it. “Perhaps too smart, in the end.”

I stiffened. “What does that mean?”

He was silent for a moment, as if he’d realized he’d said too much. “I just mean… she was always asking questions. Looking into everything she could. We didn’t mind it so much, because she was so friendly and non-judgmental. But there are all sorts of dark, evil people in the outside world. People who might not take too kindly to the sort of inquisition she put up.”

“I see.”

He glanced over at me again. “I was surprised when Augustus first told me he was letting her son in to finish her research so he could try to find out what happened to her. I didn’t trust you. Not a lick,” he said. “But he’s really taken to you, and now I can see why. You actually care about us. I can’t imagine any other outsider spending eight hours wandering around in this… what did you call it? Shitty weather?”

“Yup.”

“I can’t imagine another outsider doing that for us, even if they knew the life of a valued daughter was at stake. They hate us out there.”

“I know. I used to hate you too.”

“That’s another thing.” He cast another side-eyed look at me. “You’re honest about that. I think that’s why you earned Augustus’s trust so fast. You didn’t come in here immediately acting like you adored us and wanted to be fast friends.”

Yeah, it’s called manipulation, you dumb motherfucker.“No point in being anything other than honest,” I replied. “Don’t you agree?”

He grunted. “Uh-huh.”

“You were there the night my mother went missing. Can you tell me your version of what happened?”

“It’s like I told the police all those years ago,” he said, abruptly looking away again. “We went to see her because we wanted to share an important ritual with her. For her research. It was happening that night, you see. We thought she’d like to witness it and write about it in her book.”

“And then?”

“She didn’t seem interested. Of course, we had no idea you were there with her. We assumed you were back in New York City with your father,” Jean-Pierre went on. “There was an argument at first, which is what you witnessed. I can onlyimagine how confusing that must have been for such a young boy. But we convinced her to come with us in the end. I believe you missed that part, as you were hiding and couldn’t see or hear everything that occurred.”

I nodded slowly. “So she went willingly.”

“Yes.” He still wouldn’t meet my eyes. “She was willing.”

So much for fucking honesty.These slimy motherfuckers simply weren’t capable of it. All Jean-Pierre’s talk of not trusting me was simply projection, because he assumed everyone else was just as much of an untrustworthy liar as him.

---