Page 34 of For the Love of Animals

I glared at him. Kept glaring until he backed off a few inches. Finally, he broke eye contact.

“I’m sorry. When you went inside, I got nervous. I didn’t know whether to stay back and freak out or try to get in and rescue you.”

“How about neither? I can look after myself.”

“I know that too. It’s just… I was worried, and I’m not used to that.”

Neither was I. Not used to worrying about someone, or being worried about. But Nate stirred up all these unfamiliar feelings I wasn’t sure what to do with other than to pretend they didn’t exist. He’d be gone in two days max. If I let myself care, I’d only get hurt.

“Why don’t we go to the parade?” I suggested. Right now, we both needed a distraction. “You’ve got a costume from Verónica, and I can pick one up at the store.”

His rigid posture softened a little. “I never normally like to hang around the scene of the crime, but I guess this time we won’t stick out, not with thousands of other people there.”

“Have you ever been to the parade before?”

“It’s not normally my kind of thing.”

“Then let’s take this car back and pop your Día de los Muertos cherry. You never know—you might even enjoy it.”

CHAPTER 15 - CARMEN

I SHOPPED FOR a costume while Nate stayed at Verónica’s for another hour in case of any last-minute Lozano-related hiccups. Or so he said. I still had a niggling fear that he liked her, and every time I imagined the two of them together last night, I couldn’t decide whether to choke on the lump in my throat or hit something.

He drives a Porsche, I reminded myself. He’s not your type anyway.

But he’d still come for me when he thought I might be in trouble.

I pushed him out of my head as I selected a short black dress with a layer of dark-pink chiffon over the skirt and roses around the edge of the corset top. A white half-mask completed the ensemble, trimmed with more roses and painted with colourful dots and swirls. Nate’s outfit would be far more ornate, seeing as Verónica had created it, but I’d given up caring. My job was done. All I wanted to do was crawl home and drown my sorrows in tequila. Wherever home was. The army base felt more distant with every passing day, and I didn’t want to go back and live with my parents either. After five years away, it would be the ultimate failure. No, I’d have to find a place of my own. I had savings, but if I wasn’t working, that—

My phone rang. Nate.

“I’m done here. Can you pick me up?”

Seeing as he had to go back to Verónica’s, we’d swapped cars after our little tête-à-tête, and I had his rented SUV. And his wallet with a pile of cash. He’d told me to spend whatever I wanted. At first, I found it odd the way he trusted me, but then I figured that since we’d plotted a murder together, me stealing a few pesos probably wasn’t something he worried about.

“I’m on my way.”

“Did you get something to wear?”

“There wasn’t much left, but yes.”

The first thing Nate said when he climbed into the car was, “Let’s go back to the apartment.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you’re wearing thigh-high stockings and a dress that barely covers your ass.”

“I told you they didn’t have much left.”

And I liked the stockings. They had leg bones printed on them, and all the people who’d watched me try them on said they looked good.

“We’re supposed to be keeping a low profile. If you go out like that, every man in a three-block radius will be watching you.”

“I won’t be the only person dressed this way. And I always go to the parade. If you don’t want to go with me, I can drop you off first.”

“If you’re going, I’m going.”

“Then stop complaining. And smile.”

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