Page 67 of Drive
Maybe thelife and deathpart had scared heroff.
Jacques had been having coffee at the kitchen table with Pal when she’d called, but he moved through the back of the house and out to the back porch for privacy. The sunlight stung his eyes. Heroine had played at Jefferson Street Pub the night before to a packed house, and he’d still been wired when he tried to climb into bed afterthree.
“What did she say?” he asked, rubbing his eyes against theglare.
“She said, ‘I want absolutely nothing to do with Dylan Reeves or any of his family. MY FAMILY’ — and she wrote that in all caps—” Rainey said, her voice trembling. “‘—consists of my husband and OUR son’ — all caps. ‘Please do not contact meagain.’”
Jacques blew out a breath. “Wow,” he muttered, wondering what Doc Dylan Reeves had done to the woman to leave her likethat.
“I mean,” Rainey said, her voice leveling out and coming off stronger, “what the hell did my dad do toher?”
He chuckled. “I swear, I was just thinking the same thing, but I didn’t want to say it outloud.”
“Pfft.You can say whatever you want about my dad. I won’t be offended,” she said flatly. “But what am I going todo?”
“Did you respond to her reply?” Jacques asked, cringing even as hedid.
A pause fell over the line. “I couldn’t.” Her voice soundedhollow.
“That’s probably a goodthing.”
“But why? I need to tell her about Holi. If she knew the whole story, she might feel more inclined tohelp.”
The urgency in her words was so intense Jacques could almost taste it. The need to help her became nearly as imperative as his breath. And wrapped up in this mission with so much at stake, Raineyneededhelp. His sense was that if she reached out to Gloria Lopez-Craine again, the woman would pull back.Hard.
They had to find another way to reachher.
“What about sending her aletter?”
Rainey’s sigh broke over the phone. “Where would I sendit?”
Jacques didn’t hesitate. “You could send it to the salon,” he said, the idea growing. “You could even send it registered mail, so she’d have to sign for it. You’d know that she gotit.”
Even as the words left his mouth, Jacques started to question the wisdom of that call. Couldn’t she just chuck the certified letter in the trash and go about finishing a highlight or trimming someone’s bangs? It didn’t mean she’d have to respond. She wouldn’t even have to readit.
“What do you think about calling the salon?” Raineyposed.
Jacques pictured Gloria Lopez-Craine hanging up and then forever refusing to answer any call from a 337 areacode.
And then a plan came to him fully formed, and he shared it withouthesitation.
“What if we showed up at thesalon?”
The silence that stretched over the line felt eternal, but it probably only lasted two or threeseconds.
“What?” Shock echoed around herword.
It was Sunday. Heroine didn’t have a show the following weekend because Kara was — finally — graduating from high school. He’d miss a few rehearsals, and he didn’t care. He also knew that Kate might grumble aloud, but secretly she’dunderstand.
“Let’s drive to Bowling Green and show up at thesalon.”
Rainey made a choking sound. “W-wait, are youserious?”
“Yeah. Let’s do it,” Jacques said, grinning because he could picture the look of disbelief on Rainey’s face. And then he was smiling wide because he knew she’d say yes, and after she said yes, he would get to spend whole days by her side. “We could leavetoday.”
“I-I-I…” she stammered. “…I don’t know what to say. What… what would wedo?”
She was nervous, that much he could hear. But he also picked up on an excitement in her voice that proved himright.
