Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 62923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
“You call your grandmother Dirty Gertie?”
“Yes, and after you meet her, you’ll understand why. Keep a tight hold on your boy; she likes them young. Shit! Here comes the captain; I’ve got to go. I’ll call with anything else I can find.”
Remi walked up as Ryder disconnected with Jeremy. “Could he find any connections between Jason and Gary?”
“Yep; they went to high school together. He’s looking for more. That’s just the first string; he’ll keep pulling until he unravels it. Research is Jeremy’s thing.”
“Okay, then. Let’s get this over with,” Remi said. There was no excitement in his voice. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see Remi wasn’t excited about seeing Mystic Mary again.
“Do you have the address?”
Remi rolled his eyes. “Like I could forget something like that. Yes, I think I can get there with my eyes closed.” As they walked toward the Mustang convertible Remi had selected for them to drive while in New Orleans, Ryder took Remi’s hand and held it. “I sure the hell hope I don’t fall apart and cry like a preschooler,” Remi grumbled as he opened the driver’s door and slid inside, automatically searching for the whatever button would cause the car’s roof to open.
“You’ll be fine; I’ll be right beside you the entire time. Let’s look at it like this; she has answers, so we need to find a way to convince her to give them to us. Mystic Mary sounds silly and makes her reek of being a fake, but she must have some abilities if she knew about you. We need to use her.”
“In theory, that sounds like a fabulous idea. In reality, I can’t imagine it’s going to happen that way,” Remi remarked dryly. “If she could have helped, one would have thought she might have given me a head’s up the night it happened. I mean, from what Cassie and the others said, I rolled around on the floor like a total nutcase, but all she did was shuffle her cards. That wicked witch of New Orleans could have given me a fucking hint.”
“How do you know so much about New Orleans? How many trips have you guys made? I only knew about the latest one.” It surprised Ryder that he wasn’t aware of all of Cassie’s comings and goings. She usually kept him in the loop on everything.
“Granddaddy lived here, so this is where I moved when the folks gave me the heave-ho.” A sad smile lifted the corners of his sexy lips. “He loved this place. Loved every damn thing about it. God, he was the best of the best. The minute I walked into his house, carrying nothing with me except one small backpack of the few things the parents allowed me to take with me, he’d loved me unconditionally. He picked me up at the bus station, drove me to his house, and when I walked in, he had the local LGBTQ youth group waiting for me.” Remi chuckled. “Fuck, he asked the most awkward questions. I thought I would die of embarrassment…but I couldn’t have loved him more. Up until that moment, I’d been ashamed of how I felt, like there was something wrong with me. That day, my first day with my granddaddy, I finally felt normal.”
“He sounds like a good man,” Ryder answered. His heart broke for the pain a young Remi must have felt when he’d been turned out by the very people who should have loved him. “I love him for taking care of you that way he did.”
“Me, too,” Remi answered sadly. Then he smiled again and added, “His first comment to the group was ‘explain this butt sex to me.’ I’d wanted to disappear, thinking my life couldn’t get any worse. Of course, I was mistaken because a teenage kid started explaining it to him, in detail.”
“Nice,” Ryder said with a smile. “I’m gonna be honest with you, Remington. I would have loved to have seen that.”
“I’m gonna be honest with you, Ryder. I would have to kill you if did. I’d never be able to look you in the eye again.” His teasing smile suddenly disappeared when he turned the blinker on and pulled into a driveway. “We’re here. Mystic Mary’s den of torture. We thought it would be a silly, fun few hours of entertainment.” He turned to Ryder and said, “I think we made an oopsie decision.”
“Nah, it’s all gonna work out. Remember; we’re doing the positive thinking thing. Let’s go. I can’t wait to meet Mystic Mary.” Ryder jumped out of the car and scampered around to Remi’s side and opened his door. “Come on, Boy Wonder. Let’s get some useful information. Positive thoughts, Remi.”
“Easy for you to say,” Remi grumbled but took the hand Ryder offered and allowed Ryder to pull him out of the driver’s seat. Slowly, they made their way across the cobblestone walkway that led to the front door. Huge roses of every color and size grew wildly on either side of the pathway and their lovely beauty soothed some of Remi’s anxiety. He’d been a bit tipsy the night he and his friends had visited the fortune teller and hadn’t noticed the beautiful rose garden.