Framing Felipe (2 page)

calm,
flat,
delivery—set
Sarah
on
edge.
No
one
else
would
have
recognized
it,
but
Sarah
had

worked
with
her
boss
enough
over
the
past
two
years
that
she
could
hear
that
tiny
shift
in

modulation.
Besides,
this
was
her
friend.
What
kind
of
friend
would
she
be
if
she
couldn’t

read
her
moods?

That
was
Dana’s
panic
voice,
and
the
one
she
used
when
she
felt
personally
threatened,

which
was
rare
indeed.
There
wasn’t
much
that
could
put
fear
in
Dana’s
gut.
Fear,
for
her,

was
something
she
transmogrified
and
filtered
into
more
productive
things—into
action
.

FRAMING FELIPE
–
3
–
Holley Trent

But
Sarah
knew
that
unmistakable
quaver.
It
was
the
voice
Dana
used
when
her
were-‐

mountain
lion
lover,
Patrick,
headed
into
The
Smokies
each
month
to
shape-‐shift.
It
was
the

voice
she
used
when
one
of
the
girls
visited
Doc
and
came
back
with
a
questionable

physical
report.
It
was
the
voice
she
used
on
the
rare
occasion
when
she
didn’t
have
a
plan.

Sarah
pulled
in
a
long
inhale
and
softly
shut
the
Suburban’s
door.
She
eased
away
from

the
vehicle
with
Dana
following
in
her
wake.

In
the
convenience
store,
the
duo
made
a
beeline
for
the
ladies
room
without

discussion.
As
there
was
only
one
stall,
Dana
locked
the
outer
door
and
leaned
against
it.

“What
happened?”
Sarah
asked,
folding
her
arms
over
her
chest.
“Is
it
Patrick?”

Dana’s
intense
stare
would
probably
have
rendered
any
other
woman
into
jelly—made

them
look
away—but
Sarah
knew
Dana
wasn’t
trying
to
be
intimidating.
At
least
at
that

particular
moment.
All
the
Shrews
had
their
quirks
and
oddities.
They
coped
with
their

physical
mutations
in
different
ways.
The
mental
ones,
too.
One
of
Dana’s
side
effects
from

the
Shrew
experiment
was
enhanced
vision,
so
sometimes
when
she
stared,
it
was
simply

because
she
was
seeing
more
than
the
naked
eye
should
have
been
capable
of.
She
fixated

on
things
just
like
her
were-‐cat
Patrick
did.

Sarah
waited
until
she
was
done.

“No,
it’s
not
Patrick,”
Dana
said
finally,
pushing
off
the
door
and
striding
toward
the

sink.
She
turned
the
cold
water
on
full
blast
and
splashed
it
onto
her
face.

“I
don’t
believe
you.”
Sarah
pressed
her
back
against
the
wall
near
the
sink,
waiting
for

her
friend
and
mentor’s
rebuttal.

Dana
turned
off
the
tap
and
raised
one
dark
eyebrow
at
her.
“Are
you
calling
me
a
liar?”

“I
don’t
have
a
death
wish,
boss
lady.
I
think
you’re
broadcasting
again.
I
read
it
off

you.”

Dana’s
reaching
hand,
halfway
between
the
sink
and
paper
towel
dispenser,
stilled.

“What
else?”

“Nothing.
I
guess
you’ve
been
practicing.”

Dana
blew
out
a
ragged
breath,
and
her
hand
continued
its
journey
to
the
machine.
She

cranked
the
handle
up
and
down
several
times,
then
tore
off
a
strip
of
scratchy
paper
towel.

Before
pressing
it
against
her
misty
face,
she
cleared
her
throat.
“Patrick’s
been
helping

me.”

FRAMING FELIPE
–
4
–
Holley Trent

“Ah.”

Made
sense
that
Patrick
would
be
her
tutor,
since
it
was
because
of
him
Dana
had

learned
she
was
the
sort
of
psychic
who
projected
thoughts
to
people
around
her.
Even
for

a
woman
who’d
always
been
so
masterful
at
keeping
her
emotions
bottled
up,
there
was
a

huge
learning
curve
to
erecting
the
new
walls
she
needed
to
keep
her
thoughts
personal.

Dana
patted
her
face
dry
and
tossed
the
paper
toward
the
overflowing
trashcan.
“It’s

not
Patrick.
Not
exactly,
although
I
worry
he
may
be
affected.”

“We’re
heading
there
now,
so…”

Dana
shook
her
head
and
sauntered
toward
the
door.
She
wrapped
her
fingers
around

the
handle
and
paused
for
a
moment
with
her
other
hand
poised
over
the
lock.
“Look,
I

didn’t
want
to
say
anything
around
the
other
ladies
because
they
can’t
compartmentalize

the
same
way
you
do.
They
shoot
without
asking
questions,
and
I
need
someone
discreet.”

“Okay…”

Dana
unlocked
the
door
and
pulled
it
open.

They
stepped
out
of
the
restroom
and
walked
past
the
waiting
queue
of
women
that

had
clustered
in
the
hallway
in
only
a
few
minutes.

Sarah
followed
Dana
to
the
coffee
counter
and
accepted
a
paperboard
cup
when
her

boss
handed
it
to
her.
Sarah
filled
hers
with
cappuccino
from
the
dispenser
machine
and

waited
while
Dana
pressed
a
lid
onto
her
cup.

When
Dana
spoke
again,
while
guiding
Sarah
to
the
potato
chip
aisle
by
the
elbow,
her

voice
was
a
whisper.
“I
wanted
us
to
work
as
a
team
on
this
were-‐bear
problem
since
the

cats
can’t
take
care
of
themselves,
but
there’s
other
stuff
going
on
in
the
mountains
that

may
be
a
new
problem
for
us.
I’ve
never
been
contacted
this
way
before.
I
don’t
know
how

the
man
got
my
personal
cell
phone
number,
but
he
seemed
to
understand
far
too
well

what
we
do.”

She
picked
up
a
large
bag
of
mixed
nuts
and
some
pretzels.

“He
sounded
very
frightened,
and
had
a
hard
time
articulating
what
was
going
on.

English
wasn’t
his
first
language,
so
I
don’t
quite
understand
all
he
said.
The
jist
was
that

his
twin
is
missing
and
he’s
worried
his
brother
is
courting
trouble.”

“Why?”
Sarah
picked
up
a
packet
of
caramels,
and
followed
Dana
to
the
cash
register.

FRAMING FELIPE
–
5
–
Holley Trent

“The
missing
man—Felipe—he
and
his
brother
have
been
circus
performers
since
they

were
six.
They’re
orphans.
Parents
died
in
Spain
when
they
were
toddlers,
supposedly.

They
got
bounced
around
for
a
while
from
one
family
member
to
another
and
ended
up

with
some
elderly
aunt.
A
man
offered
to
take
them
off
her
hands
and
teach
them
a
trade,

so
the
aunt
let
them
go.”
Dana
pointed
at
the
chocolate
aisle
as
they
eased
up
in
line.
“Get

something
for
the
sleeping
beauties.
They’ll
probably
need
it
when
we
wake
them
in
an

hour.”

Sarah
nodded
and
retreated
to
the
candy,
scooping
up
several
bags
of
peanut
M&Ms.

When
she
returned,
it
was
Dana’s
turn
at
the
register.

Sarah
plopped
her
items
down
on
the
counter.

Dana
leaned
in
close
to
whisper,
“Felipe
and
his
brother
are
this
circus
troupe’s

headline
act.
Acrobats.
I
did
a
bit
of
research.
Found
some
press
mentions
and
couple
of

photos.
They
do
some
really
dangerous
stunts,
and
are
well-‐known
in
the
biz
for
them.”

“So
why
would
he
run?”

Dana
held
up
a
finger,
bidding
Sarah
to
wait,
and
swiped
her
credit
card
through
the

machine.
The
clerk
handed
her
a
bag
and
the
two
women
stepped
through
the
automated

doors
into
the
parking
lot.
Dana
continued,
“That’s
what
the
twin
was
unclear
about.
I

couldn’t
discern
anything
psychically.
What
I
do
know
is
the
twin
thinks
if
Felipe
doesn’t

return,
the
guy
who
adopted
them—the
one
who
runs
the
circus—he’s
going
to
hurt

people.
Make
them
suffer
for
Felipe.
He’s
doing
something
dirty
and
the
twin
warned
me
if

it
got
out,
it’d
be
bad
for
people
like
Patrick.”

“How’d
he
know
about
Patrick?”

Dana
lifted
her
small
shoulders
in
a
shrug
as
they
paused
at
the
Suburban’s
rear
gate.

Her
cheek
twitched.
For
Dana,
that
was
practically
crying.
“Sarah,
I
can’t
be
in
two
places
at

once.”

“I
understand.
What
do
you
want
me
to
do?”

“Find
Felipe.
Try
not
to
spook
him.
Just
root
him
out
and
get
him
under
cover
until
we

can
make
sense
of
this.”

“Did
the
twin
have
any
ideas
where
Felipe
might
be?”

FRAMING FELIPE
–
6
–
Holley Trent

Dana
nodded.
“Yes,
but
you
should
talk
to
him
in
person,
see
if
you
understand
him

better
than
I
did.
I’ll
need
you
to
head
out
as
soon
as
we
get
to
Patrick’s.
You
can
take
his

truck.”

“I
was
hoping
to
get
some
sleep
tonight.”

Dana
finally
cracked
a
grin.
“You
and
me
both.
Not
that
I
ever
sleep
during
the
full

moon.
One
of
these
days
that
dirty
cat
of
mine
is
going
to
get
himself
clawed
up
too
bad
to

fix.”

“He’s
smarter
than
that.”

Her
grin
waned.
“I
hope
so.
Let’s
hope
this
acrobat
is
smarter
than
that,
too.”

FRAMING FELIPE
–
7
–
Holley Trent

Felipe
Castillo
hid
in
plain
sight…more
or
less.
With
his
back
pressed
against
the

warehouse’s
brick
wall,
and
black
hood
drawn
low
over
his
brow,
he
probably
seemed
to

disappear
into
the
shadows.
A
funny
thought,
because
if
he
really
wanted
to
disappear,
he

could.
Few
people
knew
about
his
rare
gift.
His
brother
Fabian
knew,
obviously,
because
he

shared
it.
Then
there
were
the
other
freaks
at
the
circus
who
had
their
own
secrets
to
keep.

And
last,
there
was
the
person
who
exploited
their
gifts.
He
and
Fabian
called
him
el

negrero:
the
slave
driver.

And
really,
that’s
all
he
was.
Even
as
kids,
there
had
been
no
better
word
to
explain

their
relationship
to
the
man.
He’d
never
been
much
of
a
father
figure.