Framing Felipe (26 page)

FRAMING FELIPE
–
100
–
Holley Trent

“Fine.
Mr.
Tolvaj
and
his
friend
there
until
other
arrangements
can
be
secured.
And
if

the
bears
find
them…”
He
lifted
his
shoulders
in
a
shrug.
“They
won’t
know
what
to
make
of

them.”

“I
like
the
way
you
think,”
Sarah
said.

“Did
you
think
I
was
just
pretty?”

Her
response
was
a
wink.

He
thought
they
made
a
pretty
good
team,
although
she’d
probably
never
admit
that.

He
liked
working
with
her.
In
just
those
few
minutes,
he’d
gained
valuable
insight
on
how

her
brain
worked
when
she
wasn’t
busy
playing
hard-‐to-‐get.
She
was
methodical,
yet

empathetic.
Hard-‐hitting,
but
cautious.
He
bet
that
even
before
she’d
taken
on
psychic

traits,
she
had
probably
been
the
kind
of
woman
people
wanted
to
tell
things.
And
he
could

just
imagine
how
she
was
working
with
those
girls
at
the
strip
club.
She
may
have
been

tough,
but
she
was
the
kind
of
woman
who
liked
taking
care
of
people.
She’d
probably

make
a
good
mother
some
day,
should
some
man
be
lucky
enough
to
pin
her
down.
No,
not

some
man.
Him,
if
he
had
his
druthers.

Patrick
edged
into
the
room
and
helped
Sarah
untie
the
Visa
from
his
chair.

“Wait,”
Felipe
said,
stepping
in
front
of
them.
“I’ve
got
to
ask—the
circus,
where
will
it

move
to?
Where
are
the
next
stops?
I
need
to
know.”

Mr.
Tolvaj’s
dark
eyes
swiveled
in
their
sockets
toward
Patrick,
who
glowered
at
him,

then
to
Sarah,
who
nodded.

“Tell
him,
Mr.
Tolvaj,
if
you
know.”

“I—I
don’t
know.
They
were
supposed
to
move
up
to
Roanoke
followed
by
a
stop
in

West
Virginia.
Charleston,
I
believe,
but
he
might
have
changed
the
schedule.”

“I’m
sure
he’s
changed
the
schedule,”
Patrick
mumbled.
“Do
you
have
any
way
to

contact
him?
How
do
you
keep
in
touch?”

Mr.
Tolvaj
shook
his
head.
“There’s
always
one
person
in
our
away
groups
who
is
the

contact.
It’s
not
me.
I
believe
that
person
is
with
the
wolves.
He
keeps
track
on
all
of
us
out

in
the
field.

Patrick
blew
out
a
breath
and
raked
a
hand
through
his
hair.
“We’ll
double-‐check
with

the
cats
you
rescued
and
see
if
they
know
anything.
Try
to
get
you
a
lead.”

Felipe
nodded
his
thanks.
If
that
was
the
best
they
could
do,
he
would
have
to
take
it.

FRAMING FELIPE
–
101
–
Holley Trent

A
soft,
warm
hand
on
his
forearm
drew
his
gaze
down.
He
cast
his
eyes
to
the
fingers,

then
upward
to
the
Shrew’s
worried
expression.

Her
gut
must
have
been
saying
You’re
going
to
get
yourself
in
trouble
.
Her
gut
was

probably
right.

He
gave
her
a
kiss
on
the
forehead
before
sidling
around
her,
saying,
“Don’t
worry,

querida
.
If
I
get
in
trouble,
you’ll
probably
get
into
it
with
me.”

FRAMING FELIPE
–
102
–
Holley Trent

The
Shrews
had
started
cycling
in
and
out
of
the
mountains
once
it
became
evident
the

cat
problem
would
take
longer
to
fix
than
Dana
initially
allotted
for.
The
work
they
did
for

the
cats
wasn’t
going
to
pay
the
bills,
so
the
women
took
turns
picking
up
their
usual
sort
of

cases
in
the
Triangle
before
returning
to
their
posts
at
Patrick’s.
Finally,
it
was
Sarah’s
turn.

She’d
been
slightly
insulted
when
Dana
slid
her
the
paperwork.
It
was
a
gig
a
twelve-‐

year-‐old
Shrew
could
manage,
but
when
she
saw
the
billing
rate
and
total
job
time,
she

understood
Dana
was
in
her
mother
hen
role
again.

Some
sucker
was
willingly
paying
the
Shrews
a
hundred
thousand
dollars
for
three

hours
of
bodyguard
work.
He
was
a
Hollywood
actor
in
town
filming
scenes
for
his
next

action
movie,
and
he’d
been
invited
to
a
gala
event
at
the
governor’s
mansion.

Sarah’s
job
was
to
be
on
his
arm,
but
only
a
few
people
knew
of
the
legal
firepower
she

was
carrying
in
her
little
sequined
purse.

As
Sarah
pulled
away
from
the
actor’s
hotel,
Felipe
materialized
in
the
front
passenger

seat
of
her
car
and
pulled
the
seatbelt
over
his
body.

“Why
am
I
not
surprised
you’re
here?”
she
asked,
easing
her
car
onto
the
I-‐440
Beltline.

He
worked
the
little
lever
at
the
right
side
of
his
seat
and
cranked
the
chair
back
about

a
foot.
Legs
stretched,
he
asked,
blithely,
“You
sensed
me?”

“No.
Just
seemed
like
a
typical
Felipe
thing.”

“Oh,
I
see.”

“How
long
have
you
been
on
my
tail?”

“Just
a
couple
of
hours.
I
had
just
gotten
back
in
from
my
trip
and
Doc
was
on
the
way

out,
coming
back
this
way.
I
tagged
along.
She
dropped
me
off
at
the
gala.
Are
the
men
you

protect
generally
so…”

When
his
voice
trailed
off,
Sarah
looked
up
to
see
him
making
a
waffling
gesture
with

his
hand.
“So
what
?”

“Solicitous?”

Was
that
a
note
of
jealousy
in
his
voice?
Her
lips
quirked
up
at
the
corners
and
she
put

her
eyes
back
on
the
road.

FRAMING FELIPE
–
103
–
Holley Trent

“His
eyes
were
on
your
breasts
the
entire
time
I
was
there.”

“I
hear
he
has
a
reputation
for
that.
He
likes
the
ladies.”

“He’ll
have
to
find
his
own.”

For
that,
she
had
no
response.
She
drove
in
silence
for
a
while,
occasionally
cutting
her

gaze
over
to
him
when
she
checked
her
mirrors
to
find
him
alternating
between
staring
out

the
side
window
and
studying
the
weave
of
his
blue
jeans.

She’d
grown
used
to
his
casual
style,
but
she
realized
that
was
because
most
of
his

clothes
were
Patrick’s.
They
were
about
the
same
height
and
build,
and
Patrick
wasn’t

particularly
territorial
about
his
clothing.
Felipe
had
needed
clothes,
so
Patrick
opened
his

closet.

She
stole
a
glance
away
from
the
road
and
eyed
his
long
legs
and
tight
torso.
She

wouldn’t
mind
having
some
influence
on
his
style,
but
imagined
he
wouldn’t
take
kindly
to

being
dragged
around
a
shopping
mall.

“You
and
Patrick
have
any
luck
finding
the
circus?”
Felipe
had
been
gone
for
most
of

the
past
couple
of
weeks
with
Sarah
feeding
them
the
occasional
lead
from
home
base.
She

might
have
been
more
successful
with
tracking
the
circus
if
she’d
been
investigating
in

person,
but
Dana
had
been
plying
her
with
one
distraction
after
another.

“No.
Used
to
be
this
would
be
an
easy
thing.
Jacques
always
updated
the
circus
website

with
the
next
couple
of
stops,
but
he
doesn’t
do
that
now.
I
wonder
why.
You’d
think
he’d

make
it
easier
for
me
to
find
him.”

Sarah
had
a
thought.
Maybe
Jacques
didn’t
care
about
Felipe
anymore
beyond
the

trouble
he
could
cause
him…and
maybe
he
didn’t
care
about
Fabian,
either.
That
would
be

good
news
for
Felipe,
but
awful
for
Fabian
if
they
couldn’t
track
him
down.

She
cleared
her
throat.
“I
should
have
thought
of
this
before,
but
have
you
tried

searching
the
internet
for
mentions
of
the
circus
in
small
town
newspapers?
That
probably

wouldn’t
help
you
much
if
they’d
already
moved
on,
but
you
might
be
able
to
determine
a

trajectory
from
that.”

He
made
a
little
chuckle.
“You’re
smart.”

“I
try.”

“Patrick
did
try
that.
Didn’t
come
up
with
anything
recent.”

FRAMING FELIPE
–
104
–
Holley Trent

“Hmm.”
She
drummed
her
fingers
on
the
steering
wheel
while
she
thought.
Tracking

was
what
she
was
best
at.
All
she
needed
was
a
tiny
lead
and
she
could
amplify
it,
or
find

someone
who
could
.
She
wasn’t
averse
to
relying
on
supernatural
help
if
she
could
get
it.

Often,
one
of
the
very
first
things
she
did
when
rolling
into
a
new
town
was
going
to
a
gas

station,
checking
the
phone
booth
for
the
yellow
pages,
and
calling
the
psychics.
She
always

knew
which
ones
were
legit,
because
when
they
answered
their
phones,
they
said
things

like,
“Who
are
you
looking
for,
honey?”

“The
other
thing
you
might
want
to
try
is
checking
public
social
media
accounts
that

don’t
get
picked
up
very
high
in
search
engine
rankings.
Twitter.
Instagram.
Look
for

people
talking
in
general
terms
about
the
circus,
and
see
if
you
can
hone
in
from
there
on

the
one
they’re
referring
to.
Maybe
even
search
the
names
of
specific
performers.”

“I
have
no
idea
how
to
do
that,
but
it
sounds
logical.”

“I’ll
show
you
later…”

“Where
are
you
going
now?”

“My
place.
I
live
near
the
airport.
I
have
a
small
plane
my
dad
gave
me,
and
I
like
to
be

near
it.”

“Are
you
heading
back
to
the
mountains
tonight?”

“Why?
Did
Dana
tell
you
to
try
to
keep
me
here
a
couple
more
days?”

He
didn’t
answer,
but
Sarah
knew
the
boss
lady
well
enough
that
he
didn’t
need
to.

“She’s
thinking
about
forcing
me
into
a
paid
medical
leave,
you
know.”

Obviously
he
didn’t,
because
his
eyebrows
darted
up.
“Medical
leave?
What
for?”

“Oh,
variety
of
things,”
she
said
darkly.