Shiver(105)
Aidan began digging snow away from the skis of the machine, freeing the front as he continued the conversation. “What are you doing out here by yourself anyway? It’s not smart to be alone. You could get into trouble.”
“Oh, you know how it is. I came up to get away from everyone. Find some peace. Get back to nature. That sort of thing.”
“Hey, aren’t you staying at the lodge? I think I’ve seen you around.” Aidan gifted Genie with a smile that said, ‘We should hook up for a drink when we’re done with this.’
Raven shifted her weight back and forth on her feet. Aidan sent her a warning glance. What the hell?
Genie cocked her hip and leaned in closer to Aidan. “Yeah, I am,” she said with a husky sexy voice that wasn’t lost on Raven. “Great place, the lodge. Nice big beds.”
Oh, please. “Can we speed this up?” Raven demanded.
“Sure thing, babe.” Aidan lifted the skis of the machine clear of the snow bank. “There that ought to do it.” He moved toward Genie in a non-threatening way. Quick as a snake he grabbed her by the arms and twisted them behind her back. “Now, Genie, why don’t you tells us what you did with Fox.”
She let out a scream as she struggled in Aidan’s iron grasp.
It took Raven a moment for the words and the actions to sink in. This woman took her son? “You bitch!” Raven flew at her, the rifle she held in her hands pointing between the woman’s eyes. “Where the hell is my son?”
“Raven, back off. She can’t tell us anything if she’s dead.”
Her finger itched to pull the trigger. “Where. Is. Fox?”
“How the hell should I know?” Her eyes went wide and Raven would have believed her if it wasn’t for the judgment in Aidan’s glare.
Raven leaned into Genie. “You’re going to be dead if you don’t start telling me what I want to know.”
“You two are crazy, you know that?” Her voice wobbled. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do,” Aidan said. “You’ve been hanging around the lodge. This snowmobile is one of the lodge’s rentals. You probably know who all the players are by now. It’s no coincidence that you’re out here stuck in the snow at the same time we’re searching for our son. Our very clever son, who left us a trail of Jolly Ranchers which led us right to you.”
“That brat,” Genie spat out the side of her mouth. The mask of innocence fell from her face leaving a hard, bitter shell in its place. Raven couldn’t help herself, and sucker-punched Genie in the stomach with the butt of the rifle..
The woman doubled-over. “Ouch. Shit.”
Aidan gave Raven a pointed look, that said, Cool it. Like hell she would. She wanted this woman dead. It was all she could do not to hit her again, and again. Raven tore off Genie’s hat and tossed it in the snow. “Think about how my gun will feel slamming into your skull without that pelt of fur to cushion it.”
Genie paled, and then tightened her lips into an ugly sneer. Her lips were scarred with thin lines from too many years of puckering around the butt of a cigarette. “I have no idea where that brat ran off to. He left me here to die after he crashed my snowmobile.”
“Why don’t you tell us what happened?” Aidan asked.
“Let go of me first.”
“Fine.” Aidan suddenly released her. Genie fell into the snow on her ass. “Raven, she moves, shoot her. Start with her feet.”
Genie gulped.
“Start talking. Raven has an itchy finger.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Raven said in a deadly voice.
“Hand me my rifle, sweetheart.”
Raven passed the rifle to Aidan after freeing her pistol from her pocket and training it on Genie. “I’m waiting.”
“I had Roland right where I wanted him until that damn kid showed up.”
“What’s your connection to Roland?”
She gave a harsh cackle. “You should be asking me what my ‘connection’ is to your daddy.”
“All right, how did you know Earl?”
“I knew everything about Earl. All his secrets. Nothing loosened his tongue like a good fucking.”
“Who the hell are you?” Aidan asked.
She laughed and spread her hands wide on top of the snow. “I’m your Genie in the bottle, baby. I grant your every wish.”
“You’re a whore?” Raven asked, caught up in this crazy turn.
“Oh, please. Whore? I’m so much more than that. I’m a celebrated ‘entertainer’ for the Lonely Lady. I’ve been Earl’s consort for over twenty years. And Roland’s whenever he’s in town,” she added with a nonchalant shrug.