"Everything okay?" he asks.
The larger woman ignores my question, pressing her thin lips against a porcelain cup of coffee and slurping loudly. She leaves a red lipstick stain when she lowers the glass. "Domino was kind enough to introduce herself. And now she's leaving."
I'm not sure why it's her final dismissal that pushes me over the edge, but it does. "I heard you talking about Ellie, and I won't leave until you tell me what you know."
Cain's eyes snap to my face when he realizes what I'm asking about. "Come on, Dom, let's get you a Coke."
I glare at him. "Don't patronize me."
The thin woman slumps in her chair. "Just listen to him and get out of here. You're going to make trouble for everyone."
"See, that's what I mean. What kind of trouble?" My voice grows more urgent. It's like there's this black seed of uncertainty that rooted itself in place the moment I saw Madam Karina in that Detroit alleyway. As much as I want to please her, as much as I want to believe she loves us girls, that seedling won't go away.
The large woman lifts her coffee cup a second time. "Trouble is trouble, isn't it?"
"Domino … " Cain urges.
Don't you dare let them dismiss you like that, Wilson sneers. You can't go back to Madam Karina's without learning what they know.
He's right.
I slam my hands down on their table. "Tell me where Ellie is!"
A firm hand comes down on my shoulder and spins me around. Eric stands over me, a repulsive grin sweeping across his mouth. "I'll tell you where she is. In fact, why don't I show you?"
I jerk away from him.
"Okay, let's go." Cain practically pulls me off my feet, and suddenly the two of us are soaring through the establishment toward the front door. "Too much sugar," he yells toward Eric in the worst excuse for an explanation I've ever heard. "I gotta get her back before Madam Karina has my hide."
Eric salutes Cain with two fingers, but his eyes never leave mine.
Already, I'm conflicted about snapping at those two women who probably did nothing wrong. I look back to gauge their faces, but instead my gaze lands on Eric.
Eric and his blatant threat.
Eric and his knowledge of Ellie's whereabouts.
Eric and his gold deputy badge that says he's untouchable in the town of Pox.
Chapter Forty-Two
Pink Couches
and English Tea
Cain drags me toward the black sedan, and I let him. Not that I have a choice when it comes to his raw strength. He closes my door and climbs into the driver's seat. As soon as his door is closed, I lay into him.
"Tell me what you know about that girl."
Eric pushes open the screen door and watches as we pull away, yellow Texas dust kicking up around the car. I keep my eyes trained on the officer until we're a safe distance away.
Cain watches the road. "I know what you know. That she left a few months back, and it upset Madam Karina."
"There's more to it than that!"
The muscles in his forearms jump. "Yeah, I think there is, too. I also know Eric is in Madam Karina's pocket just like the cops were in her father's pocket, and it isn't good to ask too many questions."
"What does her father have to do with anything?"
"He doesn't, really, except that her father was the mayor of Pox for a long time, and he wasn't a straightlaced kind of guy. My dad said he taxed business owners and then kept the money for himself. Not much anyone could do about it, since he was paying off the deputies. And since Madam Karina is this guy's daughter, that power just sort of slid over to her. Lot of people want to leave Pox, because it's shady here, but they don't have the means to do it."
"So, what, you're just going to roll over? Cain, if you're living in a house run by a criminal, wouldn't you want to know?" I shake my head. "Something is really, really wrong here."
He laughs, though I don't see how this is funny. "Didn't you know? We're all criminals. It's Madam Karina's House for Burgeoning Convicts. You going to cast the first stone?"
"Stop laughing. What if Ellie is … What if that girl is dead or something?"
The grin on his face vanishes. "If I thought that, I'd be gone."
"So what do you think happened?"
"My honest opinion?" He glances at me, and I nod. "I think she stole cash from the house and skipped town. And I think Madam Karina covered it up by circulating rumors. Better to have people afraid than have them think you got robbed."
"But you seemed worried back there."