Page 94 of Little Sunshine

“Well, she’s a gem.”

“You sure this is the place?”

“This is what she said. But it’s just as likely that bitch lied.” Cole glanced at the navigation on the screen, then back at me. “Maybe more likely.”

I’d figured we’d find Abraham in a bar, club, or some similar dump, and that Veronica had raided a register, safe, or drug stock to get on his bad side. I sure as shit hadn’t envisioned Eternal Sun.

According to the signage on the wall surrounding the place, the sprawling property was a center for health, wellness, and spiritual clarity.

I had no clue what the fuck any of that had to do with Veronica’s debt, but when we turned into the gated entryway, the answer became obvious.

It had jack shit to do with it.

She’d lied.

“Want to turn around and hunt her down again?” Cole asked.

I was about to agree when someone approached from a guard booth. Cole rolled down his window.

“Hello,” the man greeted in a voice that was too damn chipper. He scanned the car as he spoke. “Visitors?”

Might as well be sure.

“Is Abraham here?” I asked.

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No.”

He gave another smile that seemed as freakishly happy as his voice. “Give me a minute to see if he’s available.”

“This place is kind of creeping me out,” Cole muttered when the guard stepped away and pressed his phone to his ear.

I lifted my chin, still not expecting much.

The guard came back and handed two visitor badges through the open window. “Abraham is waiting for you.”

“Really?” I asked before I could stop myself.

“He makes time for all who visit Eternal Sun. Continue up this path to our solarium. Have a blessed day.”

Cole rolled his window back up and followed the smooth road. “I take it back. This place doesn’t kind of creep me out. It fully does.”

He wasn’t the only one.

Parts of it looked like a nature center. A full garden spread farther than I could see. There were people gathered near a large fountain doing yoga or some shit. A row of small cabins lined the outside edge of the garden near the wall. Other buildings in the distance looked industrial.

Cole slowed in front of a building marked as the solarium. The front of it was all glass, including the roof, before changing into concrete.

“What the fuck is this place?” Cole muttered.

“Got no idea, but I think we’re about to find out.”

A man in his early fifties stepped out of the glass doors onto the cobblestone landing. In linen pants and button-down, he looked dressed for vacation, not work. His tan skin added to that. When Cole and I climbed from the car, his lips curved down briefly. There and then gone, replaced by a salesman smile. “Blessed afternoon, and welcome to Eternal Sun. I’m Abraham. I heard you wanted to see me.”

Still unconvinced this wasn’t an attempt to waste my time, I asked, “Do you know a Veronica Rogers?”

His eyes narrowed, and his body language changed as his shoulders pushed back. Despite the fact no one was around to overhear my quietly spoken words, three other men suddenly came from inside the building, all wearing similar linen outfits. The warning in my gut grew when a gust of wind showed at least one of them was strapped.

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