Page 20 of Desert Wind

“You’re not gonna like this,” said Code.

“I never like anything, so this will keep with the norm,” frowned Gaspar.

“Their wives. Claudia St. Martine is eighty-seven years old and, apparently, mean as a snake. Lydia Cipriani is eighty-five and equally as vile. They both blame the other for the deaths of their husbands. It’s all-out war.” Ghost nodded, looking at the others.

“Great. Lucky for us, war is what we do.”

“We go in first,” said Luc, pushing Jenna behind him. Antoine opened the door while Nash stayed at the rear, watching for anyone suspicious.

The blinds were still open and the room still ventilating with the back door opened. They hadn’t gone into the house at all, only watched and waited for someone to return.

“We’re losing daylight,” said Luc. “Go ahead and do your tour, but if we say move, you’re going to move.”

Jenna nodded, knowing that they would do anything to protect her whether she liked it or not.

Walking from room to room, she remembered every detail of what was left behind. It was like a time capsule. The twin’s room was still the same. Two small beds with one dresser and a desk. Jeannie had her own room, as did Jenna.

She smiled at the posters on the wall of the movie stars and her favorite band frontman. Memories of a normal teenage girl. Pinned to a corkboard was a school photo of Nash. She touched it as if to bring back a memory that was long gone.

Nash stood at the doorway watching her, realizing that the photo she touched was of him.

“I remember giving that to you when we graduated,” he whispered. Jenna nodded.

“I knew I couldn’t take it to the convent with me, so I asked my parents – those people – I asked them to keep it safe for me.”

Nash pulled out his thin wallet and smiled. It contained his driver’s license, two credit cards, and a high school photo of one Jenna Brooks. She laughed, nodding at him, then started to cry.

“Hey, hey, it’s all going to be okay,” he said, moving slowly toward her.

“So much time wasted, Nash. For what? I’m a kidnapped French child raised by people not my own, and I have no idea why. Did it have something to do with what happened to me? Did the last eight months stem from this?” She waved her hands around the room, Antoine and Luc now watching her as well.

“I can’t answer that, honey. We want to, and we will. For now, let’s head back to the resort. It’s going to be dark soon.”

She nodded, staring at the three men.

“Jenna? You okay?” asked Antoine.

“C-can I have a hug? Like brotherly hugs?” They all laughed, the three men wrapping their arms around her.

“Better?” asked Nash.

“Much. Surprising how much better that makes you feel.” They closed the drapes again, closed the doors, and walked out of the old house.

“Did you find anything?” whispered Nash to Luc and Antoine.

“Nothing. A few books, nothing inside them, a few old school papers, that’s about it. They lived somewhere else after here, according to Ace, but this was her childhood.”

“Let’s find the other house,” said Nash. Just as they were about to get into the SUV, the neighbor across the street was walking toward them.

“Hi there! Are you folks thinking of buying that old place?” he asked. Nash squeezed Jenna’s hand, silently indicating her silence.

“Well, we’re thinking about it but having trouble locating the owner. We really just want the lot,” smiled Nash.

“Good luck with that. The neighborhood association has been trying to get that place torn down for years. It was abandoned years ago, and apparently, when the developer built the neighborhood, he was told that house had to stay. Someone paid him a lot of money to leave it alone.”

“Is that right?” smirked Antoine. “Filled with gold?” They all chuckled. All except Jenna.

“We all thought so,” laughed the man. “We tried to keep up with the lawn for a while, but it got to be too much for everyone. Once in a while, someone comes in and cleans it up, but they do nothing with the house.”

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