Page 4 of Carnival
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.’’ She looks me in the eyes, dead serious. “They make their victims disappear. As in, their dental records can’t be found, their DNA isn’t in any databases, their social media was deleted, and even their birth certificates are gone. They make people disappear.’’
Realization dawns on me, and a nasty chill runs down my spine. It takes me a moment to process everything, the cogs starting to turn in my head. Aria is quiet, letting the information sink in for me.
“The…’’ I swallow thickly, then clear my throat. “The only other organization I know capable of doing something like that is your family.’’
She nods. “Do you see where I’m going with this? I don’t think they’re exactly in the assassination business, but they’re still damn good at whatever they’re doing. Even Hudson is struggling to track them down, and Noelle is on the verge of going down there, killing all of them, and calling it a day.’’
I chuckle, but it’s anything but amusement. The thought of her parents being so irritated by this that they’d do something so reckless makes me feel uneasy. If the two of the best assassins of today’s age can’t track these people down, it means they’re good.’’
“Is there a possibility that this could be the mafia?”
Aria shakes her head. “The Bratva is in some sort of a war at the moment, so no, not them. And the Italians have retreated to Sicily; Lord knows why. Besides, I highly doubt a mafia man would dress up as a fucking clown. They’re classier than that.’’
“This whole thing makes no sense.’’ I slump back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
“And do you finally understand why I’m against you going down there?”
I sigh but reluctantly nod. “Yeah.’’
A minute of silence passes.
“You’re still going, aren’t you?”
“Yup,’’ I snort.
Aria groans and tosses a pillow at me.
2
Rose
Ispent the rest of the day lounging in Aria’s bedroom. At some point, she fell asleep next to me, yet I couldn’t bring myself to sleep a wink. Partially because she snores like crazy and partially because my mind was too preoccupied with the carnival.
Nothing makes sense, and it’s pissing me off.
If I ignore the fact that I had sex with the bastard, it still leaves many questions. All of the bodies were recovered right behind the terror house, hence why they assumed the murders had taken place there. The image of the clown they have was taken from outside, not the inside of the house. It’s the only public image, and with the information Aria provided me, I highly doubt they have anything else there.
And the far more important bit – Aria was right. I was able to find all the names of the victims, but there was nothing on them. I don’t even know what they looked like because their bodieswere mutilated beyond belief. Some weren’t even recognized by their families, lying there in the morgue as Jane Doe’s.
The more I spent my time reading it, the more I realized Aria was right. This was not one person’s doing. At least three people were responsible, if not an entire organization, like Aria’s theory suggests.
That just makes me uneasy on a whole different level. It brings back memories from that fateful night almost two years ago. Well, from what I can actually remember since I was drunk, it was embarrassing.
I’ll never admit it to Aria, but my goal that night was to actually lose my virginity to someone. Alcohol was supposed to help me loosen up a little, but I went a little overboard with it. My mind blocked half of the events of that night, but from what I can remember, I practically begged that man to fuck me.
That’s an embarrassment I’ll never live down.
I spent the better part of the night just doing research, and now, I’m barely holding my head up straight as Noelle serves us breakfast. Arlo and Blair are on some sort of vacation, Aria is helping her mother, and Hudson is at the head of the table, reading newspapers. He worked all night long, and he’s in terrible shape.
The scent of Noelle’s famous fluffy scrambled eggs. In reality, they’re not anything special, but they were the first thing I ate when I came to their house years ago, the first decent meal I had in years.
She puts a filled plate in front of me, and Aria brings her plate, plopping on the chair next to me. Hudson lowers hisnewspaper, sips on his coffee, and stares at Noelle lovingly. That’s all he does – just stares at her.
“Rosie,’’ Noelle’s voice breaks my trance as she sits across from me. “Aria tells me you want to go to New Orleans.’’
I throw Aria a dirty look, which she ignores, stuffing her mouth with food. My eyes fall back on Noelle, raising a brow at me.
