Page 212 of Forever Never
“Hey,” she said. “Can’t sleep?”
Camille shook her head. “My brain feels too full. Am I interrupting?”
Remi glanced at the canvas again. “No. I think I’m done,” she said, dropping her paint-laden palette on the nearest work table and rolling out her shoulders.
“That song,” Camille said, walking down the ramp. “That’s what we were listening to in the car.”
Remi nodded.
“Are you painting it?” her friend asked.
“I think I painted the song and the accident,” she said, again glancing at the canvas.
She needed to step back, to take in the whole picture. After so many hours of detail work, she wouldn’t understand the piece until she took that step back and saw the bigger picture.
Camille joined her, and together they stared at the canvas.
“Wow,” Camille said.
Headlights and footprints. The colors of the music. Camille’s screams. The smell of blood. Everything echoed distantly. Remi felt a strange sense of peace pour over her.
“I can’t shake this feeling,” Camille admitted. “Like he’s coming. I got really good at anticipating when his moods were changing. I knew when he was going to snap, and that’s how I feel now. Like I’m just waiting for him to walk through the door.”
Remi looked at her friend. “I feel something, too. But remember, you’re not alone this time. We’re here together and we’ve got a house full of people who would love to kick him in his balls.”
Everything in the world that Brick cared about was in this house. Remi’s pulse kicked up a notch. While a landmark burned, everyone that was important to him was gathered under the same roof. It wasn’t a coincidence. It couldn’t be.
“We need to go,” she said quietly.
Camille nodded. “I think so, too. We’re putting everyone else in danger just by being here.”
Brick was going to murder her. But Freddie Mercury willing, there’d be a Remington for him to murder in the morning.
“Let’s grab what we need. I’ll talk to that asshat White outside,” Remi decided.
Spurred on by adrenaline, they hurried for the ramp when something thumped against the door leading to the backyard.
“Oh my God,” Camille clapped a hand to her mouth as Remi jumped in front of her. A hand slapped against the glass. It was impossible to see into the night with the studio lights blazing.
“Let me in,” a weak voice rasped. “Hurry.”
“Shit. I think it’s White,” Remi hissed.
“What happened? We can’t leave him out there.”
“If we get murdered because of this guy, I am going to be so pissed off!”
“Go get William,” Remi ordered Camille. “And stay with him.”
She waited until her friend was in the main house before yanking open the side door. White was slumped on the ground. “What did you fucking do?” she hissed as she grabbed him under the arms. “And why are you so sweaty?”
Oh God. It wasn’t all sweat, she realized, looking down at his white button-down. A crimson stain was spread in a lopsided circle.
“Did you get your ass shot? I thought you were a big fucking deal, Agent White.”
He murmured something she couldn’t make out.
“I’m never going to hear the end of this from Brick,” she muttered as she managed to drag him halfway across the threshold.
