Page 78 of Isle of Seduction
“Okay, spill.”
“Pierce and I found Louis for you.”
“Oh God, that’s good. Is he okay?”
“He’s been living with his sick mother for the past two years, about two hours North of West Hill. Working freelance from home on short-term contracts, mostly for companies that get absorbed in mergers and acquisitions and need tidying up on their financial departments.”
I can’t recall what Louis told me about his parents. There was never much talking involved when we were together. I do remember him telling me about his dad dying, but I’m not even sure his mum came into the conversation once.
“Do you have his phone number?”
“It’s associated with his business, but yeah. I’ll send that and the address where he lives now.”
“Thanks babe, and Jules?”
“Yeah?”
“Call me if you need.”
He disconnects the call without answering. My friend is struggling; I don’t need him to tell me. Despite years of friendship, he blames Lana for Igor’s disappearance. I’m not sure who he has now to help him through this. Seeing him at Christmas time was hard enough; knowing he has no one to lean on breaks my heart. I vow to pester him every single day until he cracks like a nut and pours his little heart out to me.
My phone pings with a text from Julian containing the contact details for Louis.
I dial the phone number, but it rings without ever letting me leave a message.
I try a few more times and get more aggravated as time passes.
When I turn around, there’s nothing I need to check in anymore here. I text Andrea.
Me
Pierce and Jules found Louis. He’s not answering the phone. I’m going there.
I pocket my phone without waiting for a reply.
When I get outside Rouge, Nico is out the door, surveilling the perimeter with hawk eyes.
“Julian and Pierce found Louis. We need to go there, make sure he’s okay.”
As always, I jump in the passenger seat and let him drive. Entering the address into the GPS, we drive to Louis’s mum in comfortable silence.
* * *
We parked the car a few metres from the house.
“Isn’t Louis supposed to be financially well-off?”
Nico’s concern is justified.
The house sits on a piece of land with nothing around and compared to Andrea’s cottage bordering a lush forest, these woods look haunted. A thin layer of frost rests on the dead leaves and crunch under our feet as we make our way to the front porch. The sound raises the hair on my neck.
The house looks well taken care of, though. A fresh coat of paint must have been applied not more than three months ago, the white almost too bright against the backdrop of the grey winter sky. It was fucking cold this morning, but here in this wasteland, the temperature dropped significantly and I can’t stop but shivering.
I knock on the door. The seconds pass in weighted silence, heavy and slick.
When Louis opens the door and his familiar dark eyes under thick eyebrows meet mine, I release a sigh. “Thank fuck, you’re okay.”
I take the step over the threshold and wrap my arms around his thick body. He’s shorter than Andrea. And less solid somehow.