“You’ll be fine,” she said.
“That’s what I told Desmond. ”
“That boy. ” Brigit whistled appreciatively. “You hit some sort of beefcake jackpot there. ”
I nestled back into the chair, enjoying the warmth of the sun on my face. “I don’t think anyone has used the phrase beefcake outside of a 1978 Harlequin romance novel, Bri. ”
“Beefcake, beefcake, beefcake,” she chanted.
We both sipped our drinks leisurely. My dreams had quite the euphoric quality to them lately. Either I was spending time naked in bed with good-looking men, or I got to sunbathe. Of the two, I think I liked this one best. As Brigit pointed out, I got to spend naked time with hot men in real life.
I’d never been able to bask in the sun before.
“Boss?” she said.
“Mmm?” I didn’t feel like correcting her, so I just rolled with it.
“Not that I’m complaining or anything, but is there a reason I’m here? I was in the middle of a shower and then, like, wham, I’m dreaming. I’m probably pretty pruney by now. ” She assessed her fingers as if they would reflect what was happening to her body in the real world.
I’d pulled her into a dream? How was that possible? Dreamy thoughts ebbed and flowed through my mind, reminding me of something Holden had told me.
Of course! Brigit was my ward, like I was Holden’s. I had used my connection with her to reach out for help. My subconscious, as it turns out, is a freaking genius.
“Brigit. ” I sat bolt upright in my chaise lounger, knocking my mimosa over.
“That’s me. ”
“You need to tell Sig… I… He needs to know where I am. ”
“Where are you?”
“I’m in Rhinebeck. ”
She wrinkled her nose. “Weird, why would you go antiquing?”
“Brigit…” I warned.
“What should I tell him?”
“If Desmond did his job, you shouldn’t have to tell him anything else. ”
“Secret, that’s sort of a weird message. ”
“Tell him I have his answers,” I lied.
The sun seemed to grow brighter, and the reflection of it on the water became unbearable. I looked away only to find my vision had been whited out by the brilliance of the sun.
“Tell him I tried. ”
Then the intensity of the light blotted everything else out.
Someone slapped me.
The pain in my head was still real outside the dream, and when I tried to open my eyes, only one of them would comply. Any attempts to open the second resulted in a jackhammer annihilating the left side of my skull. I licked my lips and tasted copper. Blood.
I made to lift my hands to investigate the source of the blood but found they were bound behind my back and neither one of them was holding my gun. My fingers brushed against skin, and a little further touching told me another pair of hands was bound with mine.
Well this just kept getting better.