Fatal Attractions : The Masquerade

Chapter Twelve

"What do you think is gonna' happen?" I ask, tossing another rock across the water. Nate is next to me, trying and failing to teach me how to skip rocks. Each of mine just plop into the water and sink. His skim perfectly across the surface before finally slowing and sinking.

Chloe is asleep in our tent, and Andrew is keeping watch on her while Alex and Sam cook lunch. Pan fried potatoes and lemon chicken. I should have known this family wouldn't have us just eating beans from a can.

"I have no idea, Lena. It's hard to say. We don't even really know what this guy wants," he said, tossing another rock.

"Alex has an idea. He just won't tell me."

"Well, Alex knows a lot more about this guy than we do, and Andrew. They've both dealt with him before. They just never like to bring up stuff from their past."

"Has it always been like that?" I asked, hoping I'm not digging too much. I sense an opening here with Nate, and I'm gonna' take it. I sure as hell won't get any information prying Alex or Andrew.

"Pretty much. Since I've known them, they've never been the most open people. Over the decades, I've got to know enough, though. We all try not to ask them too many questions."

"Why? Did something happen to them before they came here?" My question seemed to surprise Nate, and his rock plops straight into the water. His eyes glaze over a moment before returning back to normal, and he throws another rock, this one skipping perfectly across the surface.

"You could say that, Lena," he said icily, and I suddenly felt like I've offended him. I cleared my throat and looked out at the river. It was a cool blue green, the sun casting yellow glimmers through the slight ripples of movement from the current. It's a slow current, but it's moving. I wanted to sink into the water and let it wrap around me, but the chilly weather didn't permit swimming. The water probably wasn't very clean, either. I tossed another rock, ending my stream of questions.

"Food's ready!" Sam called, her voice just loud enough for Nate and I to hear. I tossed one more rock before heading over to the makeshift camp. With no tables or chairs, everyone sat in a circle on a large quilt to eat. Chloe sleepily settled onto my lap, and I held onto her plate while she ate. Nate and I exchanged glances, but other than that, everyone stayed silent.

When Chloe finally finished, I handed her over to Sam so I could eat. Alex inched closer to me, our shoulders touching.

"When you're done, can I speak to you for a second?" he asked. I looked at him, his face giving nothing away, and I nodded my head.

"Sure," I said, eating another forkful of chicken. He wanted to speak to me? About what? If he couldn't say it now, in front of everyone else, it must be something important. Shit, I hope he's not mad at me. Did I do something? As I finished the rest of my food, I tried to think of a way I could have pissed him off since earlier. I couldn't think of anything.

When I cleared my plate, Alex was gone. Nate was teaching Chloe how to skip rocks, and Sam and Andrew were tending to the horses.

"Anybody know where Alex went?" I asked, and Andrew jerked his head away from us.

"Somewhere over there, said he was going for a walk." I let out a grunt and rolled my eyes. Great, now I'll have to go find him. So much for wanting to speak to me about something.

The direction Andrew pointed to was where the trees began to get thicker, coming closer together the further you walked. Not the best place to go for a walk, Alex.