Sacrifice (Ritual Sins #2)

8. Sebastian

8

Sebastian

With narrowed eyes, I watched Rose step into the house and close the door behind her with a soft click. I wasn’t happy about this additional step to our plan, but I knew I had to let her have it. She deserved a chance to say goodbye to her father.

Whether Augustus was a drug-dealing murderer or not simply wasn’t relevant in a moment like this. The man had raised her and loved her, or at least acted as if he loved her, for the last twenty-four years, and he was the only family she’d ever had. It was important for her to speak to him and get some closure before she ventured into the outside world.

“Sebastian?”

I turned and squinted into the darkness. A tall, hulking man was making his way down the street. “Jean-Pierre?” I called out. “Is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me,” he called back. He took several steps closer, huge frame still half-shrouded in shadows. “I thought that was you. What are you doing out here?”

“I was just having a late-night chat with Augustus,” I said smoothly, gesturing toward the Trudeau’s front door. “I needed some fresh air, so I came out here for a minute.”

He nodded slowly. “Ah, I see. Nice night for it.”

“Yeah. What about you? Why are you out so late?”

He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “I just got back from Pinecrest Falls. I had some business to attend to there. It took a long time,” he said. “I was actually going to come and find you in the tavern tomorrow, because I wanted to speak with you about it. But then I saw you standing over here, and I thought now is as good a time as any to have a conversation.”

“Makes sense.” I glanced toward the Trudeau’s front window. Either Rose or Augustus had lit a lantern in the kitchen, but I couldn’t hear any raised voices, so I could only assume things were going smoothly between the two of them so far. “What did you want to talk about?”

“I wanted to tell you that I took your advice.”

I frowned. “What advice?”

“About the messages we received on our cellular phone,” he replied. “There’s an investigator based in Pinecrest Falls. I went to see him and offered him triple his usual rate to prioritize our case over his current ones. It took all day and night, but he came through in the end.”

“Ah.” I coughed to clear my throat. “What did he find?”

Jean-Pierre scratched the back of his neck. “You were right about everything,” he said. “The investigator determined that the number that contacted us with the ransom message wasn’t attached to a registered account. It was a burner phone.”

I nodded. “I thought that would be the case.”

“After that, he was able to determine where the SIM card was sold. It was at a shop in New York City,” Jean-Pierre went on. He paused and scratched his neck again. “It’s such a big city, so once I heard that, I knew it could be anyone. Like finding a needle in a haystack, as they say.”

“Wasn’t there any CCTV footage?” I asked, cocking my head as if I didn’t already know the answer.

“Unfortunately, the shop in question doesn’t have any security cameras. Inside or outside.”

“Damn.” I forced out a conciliatory sigh, raking a hand through my hair. “The guy was careful, then.”

Jean-Pierre was silent for a moment. Then he took a short step forward. “Do you remember what I told you a few weeks ago?” he asked. “The first time we spoke properly. When we were searching for Rosamund down by the river.”

My brows furrowed. “You told me a lot of things.”

“I said I didn’t trust you when you first arrived in Alderwood. But then I realized I was wrong about you.”

“Oh.” I nodded slowly. “Yeah, I remember. Why?”

“It’s not nice to realize that your usually sharp instincts have suddenly turned so wrong,” he said. “But it is nice to have them confirmed again.”

My brows lifted. “What?”

Jean Pierre smiled tightly, dark eyes glinting in the moonlight. “The investigator didn’t give up so easily. There’s an apartment building directly across the street with a security camera pointed at the shop, and he was able to obtain the footage and show me everyone who went in and out when the SIM card was bought,” he said. “So, I’ve since realized my initial instincts about you were correct, Sebastian.”

Shit.

My hand went for the gun in my pocket, fingers brushing the cold metal, but Jean-Pierre moved with starting speed. He raised his right arm to reveal a thick metal pipe that had been hidden in the shadows behind his back. In a flash, it was coming straight at me.

There was no time to react or pull my gun all the way out. The end of the pipe connected with the side of my head with a sickening thud, and pain exploded in my skull. My vision blurred, the world spinning wildly as my knees buckled.

“It was you ,” Jean-Pierre said, raising his arm again. “It was you all along. A snake in our garden.”

I tried to croak out an answer, but my brain and mouth no longer seemed to be connected. Jean-Pierre brought the pipe down on my head again, and darkness rushed in along with another explosion of pain.

I crumpled to the ground, consciousness slipping away. The last thing that registered in my mind was Jean-Pierre’s voice, muttering to me as my eyes fluttered shut.

“Don’t worry, Sebastian. I’ll make sure you get what you deserve.”