Framing Felipe (5 page)

window
she
could
see
a
man
pacing
while
scraping
his
fingers
through
shoulder-‐length

blond
hair.

Fabian.

Probably,
anyway.
He
looked
like
either
of
the
Castillo
brothers
in
the
circus
program

picture.

FRAMING FELIPE
–
15
–
Holley Trent

He
must
have
caught
a
glimpse
of
her
in
the
dark,
because
he
froze
and
stared
out
the

window
with
his
fingers
still
entwined
in
his
messy
locks.
Fear
settled
onto
his
handsome

face
for
a
moment,
then
something
about
Sarah
must
have
registered
with
him,
because
his

jaw
relaxed,
and
he
closed
his
mouth.

Sarah
was
at
the
door
by
the
time
he
pulled
it
open.

“You
are
Dana?”
he
asked
in
a
heavily-‐accented
voice
as
she
slipped
in.

She
chose
her
response
carefully.
He
still
stood
in
the
doorway,
likely
waiting
to
either

shut
it
or
flee.
The
moment
she
said
No
,
he’d
be
off
like
a
bolt.

Before
answering,
she
closed
the
small
window
over
the
kitchen
table
and
closed
the

curtains.
“Dana
is
my
boss,”
she
said.

He
breathed
out
a
little
sigh
and
closed
the
door,
locking
it.

“My
name
is
Sarah
Miller.
Dana
is
tied
up
at
the
moment.”

His
pale
gray
eyes
narrowed
and
he
cocked
his
head
a
bit
sideways.
“Tied
up?”

Dana
was
right.
English
obviously
wasn’t
his
first
language.
How
did
he
not
know
that

common
idiom?
“Busy,”
Sarah
explained.
“Very
busy
with
something
equally
important.
She

sent
me
in
her
place.”
She
lifted
the
sunglasses
and
propped
them
atop
her
hat
so
she
could

formally
meet
his
gaze.
That
seemed
to
relax
him
a
tick
more.

“And
you
are…good?”
Fabian
crossed
his
arms
over
his
chest.
The
tank
top
he
wore
did

nothing
to
disguise
the
hard
muscles
of
his
torso,
and
left
his
cut
arms
bare.
He
was
pretty

buff
to
be
an
acrobat.
Weren’t
they
supposed
to
be
lean?

Sarah
shifted
her
gaze
to
the
ceiling
and
tried
not
to
get
distracted.
Men
were
rarely

worth
the
distraction.
She
cleared
her
throat
and
bolstered
her
reserve
before
looking
at

his
face
again.

“I’m
damn
good.
I’m
the
best
at
what
I
do,
but
your
brother
is
slippery.
I’ve
been
poking

around
all
day,
and
normally
would
have
had
a
lead
on
a
missing
person
by
now.”
She

pushed
the
mask
down
past
her
chin
so
he
could
see
her
lips.

Confusion
marred
his
face
again.
Something
wasn’t
clicking.

“Uh,
parlez-vous
Français?
”

She
cocked
a
brow
up.
“French?
Not
even
a
little
bit.”

“
Español
?”

FRAMING FELIPE
–
16
–
Holley Trent

She
cringed.
Once
upon
a
time,
she’d
been
fluent.
Her
mother
was
Puerto
Rican,
and

from
the
time
of
her
birth,
her
mother
had
spoke
Spanish
exclusively
at
home.
When
Sarah

entered
school,
it
was
all
English,
all
the
time.
She’d
lost
her
grasp
on
the
language.

She
shifted
her
weight
and
gave
him
an
assessing
stare.
Why
was
his
English
so
rusty?

Her
limited
research
revealed
the
circus
spent
most
weeks
of
the
year
in
the
United
States.

With
a
sigh,
she
flipped
a
lever
in
her
brain
and
switch
on
her
Spanish.
He
sat,
and
she

took
the
seat
across
from
him
at
the
table.
“Go
slowly.
My
Spanish
is
about
as
good
as
your

English.”

He
nodded.
“Me
and
Felipe
always
had
a
plan
in
case
we
had
to
escape,
you
know?
We

just
thought
it’d
be
both
of
us
at
once.”

“But?”

“But…”
He
wrung
his
hands
and
cast
his
gaze
to
the
ceiling,
studying
it
a
moment

before
continuing.
“Something
happened.
We
were
in
Louisiana,
I
think.
Had
been
there
for

about
a
week.
Had
a
good
plan
to
run.
Could
have
disappeared
into
the
swamps
for
a
while,

you
know?”

She
nodded,
although
she
wondered
why
they
couldn’t
just
walk
away.
Certainly

performing
in
a
circus
didn’t
come
with
a
life
sentence.

“A
little
girl
got
hurt
several
weeks
ago.
She
was
new.
I
don’t
know
where
she
came

from.
Jacques
was
training
her
up
to
perform
on
horseback.
Problem
was,
she
was
afraid
of

the
animals.
She
was
a
very
good
gymnast,
but
combine
terror
with
a
moving
horse
and

there’s
the
potential
for
disaster.”

“I
could
see
that.
But
get
to
the
point.
I
get
the
feeling
there’s
a
point.”

He
grinned
and
Sarah
didn’t
like
it
one
bit.
It
wasn’t
the
typical
smarmy
leer,
though.
It

was
an
I
see
you
kind
of
grin.
She
hated
those.
She
drummed
her
fingers
on
the
laminate

tabletop
and
cocked
up
an
eyebrow.

“Yes,
well,
you
can
probably
guess
she
fell.
Probably
broke
her
neck,
but
Jacques

wouldn’t
call
an
ambulance.
He
and
Felipe
fought
about
it
and
both
made
some
threats.
The

medic
did
what
he
could,
but
while
the
scuffle
ensued,
the
girl
died.
Someone
called
the

police.
It
should
have
just
been
an
accident,
you
know?
But
the
truth
was,
like
most
of
us,

that
girl
shouldn’t
have
been
here.
I
don’t
know
if
she
was
stolen
or
an
orphan
or
what,
but

either
way
she
was
here
illegally.
He
had
no
papers
for
her.
Felipe
saw
this
as
a
chance
to

FRAMING FELIPE
–
17
–
Holley Trent

shut
the
circus
down,
but
before
he
could
get
the
words
out,
Jacques
told
the
police
Felipe

scared
the
horse.
Told
them
he
was
jealous
of
the
girl
because
she
could
steal
our

spotlight.”

He
laughed,
and
it
was
dry
and
sardonic:
so
devoid
of
mirth
she
wondered
when
the

last
time
he
really
laughed
was.

“Of
course,
the
police
believed
Jacques
and
none
of
the
other
witnesses
would
support

Felipe
because
they
were
too
afraid.
The
police
in
Louisiana
told
Felipe
to
stay
in
the
area

while
they
conducted
their
investigation,
but
the
circus
packed
up
that
same
night
and
we

left.
We
haven’t
performed
since
and
the
police
down
in
Louisiana
haven’t
cared
enough
to

follow.
I
suspect
Jacques
paid
them
off.
That
happens
a
lot.”

“So,
what,
now
you
owe
this
Jacques
guy
peonage?
’Cause
he
paid
off
the
police?”

He
shrugged.
“We
always
owe
for
something.
It’s
the
worst
kind
of
indentureship.
The

kind
that
never
ends.
We
owed
him
fifteen
years
for
taking
us
in
as
children.
Then
another

year
for
paying
my
hospital
bills
when
I
broke
my
leg.
Then
another
year
for
this,
another

six
months
for
that.
It’s
never-‐ending.”

“Sounds
like
it
came
to
a
head
for
Felipe.”

“Yes.
A
few
days
ago,
and
I
don’t
know
why,
but
Jacques
was
about
to
pad
some
more

time
onto
our
contract.”
Fabian
made
air
quotes
with
his
fingers
when
mentioning
the

word
contract
.
“Felipe
flipped
out.
They
fought
again.
This
time,
Jacques
told
him
if
he

didn’t
straighten
up,
he’d
tell
the
police
in
all
those
little
towns
we’d
been
in
about
all
those

performers
who’d
died.
Said
he’d
blame
Felipe.”

“But
why
would
Felipe
run
and
leave
you?
Sounds
cowardly.”

Anger
flashed
in
Fabian’s
gray
eyes
as
he
leaned
back
in
his
chair.
Sarah
was
unfazed.

“You
don’t
know
him.”

“You’re
absolutely
right.
I
don’t.
What’s
to
say
Jacques
wouldn’t
throw
both
of
you

under
the
bus
should
the
police
get
involved?”

“That’s
very
simple,
Sarah.
We
know
something
Jacques
doesn’t
know
we
know.
I
may

be
here
like
human
collateral,
fretting
about
my
brother,
but
we
always
have
a
back-‐up

plan
or
two,
even
if
we
don’t
share
them
with
each
other.
I
never
told
Felipe
what
I
knew,

because
if
he
did
know,
he
would
have
killed
Jacques
a
long
time
ago.
Then
where
would

we
be?
I
personally
prefer
we
let
the
law
do
its
job.
Felipe
wouldn’t
agree.”

FRAMING FELIPE
–
18
–
Holley Trent

“What
is
it
that
you
know,
exactly,
Fabian?”

“The
reason
we
Felipe
and
I
are
in
this
circus,
and
orphans,
is
because
Jacques
made
it

so.
He
is
why
our
parents
are
dead.
He
hates
me
and
Felipe
and
people
like
us
because

we’re
a
threat.
He
polishes
us
up
and
puts
us
in
display,
and
yet
no
one
in
the
audience

knows
what
they’re
really
looking
at.
Freaks
of
nature.
Genetic
accidents.
Some
of
us
have

supernatural
abilities
that
would
shock
even
a
woman
such
as
you,
Sarah.
I
suspect
you

have
seen
a
lot
in
your
years.”

That
grin
spanned
his
face
once
more,
and
this
time
it
gave
her
pause.

“Do
I
frighten
you,
Miss
Miller?”

She
shifted
in
her
seat
and
put
a
hand
inside
her
jacket,
rubbing
the
heel
of
her
gun

meditatively
as
she
met
his
serious
gray
gaze.
He
wanted
her
to
be
shocked,
and
maybe
she

was
a
bit,
but
not
for
the
reasons
he
thought.

The
skin
over
her
face
tightened,
pulled,
as
the
bones
beneath
stretched.
She
ground

her
teeth
through
the
pain.
It’d
only
be
a
moment.
She
closed
her
eyes
and
took
deep

breaths
as
the
plates
in
her
skull
slipped
into
place.
She
opened
her
eyes
and
didn’t
need
a

mirror
to
know
she
looked
different.

Fabian’s
expression
confirmed
that.