The Isle of Sin and Shadows

by Keri Lake

Jude Bijou, the investor for Daughters of Mercy, where my sister resides, and who I assume was her late husband beside her. The four of them stand before the entrance to a hospital. Frannie. Fuck!

I knew there was something up with that lady

“You’re lying. He was my father. You’re lying to me.” “’Fraid not. Your father was Mr. Bijou.”

“You’ll regret pulling a gun on me, friend.” The level tone of my voice is practiced. Honed. Intentional. “Au contraire, Cous’. You da one who should feel regret right now.” The air inside of me deflates. Whatever defenses I put up a second ago crumble around me like a Roman monument. Cold shock spirals through me, and I shake my head, not believing it. The gun-toting man in front of me lifts his mask to reveal my cousin. Luc.

“Where’s Frannie? You told me you’d show me Céleste and Frannie.” “Oh. Well, I was gonna show you Frannie, but you insisted on taking your truck. She’s been in my trunk for the last two days.”

“You were his redemption. And now you’re mine, moiselle.”

Thierry is forever stitched into a quiet little haven inside my heart, where the sunlight is more golden, the air is sweeter, and time doesn’t exist.

For the first time, I feel home. Right here, in this man’s arms.

Because ghost stories aren’t meant to have happy endings. But mine did.