“What? Why?” He reached up to touch his nose and then jerked his hand away with a squeal of pain.
“Because I think your nose is broken.”
“You think?” Pete yelled the words but cut short as the movement of his lips seemed to cause him further discomfort. “I must have fallen on it.”
“You tripped?”
“Tripped? No, I...Where’s Fiona?” Pete turned to look left and then, more slowly, right. He wobbled and repositioned his hands to steady himself as he finally focused on Broch.
“Oh. You,” he muttered.
Catriona mimicked his visual sweep of the lot, seeing nothing unusual. “What about Fiona?”
Pete coughed and then groaned. “Do either of you have any water? My mouth feels like I’ve been eating cotton balls.”
“Pete, what about Fiona?”
“She was with me. She was going to buy me dinner.” He closed his eyes and tilted his head back. “Dinner, dinner, fo finner, banana fana bo binner...”
“Buy you dinner?” Catriona did the math and began to nod. “Oh. You mean she used you to get by the guard.”
Pete scowled. “No. I mean yes, but I think she likes me.”
“Did she pretend she was under your care as you passed the guard house?”
“Maybe.”
“She used you. What happened to her?”
“I don’t know. I felt something hit my back and then I don’t really remember anything.” He looked around. “Why is everything so wobbly?”
Broch moved around Pete to lift his shirt. He remained quiet as he scanned the doctor’s skin. “’Ere. A wee pin prick.”
“He’s stabbed?”
“Na. Lik’ a wee dart.”
Pete jerked his shirt down. “Get off me, you big monkey.”
Broch stepped away, staring down at Pete with his hands on his hips. “Ah dinnae think he’s right in his heid. The wee dart was poisoned.”
Catriona scanned the ground.
“Where’s the dart?”
Broch shrugged. “They took it back.”
“So someone shot him with a dart, he fell on his face and they grabbed Fiona.”
Pete frowned. “Who goes around shooting people with darts?” He giggled as if he’d told a joke.
Catriona searched the surrounding asphalt for evidence, finding nothing but pebbles and more of Noseeum’s nose blood.
Broch put out a hand to help Pete to his feet. “Git up.”
“No. Go away. I have a secret for Cat.” Pete slapped his hand away.
Catriona sighed and looked at Broch. “Go to the guard gate and make sure he’s called an ambulance. We better get him checked out.”
Pete poked his chest. “I’m a doctor.” He gingerly felt the shape of his nose. “Though I’m not sure I have the balls to straighten this myself.”
Catriona scoffed. “Let me save you some time. You don’t.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
Broch strode in the direction of the guard box as Catriona squatted back down beside Pete.
“Would you let someone who earned their medical degree in the Caribbean straighten your nose?”
He barked a laugh. “Never.”
“Exactly. So let’s get someone else to do that for you.”
He nodded. “Point taken. But ouch, jeeze.” Pete took a deep breath as he watched Broch walk away and then turned his attention to Catriona.
“Seriously, why don’t you love me, Cat?”
Catriona looked away. “Pete, the drugs have you loopy.”
He grabbed her arm to regain her attention. “No. They have me clear. I realized last night that I have to know or I’ll never get over you. We’ve known each other so long. Why am I always in the friend-zone with you?”
She peeled his fingers from her arm and took his hand in hers. “It’s not you. It’s me.”
He rolled his eyes. “Oh come on.”
“Pete. Look at me.”
He did, and she felt a wave of nerves as she prepared to tell him the truth.
Why would I tell him this? Do I need to hear it out loud myself?
She pushed through.
“It’s me. I’m serious. I’m not capable—” She stopped.
Pete tugged on her hand. “What?”
She took a deep breath and squeezed his hand. “How many relationships have I ruined?”
“With men?” Pete chuckled. “All of them. You’re like a love buzzsaw.”
“Exactly. And how long do they even last?”
He shrugged. “Days? Weeks?”
“Could it always be their fault?”
“I—”
“I’ll answer for you. No. It’s me.”
Pete’s eyes went soft. “But you’re wonderful.”
“I’m not. Not to date. I sabotage every relationship. I can’t be happy. I don’t know why.”
“Are you going to do it to him too?”
He looked past her and she turned to glance in Broch’s direction. He was talking to the guard.
“I’m sure.”
She thought about having to tell Broch they needed to dissolve their accidental marriage and something in her chest throbbed with ache. Her eyes began to water and she blinked hard. “I’m going to break his heart.”
She wiped her eyes discreetly, thankful Pete seemed too wrapped up in his own drama to notice her tears.
He pulled her hand toward his chest. “But I really know you, Cat. The others—”
“But that’s just it, Pete. I love you too much to ruin our friendship. I couldn’t bear losing you.”
Pete’s shoulders slumped. “Couldn’t you just ruin our friendship a little? For, like, a week?”
“What?”
“Maybe twenty minutes? Could you ruin our friendship for twenty, hot, sweaty minutes?”
Catriona laughed and pushed his shoulder. “You’re terrible.”
“Ow.”
She helped him to his feet. “So you have no idea what happened to Fiona?”
Pete’s attention wandered to the east. “It’s morning?”
“Yes. What time was it when you left?”
“Maybe ten? Eleven?”
“Last night?” Catriona raised a hand to her forehead.
Fiona’s been gone a good six hours.
She could be almost anywhere.
“Have you seen Sean?”
Pete licked his fingers and used the spit to rub the dried blood from his chin. Dark flakes fluttered to the asphalt. “No. Not for a couple days. Why?”
“Nothing.”
