Page 76 of Rescue

Chapter Fourteen

Haylee

“We are so lost,” Daltrey mutters, peering through the tombs of Pere Lachaise cemetery as if he thinks the grave we’re looking for will just jump out.

“Who thought it was a good idea for us to go tramping through another cemetery?” Cash asks, crossing his arms.

“Uh, you did,” Levi says. “In fact, you insisted.”

“I did not insist—”

“‘The only thing I freaking want to do in Paris is visit Morrison’s grave,’” Levi says in a surprisingly good imitation of Cash.

“You did say that,” Dylan points out.

“Well, someone should have told me how stupid that was,” Cash replies. “Especially after what happened in the last cemetery.”

“How were we supposed to know that this cemetery was like a maze?” Reed asks. A quick glance up the cobblestone lane we’re on proves his point. Many of the tombs and gravesites in the Pere Lachaise are ancient and crumbling, mixed in with newer headstones and slabs of marble. They stretch back from the road in uneven rows, too many to count. And the little lanes and alleys that cut through the cemetery are winding, many without street signs. We’ve been looking for Morrison’s grave for the past hour, and I’m pretty sure we’re no closer to finding it then we were when we got dropped off.

“You do realize why you’re lost, don’t you?” I ask, plopping down to the curb to stretch my feet out in front of me.

“Why?” Lennon asks. “Besides the fact that Cash is a horrible planner and assumed someone else would do the work for him?”

“You’re lost because Paige isn’t here,” I say.

“She has a point.” Levi sighs. “Paige would have brought a map or something.”

“Basically your whole operation falls apart without her,” I say. “And maybe you should remember that the next time you want to tease her.”

Cash makes a face at me, but he doesn’t disagree. When we left the hotel this morning for our last day of Paris sightseeing, Paige informed everyone that we’d be visiting the Champs Elysees first. When pressed, she admitted that the famous street was well known for its shopping. That, of course, led to the Ransome brothers, including Reed, teasing her about her propensity for shopping and her sneakiness in thinking she’d get them to participate. Andthatled to Paige sending us off to navigate the cemetery on our own while she spent her morning shopping. Daisy, Karen, and Layla had joined her in a show of solidarity—or, more likely, out of a desire not to spend their morning looking at old broken gravestones.

And here we are. No Paige. No map. Lost.

“I’ll call her,” Reed says, sighing. “She probably has a map in her itinerary.”

“I think Cash should call her,” I say. “Since he was the one giving her such a hard time in the first place.”

Cash grimaces at me, but Lennon joins me on the curb and leans in close to my ear. “Do you have any idea how sexy it is when you give my brothers a hard time?”

I snort and push him away. “You’re all terrible.”

He grins, taking my hand, and I push down the wave of worry that’s been pulsing just below the surface for the past two days.

It was just a nightmare, I tell myself for the hundredth time. A nightmare that looked an awful lot like a panic attack or a breakdown or…

“Paige?” Cash is saying in his most polite voice. “I was wondering if you might be able to give me some directions?” Whatever she says makes him wince.

“You’re doing it wrong,” Reed hisses. “You need to compliment her, dude! Tell her we don’t have a chance without her stellar organizational skills.”

Cash parrots what Reed said then breathes a sigh of relief, snapping his fingers for his older brother to take down directions.

Once we’re on our way again, Lennon and I walk hand in hand in silence. Daltrey and Cash are bickering about something, and Reed keeps glancing at us out of the corner of his eye. I’m starting to wish we’d come here by ourselves—without the other Ransomes and my bandmates.

“Here it is,” James says after a few minutes.

“I told you it was this way,” Cash mutters, pushing Daltrey. His attempt at being the tough guy falls apart when a crow lands on the closest tomb, cawing loudly and making Cash jump back into his younger brother with a rather high-pitched shriek.

“I don’t know what you saw in that other cemetery, dude,” Lance says, shaking his head, “but you’re all a bunch of babies now.”