Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
I hold out the postcard unable to speak feeling so utterly helpless.
He takes it, scans the text. “Where was this?”
“In the bag of clothes. Tucked in with the receipt.”
Jericho takes it from him and curses, grabbing his jacket which he’d taken off and heading to the door.
“Dex said he’d picked it up at the gate. He could be lying. Saying he was at the house just to scare me.”
“How does he know about Isabelle’s cast?” That I can’t answer. Jericho is on his phone in the next instant. “Dex? My family, you’re with them?” There’s a pause. “Good. I want the house on lockdown. Everyone inside. You do not let any of them out of your sight.”
“I’m right behind you,” Zeke says. “You still have the laptop?”
He nods. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to give that asshole what he wants.”
We all head toward the door. Jericho walks out but Zeke turns to me. “No, not you. You’ll stay here. I’ll send two men over.”
“What? No.”
“Stay, Blue. Call your sister, call Rudy. I’ll get in touch with the men stationed at the center, and I’ll take care of this.”
“I’m going with you!”
“Over my dead body.”
“Zeke, please—”
His fingers squeeze my arms. “We are wasting time your sister may not have.”
“I can’t just sit here.”
“You have no choice.”
“Zeke.”
“Look, this will be easier if I know you’re safe.” I open my mouth to protest but he holds up a finger. “I don’t want to lock you in your room.”
I look away, nod because he’s made up his mind.
“Good.” He kisses me once, hard, which surprises me and when he pulls away and walks out of the door, I watch him climb into his SUV and hear the engine roar to life. A chill runs up my spine and I hug my arms to myself as I stand there and watch him go, uneasy, afraid. Afraid to lose him. Because my father has nothing to lose and he wouldn’t think twice about hurting Zeke, or worse.
21
EZEKIEL
Isabelle meets us at the door. Jericho hugs her, holding her for a long moment. I can almost feel his relief at having her in his arms and maybe for the first time in my life I can understand it.
“What is it?” Isabelle asks, concerned. “Where’s Blue?”
“She’s at the other house. Kids okay? Everyone’s inside?”
She nods. “They’re arguing over which movie we’ll watch.”
Jericho smiles at that.
“Brother. I need the laptop,” I say, not wanting to interrupt this moment but needing to go.
Jericho nods and I follow him into his office to get the laptop. “I’ll go with you,” he says.
“No, you won’t. You and I both know if her father got to the house, he has help. He wouldn’t know where Blue is otherwise. It has to be Girard. The timing is suspect now that I think of it. Hell, Girard could have left the bags himself with that note planted in it.”
Jericho considers this.
“I need to go,” I say.
“Dex,” Jericho calls.
“Yeah, boss.”
“Go with him. Make sure he doesn’t get himself killed.”
I snort but appreciate the gesture. “Thanks. I’ll call you as soon as I’m finished with Lucky.”
Dex and I walk quickly out of the house and head toward the address where Lucky is expecting to meet Blue. On our way, I have confirmation from the men stationed at the Margaret Stone Center that Wren is perfectly fine, no one has attempted to visit her. Dex is driving and I text Blue to let her know that.
The diner, which is a hole in the wall, is exactly the kind of place I’d expect to do this kind of business. It’s almost cliché. The windows, which are tinted, don’t show me who’s inside, but I’m guessing the occupants of the diner can see out just fine. From the count of cars in the lot, the place isn’t too busy. I wonder which of the vehicles is Lucky’s.
We park in the farthest corner, backing the vehicle into the space so the front of the car faces the diner. Dex stays in the SUV while I climb out, noting the privacy the trees offer. I want to get Lucky outside. I head toward the diner, scanning the lot once more, then the cars parked across the street. This could be a setup by Girard for all I know. He could have men watching the diner, thinking she’d come.
I pull the door open and a bell chimes to announce my arrival. I stop just inside, scan the place. A waitress behind the counter looks up and I guess I’m a little different than the usual clientele because she does a double take.
“Come on in, handsome,’ she says. “Take a seat anywhere you like.”
I recognize Lucky from the mugshots Robbie got hold of. He’s sitting at the very back booth. We look at each other for a long minute. I take in his greasy dark hair, the unshaven face. He has a cup of coffee in front of him and he doesn’t look nearly as cocky as the postcard would have led me to believe. If anything, he looks to be in rough shape. The checkered button-down shirt he’s wearing is speckled with red and I get the feeling it’s not paint. That’s confirmed when he sets his left hand on the table and leans back in his seat. The hand is bandaged and not well, the white of the gauze is dirty, stained a deep red where his little finger and ring finger should be.