Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
“Can I have my phone back?” I ask him.
“Why?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t call an Uber or something. Just want to call Rudy, make sure Wren’s okay. Make sure he knows no one gets in to see her.” His eyes narrow. He doesn’t trust me. I get it. I wouldn’t trust me either. But can I count on him to get me out of this, to keep us safe? “You want me to start trusting you. You need to start trusting me too. I’m only asking for my phone so I can communicate with my sister.”
“I’ll think about it. Get dressed.”
With a sigh, I nod, and he leaves, closing the door behind himself. I take a minute to process.
My dad is getting out of prison. Zeke’s right that he isn’t allowed to cross state lines but that’s not going to stop him. Not if it means life or death because the man who wants those files will kill him. I know that.
At that, I rush out of the bathroom and back to my bedroom. On the nightstand is the wad of cash. It’s not that I’m concerned about right now, though. The ruined dress is on the bed. I close the door behind me and pick it up to check the pockets and I have never been as relieved as I am in this moment. Because there, stuck on a loose string in the pocket, is the flash drive.
It didn’t fall out. Zeke doesn’t know about it.
This is my back up plan. It has to be. I trust Zeke’s intentions. I believe he will help me and if it’s only to alleviate his own guilt, so be it. I saw how dark his eyes went when he told me that. In helping me, he hopes to atone for a past sin. A failure that cost someone their life. I have a feeling it has to do with Zoë, whoever she is. I remember how he got when I asked about her. Remember what his brother said to him. Maybe I remind him of her. Was she a girlfriend or something?
I shake my head. That doesn’t matter. None of that matters. Him helping me doesn’t mean he cares about me, and the fucking? Well, that’s just a bonus for him.
It’s not that I want him to care or anything like that. Although there’s something with him. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just how big he is. How powerful. How much in control. Hell, maybe it’s just that we’ve been intimate. He’s my first and my emotions are mixed up. My broken brain trying to make something out of nothing. Like when he cut the steak for me at the restaurant or how he checks that my hand is healing well.
It's all confusing.
No. I shake my head. I chalk it up to emotions being high. I can’t be stupid, even though I will admit that on some level, it’s a relief to have his protection. I need to remember why I’m here. He has no loyalty to me, the opposite if anything. I tried to blackmail him. He doesn’t know me. I’m nothing to him.
As good as his intentions may be, he doesn’t know the kind of people dad was dealing with. The kind that will put a gun to a sixteen-year-old girl’s head. The kind that will pull the trigger if they got the chance. I know that. I was there for it. Played the leading role.
I don’t know what is on this flash drive. I haven’t been able to access more than a few files. I don’t even want to know more. But if the only way Wren and I will be safe will be to give it back to whoever wants it, then I’ll do that.
I get dressed quickly, pulling on my worn but beloved jeans and a sweater. I should have taken some shoes from my apartment, too, but I just slip my feet into these borrowed ballet flats. I bury the flash drive inside the pocket of my jeans and make sure it’s not visible before I head out into the hallway and down the stairs. I can already hear men’s voices coming from the study, where light spills out of the open door. My heart beats fast as I make my way to it.
There’s nothing they could have found on that laptop. There’s nothing to find. I don’t know what questions they’ll have for me, but I should be safe. And once they’re gone, I’ll ask Zeke for one more thing. To move Wren and maybe Rudy, too. To bring them here? No, that’s too hard. I need her somewhere where I can get us out if I need to. This house is a fortress.
Taking a deep breath in, I enter the study. Three sets of eyes turn to me, conversation coming to an abrupt halt the moment I’m inside.