Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 115964 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115964 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
I hated this life.
I hated it.
I hated myself so much right now.
And twenty minutes later, the client walked in, saw Claudia tied and gagged, and it began. This time, though, the client folded immediately. Raize still got the information he needed because we’d need collateral to hold over both Claudia and the client, but instead of Jake and Cavers having to go and be creepers, they helped us carry everything inside this giant house.
I chose the room in the far corner, the one that had a balcony, and I stayed in it the rest of the night.
There was a slight knock, and my door eased open.
I knew who’d be standing there.
I was starting to sense his presence, or his lack of presence—the complete absence of anything human about him. Smells. Sounds. He was a ghost, just in a body.
“Why did you choose this life?” Raize asked.
I sat in the corner, since there was no furniture, and I could see out the window. But no one could see me since the room was dark. It looked so peaceful out there. We were in a normal neighborhood. Not normal. We were in an affluent neighborhood. This was a five-thousand-square-foot house, with a pool in the backyard. This should’ve been someone’s dream home. It could’ve been mine, in another life.
Those neighbors out there were probably bankers. They might’ve golfed and wined—because wining could be an event. No. Champagne. Those people probably champagned for a hobby. And now we were right next to them.
Raize wanted to go somewhere the Estrada Cartel wouldn’t find right away, and once they did, they might wait a bit before deciding to make another move. These neighbors were our camouflage.
He’d kept the light off, so he was just a shadow standing among other shadows.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I did my research. I knew who you were, what you could do, before I won you in that game. It’s why I went to that game.”
I’d never thought about it, but I realized he hadn’t gone to another poker game since that night.
“Why?” None of that made sense. Why seek me out?
“A girl whose gut is always right? You’re a weapon in living form in this life. You’re more reliable than an actual psychic and less work than a lie detector. You save time from torture. But I researched where you came from, and I got nothing. The first mention of you was that Bronksi had bought a new blonde from Korkov. Korkov brings girls from Russia to use here. Or they trick junkies into working for them. You were neither Russian nor a junkie. Korkov isn’t into randomly kidnapping American girls, so that made me think you made the decision. Why?”
I couldn’t answer that. No one could ever know.
“You’ve got an attitude about what I did to get this house, but no one died in this business deal,” he continued. “The real estate agent and the client are both alive. If they keep their mouths shut, they’ll remain alive.”
“And if they talk?” I shot out, my teeth grating against each other.
“They die. They know the score.”
I shook my head. “No one should know the score.”
He was quiet, and I felt him take a step back. “The cartels are here. They’re operating in the Valley. Anyone who lives here, knows the score.” He moved back again, his shadow separating from the others. “Jake picked up pizza. Your body needs to eat. If you’re going to do whatever you’re in this life to do, you need energy, no matter how much you hate living this life.”
Then he was gone.
I felt his absence as much as I felt his presence. I didn’t like that either.
My stomach growled, and I pushed up to my feet because he was right. I couldn’t find my sister if I was dead, and that’s what I’d be if I wasn’t useful anymore. Like Jake had said, I’d hitched my wagon to Raize, and I had to see it through, no matter where our path was heading.
Fuck him, though, just because.
Fuck him.
11
Carrie
A loud thud sounded, and I gasped, rolling over and jumping up at the same time.
It took a second to get my bearings. I was disoriented.
I’d fallen asleep on the floor—no blanket, nothing but me. I looked at the door. It was open. Cavers stood there, bending over to grab a bag from the floor. He looked over and grimaced. “Sorry.” He lifted it, pausing to look at me again. “Since you’re awake, the boss wants you downstairs.”
Well.
I “needed to be useful”— Raize’s exact words—so, ignoring the fact that my body so very much did not like sleeping on the floor, I moved into the bathroom. A quick piss, followed by a quick wash-up, and I felt a little… Nope. I didn’t feel refreshed at all. I wasn’t sure I would ever again, but still, I headed downstairs.