Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
“You’re always so optimistic.” I opened my eyes and rose from the bed, just ready to hide in my room until a week had gone by.
Grabbing my arm, Troy lowered his voice. “We’re going to have to take care of this.”
I didn’t ask what he was saying. Troy probably had a clear plan. The fact that he didn’t reveal it in his strained whisper, confirmed what I already figured about Benny’s vacation home. My sick father had probably embedded microphones and video equipment in all the ceilings. I’d been around Chase enough to understand how rich men loved to invade others’ privacy.
“Regardless,” I frowned, “I just need some time.”
He lowered his voice even more and his hands shivered against my arm. “We don’t have it.”
“Why not?”
“Remember that language we made up when we were kids?”
“What?”
“You know? Remember that big tree out by the dumpsters that you would point at and say that fairies lived in the trunk and that you could speak to them? And then you made up this whole alphabet and a bunch of phrases.”
“The Igboo language. We’re stuck in a rotting mansion, and you’re asking me about a made-up fairy language.”
“Do you remember any of it?”
“No, I was eight.” I eyed him suspiciously. “Don’t tell me this language was a part of your big plan. Are you smoking weed?”
He frowned. “Yes, but that’s not the point.”
“It definitely is the point. Why the hell would I even remember that? How do you remember that?”
“Sometimes in juvie or even ... you know? Sometimes I had nothing but time to think about shit. I remember the language.”
“Good for you. Be sure to put it on your résumé.”
“Do you remember the term for sister?”
“We were kids, Troy. Why the hell would I remember how to speak that made-up craziness?”
“Fine. You’re in a bad mood. I’ll leave you alone.” He let go of my arm and nodded toward the lamps and ceilings. “Yeah. Well, we need a way to talk to each other, without so many eyes and ears.”
“Speaking of eyes and ears.” I forced myself to deal with the one thing I just had no energy to work on. “Those late-nights visits by our sister should stop.”
He turned away. “We should talk about that, too.”
“No, we shouldn’t.”
“It’s all connected.”
“Your sex life is not my—”
“We’re not having sex, Jazz.”
“Then why is she in here in the middle of the night?”
“We cuddle,” he mumbled.
“Excuse me?” I laughed. “Could you say that a bit louder?”
“Shut up. You heard me.”
“Stop cuddling with your sister.”
“Very funny, Jazz.”
I got up.
He came closer, grabbed me, and whispered quick in my ear, “She’s not our sister.”
I looked at him, and he backed away. “Says who?”
“Tests.”
“Are you sure?”
“Pretty much.”
How is this going to change things? Viv’s not my sister? Which one of us is related to Benny?
“We really need to talk,” he said.
Pretend like he didn’t say anything. Just in case there are cameras recording us.
“Yes we do.” I made a show of stretching.
It wasn’t like I didn’t want to deal with the situation. It was more that heartbreak hovered over me like a dark, gray cloud, threatening to rain down all over everything I’d planned. Any conversation that Troy desperately hoped to have with me, would be some stuff that I couldn’t wrap my head around. Because in the end, every path would end with murdering Benny. How could it not? He’d taken lives, and ruined ours. Now, he kept us close to him as if we were little kids, or even worse, his pets.
Benny had never been this bad. He kept a close eye on Vivian back in the day, but never serial killer focused. Now that Chase had revealed the true Benny to all of us, there was no need for my father to pretend. Benny had owned it all—his love for torture, his need to dominate with violent bullying, and his not so stable mental will.
I headed away.
Troy’s voice sounded behind me. “Tomorrow, Viv is dragging me to do the tourist thing.”
“Sounds great. You both take pictures.” I got to the door.
“We’re going all through Royal London.”
“Yippee. I don’t know what that means, but have a ball.”
“You should come.”
I grabbed the knob. “I just want to eat, drink, masturbate, and smoke.”
“You could’ve left the masturbate part out. Come do Royal London with us.”
“I just told you my list of things to do for this week.”
“Besides the masturbation, there will be plenty of the other stuff available. We are going with Viv. You know how she does.” He cleared his throat. “You really, really should come with us.”
Alrighty. Apparently, Troy is planning something and doing the tour is going to somehow move it along. Do I even want to know what this is? Let’s hope it is good.
“I’ll go.” I glanced over my shoulder. “But if I’m too drunk to walk by the afternoon, will you be carrying me home?”