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)
Ignoring the splendor, Troy finished our conversation from the tube ride. “Maybe we should put a pillow over his head while he’s asleep and suffocate him.”
Vivian snorted. “Dad’s a light sleeper. He’ll wake up before the door is open.”
“And he has guards all over the place.” I pulled my phone out to take some pictures. “They’re watching us, and protecting him.”
“Give me your phone.” Vivian held out her hand. “You suck at taking pictures.”
“Everyone’s a freaking critic.” I handed it to her.
“You almost always cut off someone’s head, when you take it,” she added. “And you have a talent for snapping the picture right as my face is in some distorted blah expression.”
“Lies. All lies. Your face always looks like that.” I stuck out my tongue. “I can’t make you look beautiful.”
“Yet, any picture that anyone else takes looks just fine.”
“Where are these mystery photos?”
“Ladies, focus.” Troy guided us forward to explore more of what the tour books called Royal London. “We need to figure out a way to kill Benny. We only have a little time to discuss this. And I thought I told you to turn the phone off?”
“Benny gave us the phone back to take pictures.” I grabbed it from Vivian.
“Yeah, because it’s probably bugged. Turn it off.”
I shut it down.
“Can we talk about something else besides death right now?” Vivian asked.
“No,” Troy said. “Shit is about to go down.”
Troy can hear it, too? He can hear the tick tock just like me?
An invisible death clock ticked loud in my ears. Ever since the phone call to Chase, some impending future doom swarmed over our family. Chase coming our way wouldn’t be a good thing. Mom with him was even worse. Add a handcuffed Sherman to the mix and a psychotic Benny, and we had the right ingredients for an atomic bomb.
Chase sat on a plane with my mother and brother. He claimed to be heading my way, and with his stubborn, hard head I was sure he would find me.
If not this day, then definitely another.
I thought he would swim in depression for a few days. A stupid part of me figured he’d understand why I left, accept defeat, and move on.
No way. Not my Chase.
Motivation kept his heart booming in his chest. Chase wouldn’t let me go. He wouldn’t give up on fighting Benny. If anything, the fight had shifted to a bloody war, and London would be the battlefield.
And this city damned sure has known blood.
Touring Royal London, I’d learned enough about the city’s haunting British history. The residents had given that section its imperial name because it made up the triangle of streets Queen Elizabeth II took when processing from Buckingham Palace to Westminster or to the Houses of Parliament on state occasions. Even though we’d rushed out this morning, after smoking, people flooded the streets. Everyone wanted an inside-look into how luxury moved around the city.
I held my hands in front of my face and sniffed them. “Do I smell like marijuana?”
“How many times are you going to ask me that?” Vivian said.
“This place is creepy.” Troy looked up at the high gothic ceiling. “Let’s go somewhere else.”
“It’s crowded, too.” Vivian paused in the hallway, which made us stand next to her.
We’d arrived at the Abbey early, but it still didn’t matter. The doors opened at 9:30 a.m. We’d gotten there a couple hours before lunch and still we drowned in tourist traffic. Voices rose around us. A few people had already bumped into my shoulder, their eyes staring everywhere but in front of them.
“We’re staying here.” I opened the book. “There’s no way that Benny put microphones in the Abbey. His guards are waiting outside and have eyes on all of the exits. We can walk around in here for the rest of the day and make a plan.”
Troy frowned. “This place looks like Dracula’s castle.”
“This place is where kings have been crowned,” I countered. “There’s been tons of coronations, and several royal weddings. This is not Dracula’s castle.”
“Well I was close. This place is for the royals? Then some vampires did walk through here. Everyone knows that the fastest way to power is to suck out the poor’s blood.”
“Interesting. I thought power came from education and sheer determination.” I flipped a page and searched around for things that matched what I’d spotted in my book. “Okay, we’re at the North Entrance. Soon as these slow ass people get out of the way, we can check out the Coronation Chair.”
“Why?” Troy raised his eyebrows. “Why do I want to see where old people rested their asses as someone put a crown on their head?”
“Because ...” I turned to Vivian. “Help me out with this.”
“Don’t look at me. I have no idea why people would want to see a chair.”
I glanced up from the book. “But touring Royal London was your idea.”