Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55375 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55375 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
“Where are the bodies?” Rafael snaps.
I quickly write, and Mike says, “Nobody’ll ever find them. I made a tomb out of snow in a place nobody goes. Trust me.”
Rafael sighs, then says in Spanish, “I know you’re there, Jacob. Those men could never kill the mighty Jacob Jennings, you deluded rat. I know you’re there. But guess what? I’m on my way and bringing a friend with me. Do you want to say hello?”
Mike stares at me. I hold my finger to my lips, slowly shaking my head. A woman’s voice comes tremblingly over the phone. She sounds like she’s broken and lost all hope. “Jacob?”
I look up as a shudder moves through me. Emma walks into the room as if instinct told her she needs to see this, needs to see me, as decades-old emotion spirals through my body.
“Jacob? Are you there?”
I hold my finger to my lips, looking at Emma, telling her not to say anything. It’s my mother’s voice. I last heard it ten years ago.
“Jacob, please,” she says.
“I’ll see you soon,” Rafael says. “You were an idiot for wasting that trap on two Americans. You’ve overplayed your hand.”
He hangs up the phone, and then I turn. I grab the cupboard unit, drag it from the wall, throw it onto the floor, and hammer it with my foot, over and over, stamping and roaring. But no, not really. I just lean against the counter, staring.
“Who was that?” Emma whispers.
“My mother,” I say, unclenching my fists, letting go of any silly tantrum fantasies. “It’s been years, but yeah, that’s her.”
“Oh, Jacob,” she says. “That’s awful. I’m so sorry.”
The comfort I need most is coming at the worst time. She’s speaking with heavy emotion in front of her father. She’s making it borderline obvious how she feels about me, but my mom…
“Thanks, Emma,” I mumble.
CHAPTER TWENTY
MIKE
Iknow true love when I see it. I told Vanessa that once at the fair as we stood in front of the crazy mirror. She laughed and slapped my arm, looking up at me with so much love in her eyes. It was fitting, too, because the relationship warped just like the reflection. When Emma says, Oh, Jacob, something slams into me hard. Raw knowledge plainly laid out, the type I can’t ignore.
Emma flinches and looks at me, and that seals it. Am I going insane? I should be thinking about what my best friend is going through. They kidnapped his mother, his mother whom he hasn’t seen in years. His mom, who was an addict all his life, ignored his dad’s abuse and refused to get clean, even after Jacob tried to help her over and over.
Jacob sits down heavily. The dog pads over—what’s his name?—and sits at Jacob’s feet. Emma walks over, risking another look at me. She’s trying to act normal now, but I saw a look between them. Didn’t I? Does it make my secret any better? Why am I thinking about that now? What sort of dad am I? What kind of friend? If something’s going on… But really, Emma and Jacob?
“He’s kidnapped my mom,” Jacob mutters. “The only family I’ve got. She’s the only person he thinks I’d care about apart from you two, but I haven’t seen her in ten years.”
“What happened?” Emma asks.
“It’s not a unique story. Dad was an abusive P-O-S. Mom did drugs to numb herself to what was going on. Even when his illness did the world a favor, she kept using. I had to cut her off. She…” He bites down, doing that familiar Jacob thing of trying to push down any emotions.
Yet it seems like he’s finding it more difficult now than usual. I remember when he decided to cut out his mom. I talked with him about it as I watched Emma play a video game with one of her friends while they sat cross-legged on the floor. He was cold then, matter-of-fact. “Any feeling I’ve got,” he said, as if he believed he didn’t have any. “It belongs to my work.”
Now, it’s like he has feelings in him. He shakes his head. “He’ll try to make me risk you two for her. That’s the only reason he’d come here. He wants to draw us into some fucked-up game. The solution’s simple; we leave.”
“What?” Emma gasps. “What about your mom, Jacob?”
He glares at her. I’ve never seen him look at Emma like that. He’s looking at her honestly, letting his anger show. Typically, he looks at her like she’s not even there. I’ve never known him to be great with kids, and with the divorce, it’s not like he saw her often enough to get to know her except… at the party. He looked at her differently then. I seriously think I might be losing it.
“I tried to help her. She made her choice.”