Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 116220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
> I want 2 sit on Kyle’s face, he has a hot nose.
Kyle brings a hand to his nose. “What the hell …?”
“People are natural skeptics. I’d warn you about scrolling too far, but it gets kinda entertaining. My personal favorite is the Team Kyle hashtag.” She peers at him, winces. “Sorry, too soon for jokes, huh?”
“They think it’s fake.” Kyle lowers the phone to his lap, his mouth agape. “They think it’s all … just a … a grab for clicks.”
“Isn’t everything? Even articles with real news, they have a headline that’s, like, some out-of-context bullshit, clicky titles.” She takes the phone from Kyle’s hand before he drops it. “Hey, if it’s any comfort, the only people taking the video seriously are right here in this bar, this town. People who know you, who know Jeremy and the chief. People who know it makes no sense for you guys to make up all of this.” She tilts her head, her tight braids dancing to the side. “But Chief Rojas is addressing it as best as he can right now. He’s answering questions and telling people not to worry, that the video was misleading, that it isn’t what everyone thinks. You don’t even have to worry.”
Kyle looks at her. “Wait. He’s telling people it isn’t real?”
“He thinks it’s better. Keep it all locked down, not let it get out. Wouldn’t that be better for everyone? Yourself included?”
Kyle blinks. He can’t help but think of Elias’s words, all of the things he said before walking out the door. “I … guess so.”
“Trust the chief. He’s kept this town safe for ages, just like his father did before him. The mayor, the lazy ass he is, didn’t bother to come out of his house for this. Literally talked to the chief on the phone and told him to deal with it, bury it, nip it in the bud. Mayor’s probably in his bed right now, snoring. Are you okay?” she asks suddenly. “You look pale.”
“I’m …” Kyle rubs his eyes, then leans forward, face half-buried in his hands. He has no answer.
He could really use Elias by his side right now.
The door cracks open. Leland’s face pops in. “Cade, we’re out of cheese sauce for the queso, do you—Oh, hi, Henry!” He freezes. “Or Kyle? Do I call you Kyle now? I’m confused.”
Cade puts a hand on Kyle’s shoulder, patting. “Just chop up tomatoes, onions, japaleños, throw together a salsa with what you’ve got, serve that instead,” she says. “Everything else fine?”
“Madness,” answers Leland, his big blue eyes wide. Then he leaves, door shutting fast, muffling the noise of the bar.
Cade’s phone buzzes on the desk. She comes around, peers down at it, then shakes her head. “Layna. Apologizing. Again. Thinks I really am gonna ground her for life. I just might, even though you say not to blame her. If it wasn’t for her, we would not even be in this situation.”
Kyle lifts his face from his hands. “On the other hand, if it weren’t for this situation, I’d still be in hiding. Like I’ve been for twenty-seven years.”
“Twenty-seven years …?” Cade’s eyes grow, as if it all just now occurs to her. “How old are you, exactly?”
“If I wasn’t changed, and I survived, I’d be forty-four years old right now.”
“Really? Forty-four?” She lifts her eyebrows, glances off in wonder. “I’m forty-three. We’re about the same age. Did you realize that? Except you look like you’re twenty-nothing.”
Kyle tries to smile, then ends up staring at the cup of cold coffee in front of him again. He feels like he’s being punished.
“Does it bother you?” asks Cade.
Kyle looks up. “What?”
“That Chief Rojas wants to cover it all up? He wanted me to talk to you, to get you onboard with denying it all.”
“He did? But how? How do we possibly explain me leaping onto the criminal and nearly biting off his ear?”
“Temporary lapse in sanity?” offers Cade.
“I licked blood. Off of his face, Cade. And his body.”
“So you bathe in the blood of your enemies. Big deal.”
“I’m being serious. How does Chief Rojas hope to cover up any of this? He can’t possibly think everyone’s that gullible.”
Cade sighs. “There’s no telling what he’s saying to people out there. Maybe no one’s even asking the big things. I think if we just trust his game plan, parrot whatever he’s come up with to say, minimize all the backlash …”
Kyle is out of the chair suddenly. “Then I’m right back into hiding.”
“What?”
He stands in front of a shelf lined with framed photos. One of them is Cade and her daughter Layna on the beach, both of them in sunglasses and matching bikinis. They look like they’ve been caught in laughter the moment the photo was taken, sun beaming behind them over the water.
He considers the last time he was under the sun.