Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 51832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
I’m not going to get into the when, why, and how bullshit, Darius says, inside the notebook, you’ll find a list of packages that I know were delivered, with dates, and buyers’ names. I don’t know what was in the packages. I didn’t want to know. I wasn’t even involved in that side of things, but you know how I roll. I wanted to know what I was involved with. I did some digging. I followed someone important to the operation. I recorded his conversations. I took photos. There’s a key in the bag. It goes to a lockbox loaded with that shit.
On to the topic of Kasey…Yes, let that sink in a moment—on to the topic of Kasey.
You’ll find the one Kasey was delivering highlighted. The buyer won’t know who the big boss was, because there was a frontman. That would be our boss, Ana. Mike is the one who pulled me into this. He laughs. See, I said I wasn’t going to talk about the when, where, and how or any of that bullshit, but turns out I have to in order to get you this information.
Ana turns off the recording. “It’s like he jumped from the lockbox, back to talking about the notebook, where he listed the deliveries out. He forgot to tell us where the lockbox is located. I swear if he wasn’t dead, I’d kill him right now.”
I start patting down the exterior of the bag, and bingo, I find a bulge that feels like a key. With the help of my trusty pocket knife, I cut the key out of the bag and hold it up. “The sticker on the side reads The River Box 21. Does this mean anything to you?” I hand the key to Ana.
She glances at it and murmurs, “He didn’t forget to tell us where the lockbox is located.” She holds the key up. “The River is code for a gym in downtown Denver he went to during an undercover operation. They have a hot tub he called a river because it was always so dirty. I guess he didn’t forget. We have to go there. Now, Luke.”
“All right. Let’s go.” I reach for the door.
She scoots closer and grabs my arm. “Whatever you think you heard—”
Anger comes at me with surprising depth. “He’s not here for me, Ana. And clearly, you aren’t either.”
“That’s not true. Why do we keep going there?”
“I didn’t go there. I don’t go there, Ana. You do.”
“No,” she insists. “I do not. You keep assuming—”
“Assuming?” I demand. “I heard what you said to him. Why wouldn’t he hate me if I killed his son?”
“Why wouldn’t he? For you to think that’s not an option is denial Luke. If he loved Kasey, he would have had some kind of animosity toward you. We need to know it’s not at play.”
“Because you have animosity toward me?”
“Me being confused over you back then was natural in the aftermath of a loss. It was shock and grief that I’ve had two years to deal with and regret. He hasn’t seen you since it happened. If he can truly tune that out, he’s cold. He’s callous.”
“He’s Kurt, Ana. Of course, he’s cold and callous. That doesn’t mean he didn’t care about Kasey. I cared about Kasey. I wanted him to turn it around but he didn’t have that in him. You’re the one with the referendum on Kasey that says everyone should fight for him when he fought for no one but himself.”
She swallows hard. “I know. He’s Kurt. Maybe I just—you know, if he doesn’t fight for Kasey, why would he fight for me?”
“He answered that for you ten different ways,” I remind her, I also remind myself that I hungered for a family after losing my parents at a young age. She’s clinging to the one man she knew as a parent and craving a reaction from him that makes him worthy of that title. “I know you want something from him he’s not giving you, baby.”
“No,” she says adamantly. “No. I’m worried about you as a target.”
“His best friend is dead, Ana. If this was about me, Jake wouldn’t be dead.” I stroke her hair back from her face. “You are not thinking logically where Kurt is concerned, and whether you realize it or not, that’s because he hurt you.”
“He trained the emotion out of me, Luke. You know that.”
“You are not Kasey. He didn’t train it out of you. I think I’ve proven that just by existing in your life. And that’s a good thing, Ana. It’s why you wear that badge with compassion, honesty, and strength, the way it’s supposed to be worn.”
Her fingers bunch around my shirt. “You’re right. I’m emotional, over you. His presence feels like a knife about to cut you from my life. Why can’t you see my questioning as that? As my need to protect you, not my need to blame you.”