Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
I’ve been following the theatrics online, and I think I see a pattern forming. “Hey, is there any rhyme or reason to whatever it is these nieces of yours have planned?” I still had no idea what the end result was supposed to be with this whole thing. I knew they were supposed to be helping me in some way, but to what end?
“I wouldn’t go sticking my nose into that mess if I were you.” These two tough guys were the last kind of men I’d expect to sweat whenever those little girls were mentioned, but just like Saunders, they seemed to tense up and look around for cover whenever I brought them up.
Had I not seen their handiwork firsthand, I’d find it comical, but in the last couple of weeks since I returned, I’ve had to admit that they were vicious as hell. I’m almost certain that they were trying to drive Janie and her cohorts crazy, just as they’d planned on doing to Elena. Poetic justice if you ask me, but I find it a bit daunting for little girls to wield this much power.
They took no prisoners, and even I had come under attack, though not in the same way. I did not appreciate them telling the world to stop pairing me with Elena since I was a married man or the fact that they called me a drug-addicted skell who didn’t deserve her. They did at least leave me a caveat, which was that if I cleaned my shit up and got myself together, I just might be worthy of her.
They’re not lying, so I can’t fault them too much, but damn, they didn’t have to go in on me like that. I thought we were playing for the same team, but from what I’ve gathered, they don’t give anyone a pass, friend or foe.
They also had a font of information that was never-ending, and I never knew what to expect from one day to the next and who was going to get it next. Sometimes it seemed like if I looked away for a second or even blinked, I’d miss something new from their end.
What I didn’t expect, though, was for them to crack the code in my song. They put me on blast, and now the whole world knows that I was singing to my old love about how much I love and miss her. How the frig do they know so much?
Now, everyone and their mother have been combing through my songs with a fine-tooth comb, looking for clues. Every song that I’ve released since getting married has come under scrutiny, but what really cinched it for me is the fact that these little girls had somehow gotten hold of three songs of mine that weren’t released and that I’d even forgotten and released snippets of them to the public.
Those songs had caused quite a rift between me, Scott, Janie, and even Matt, my spiritual advisor. That’s because there was no decoding needed to recognize that I was singing to Elena. I guess I was high out of my gourd when they were written because I don’t really remember writing let alone recording them.
Zak’s phone made one of those weird noises it makes, and he read the screen before putting it away. He nodded at Tyler, who was just lounging with that semi-permanent smirk on his face that he always wears, then turned his attention to me.
“Let’s go. It’s time.”
“Time? Time for what?”
“We can’t talk here.” Oh, yeah, I’d almost forgotten that they’d swept the place every day since coming here and that they’d found listening devices planted throughout my side of the house.
They’d done something to my bedroom and theirs, along with the studio, that made it seem like the devices were still there, but the listeners could not hear what we were saying. I’m not sure how any of that works, and I had given up trying since they were never forthcoming with information.
We headed to their rooms, which were two rooms connected by a door, and closed the door behind us, and for the first time, I grew nervous. I listened to what they had to say with new hope burning in my chest at the end of it. “Let’s see how good your acting skills have become.” Tyler clapped me on the back. It was the first real sign of comradery either man had ever shared, and somehow it felt as if I’d just been accepted into some elite club, members only.
***
*Janie*
“Which octogenarian who has lost face for pimping out her own blood is now trying to fool the public into believing that she’s a doting grandma? If the world only knew, they wouldn’t let this soulless viper anywhere near children. Anyone who’s a friend of Alice shouldn’t be allowed near an innocent. This April twenty-fifth, we’ll be watching and waiting for you at the end of the rabbit hole.