Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 66978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
“She won’t see it that way,” I say. “She’ll see it as us checking up on her if we go to The Glass House during her shift.”
“Which is a damned shame,” Rock says, “because I love that place.”
“Yeah, Zee and I do too. In fact, Zee went into labor at The Glass House.”
The others continue conversing, but I begin thinking…
Kelly’s mother…
“Hey,” I say, “do we know anything about Kelly’s mother? What she’s doing now?”
“Her name is Racine Taylor,” Reid says.
“Have you had your investigators look into her?”
“We haven’t really seen a need to,” he says. “But I can certainly do that.”
“You know what?” I rise. “I’ll do it myself. I’m a pretty good PI.”
“You’re the best,” Reid agrees. “But I want you concentrating on Kelly.”
“She’ll be working now, dinner shift at the restaurant. That will give me time to take a look into her mother.”
“If you want to,” Reid says. “I’ll give you all the information I have. I’ll email it to you.”
“Good. Thanks.”
“I can help with that,” Buck says.
“Thanks, bro. I’ll let you know if I need you.”
“She’s actually here in town,” Reid says. “I just found out. Apparently she flew in a couple days ago.”
“Even better,” I say. “That way I don’t have to fly to Phoenix and leave Kelly to fend for herself.”
“So you’re planning to see her?” Buck asks.
“Hell, yeah. One conversation with her and I should be able to figure out why Kelly is so dead set against seeing her.”
Reid taps on his computer. “I just emailed you the file we have on Racine Taylor. It’s not a whole lot, as we didn’t see any reason to look into her any further.”
“You didn’t? Even when Kelly didn’t want to see her mother after she got off the island?”
“A lot of the girls didn’t want to see anyone right at first,” Reid says. “It seemed natural. They felt humiliated, embarrassed.”
“There’s no reason for them to be embarrassed,” Lacey says.
“No, there isn’t,” Aspen agrees, “but having been in their shoes, I understand. The whole situation made me feel very…weak. I’m a strong woman. An athlete. And I probably fought harder than any other woman on that island, but still, they got me in the end. It is humiliating. It’s embarrassing. Even once you’re out of it, and even once you go through all of the therapy and learn that it wasn’t your fault and that they’re no longer coming after you—you’re still a little embarrassed.”
“Are you still embarrassed, baby?” Buck asks.
“Not usually,” she says. “But what happened on that island is a part of all of us now, and sometimes it creeps back in. It’s normal. Ask any therapist.”
“Kelly’s having a more difficult time than some of the others,” I say. “And I get the feeling that her mother is behind it.”
“You don’t mean…” Buck says. “Behind her abduction?”
“I wasn’t even thinking that.” My flesh goes cold, as if my blood were freezing in my veins. “What if she was? Katelyn’s cousin was behind her abduction. Aspen’s teammates were behind hers. Why couldn’t it be someone as close as a parent?”
“Wow…” Lacey says.
“It’s just a theory,” I say. “It’s doubtful. But I honestly don’t know much about the relationship between Kelly and her mother. All I know is that Kelly was a waitress at a diner in Phoenix for five years before she was taken. She probably wasn’t living with her mother at that time.”
“See what you can find out,” Reid says. “My curiosity is definitely piqued. In the meantime, we won’t push Kelly to see her mother.”
“We shouldn’t be pushing these women to do anything,” Lacey says.
“Of course not,” Reid agrees. “That’s not what I meant.”
Lacey smiles. “I know that.”
“So what else is going on?” Buck asks.
“A few things. Lily’s moving out of the building, which is good. She’s going home to Montana. A few more women have bypassed the apartment altogether. They’re leaving straight from the retreat center and going home. So right now, after Lily leaves, Francine, Marianne, Brindley, and Kelly will be the only ones in the apartment. Most of the women are now ready to be on their own or at the apartment, so if no one else comes to the apartment, we’ll begin getting it ready for leasing.”
“While Kelly and the others are still there?”
“It’s all preliminary,” Reid says. “We won’t open up the apartment to anyone else until they’re all ready to leave.”
“Good.”
Kelly won’t be comfortable with anyone else living in that apartment building other than women from the island.
“Wonderful news about Lily,” Aspen says. “I’ll have to have lunch with her before she leaves.”
“She’s done very well,” Lacey says. “We’re all proud of her.”
“It seems like all the women have done well,” I say. “Except, of course for…”
“Our retreat center is top-notch,” Rock says. “Riley and Matt, her husband, have brought in the best psychiatrists and psychologists that our money can buy. Most of the women are ready to leave within a year. Some of them want to go straight home. Most of them, actually. We only have two more women at the retreat center now, and we’re getting great reports from their doctors.”