Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
How I wish I could.
I rise, placing both of my hands on his desk. “How many other men and women have you violated, Grandfather? I can’t imagine you were faithful to my grandmother all those years.”
He says nothing.
Which tells me everything I need to know.
I regard him again. It’s eerie how much I resemble him. How I favor him and my mother, while Mikey and Savannah favor our father.
Genes are funny things.
I clear my throat. “You need to stop having me followed.”
“I’ll stop having you followed when I’m good and ready.” He scowls. “Did you really think some cheap rental car and cash would keep you undercover? Did you really think I wouldn’t know that you were with Raven Bellamy last night?”
“My personal life is none of your business.”
“It is when it interferes with my business. What if I had insisted that she be your target? What if I hadn’t reneged?”
“Then I would’ve left this family again.” I sink slowly into my chair. “I will not murder an innocent young woman. A woman who’s already been through hell and has never done anything to hurt this family.”
He smiles then—and in that moment, I can almost see scales forming on his skin. His tongue slithering out at me like a snake.
Maybe I’m the cobra, but he’s the King Cobra.
If he ever finds out how much I care for Raven…
Would he take her just to punish me?
Yes. He would do it without hesitation, which is why I left her last night. And why I can’t see her again.
She’ll haunt me until the day I die, but until I can get my grandfather out of the picture, we cannot be together.
“I will do my duty,” I tell him. “I’ll do the duty that Mikey couldn’t. I’ll do the duty in payment for Savannah’s freedom. For my mother. But I will only do it if you can guarantee Raven Bellamy’s safety.”
He scowls. “I don’t make guarantees, Vincent. A man in my position doesn’t have to.”
“Then I’ll get twenty-four-seven security on her.”
He laughs at that one. And it’s a serpentine laugh, as if it’s coming from the throat of a rattler. “You think there’s anyone you can get who I can’t pay off?”
I draw a breath and let it out slowly, forcing the anger curling at the back of my neck to dissipate to the point where I can at least speak calmly.
“She’s been through hell. She wants to start a nonprofit foundation for blood cancer research. Let her have that. Let her have her life.”
A small grin cracks across his face. “That, dear grandson,” he says, “depends on you.”
5
RAVEN
I still haven’t heard from Vinnie.
I brush my upper arms against the chill as Falcon and Leif scrutinize every part of my home.
I don’t have a phone line. Leif starts with the obvious spots, sweeping a device over the bookshelves and behind picture frames. The device emits a soft beep, and Leif pauses, removing a framed photograph to reveal a small, inconspicuous camera nestled behind it. He deftly disables it, nodding to Falcon.
Falcon moves to the kitchen, carefully inspecting the ceiling light fixtures and appliances. He finds a tiny microphone hidden inside a wall clock and signals Leif. Together, they disable it and continue their search.
In the bedrooms, they lift mattresses, check inside air vents, and even dismantle lamps to ensure no device goes undetected. I heave a sigh of relief when they leave my bedroom, finding nothing.
The thought of them having video footage of…
I can’t go there.
Falcon finds another camera in the hallway cleverly disguised as a smoke detector, and Leif deactivates it.
Their search extends to the bathrooms, where they inspect behind mirrors and inside exhaust fans. Nothing there either, thank God. In the study, Leif examines the computer for any tampering, while Falcon checks behind the curtains and inside a decorative vase.
I follow them through my home, feeling more violated with each device they uncover.
Finally, they move to the outdoor areas, inspecting the porch lights and garden ornaments. They discover a hidden camera inside a garden gnome, which Falcon promptly destroys.
Nothing in the pool house, and nothing in the little alcove where the gazebo is. I guess Vinnie and I could’ve stayed there last night.
Nothing also around the fire pit, nor around the furniture where we ended up sitting.
I swallow hard. “I can’t thank you enough,” I say to Leif.
“You know I would do anything for your family,” he says. “I will tell you that this is not hard-core monitoring.”
“When did it happen? How could they get in here without anyone’s knowledge?”
“These kind of guys are known for their discretion. They could have come in while you were sleeping and gotten these in place. But my best guess is that they set this up while you were still in the hospital,” Leif says.
“But I had my security system armed.”