Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
His phone rang. He rushed with getting it out of his pocket. “Did you find it?”
The voice sounded muffled as I sat on his lap. Chase’s darkened expression lowered even further. “And the body? Okay. No. Clean it up and get out of there.”
He clicked his phone off and turned to me. “They found the body right where I said it would be, but there’s no gun, just a few bullets.” He hit the table next to us. “Fuck!”
I jumped up. “Chase, calm down.”
“It’s fucking one of them.” He wouldn’t stop shaking his head. “I never really thought it could be one of them. I always hoped for some enemy out there in the world that I didn’t know. Some person that just had it out for me that I could find and get rid of with no problem. Not a woman that had lain in my bed or one I had trusted.”
“Maybe, Dawn and Lucy never buried the gun.”
He lifted his head to me. “Maybe they didn’t.”
“Have you figured out where any of them are now?”
“No. All three are still hiding.”
“Or. . .never mind.” I waved the comment away. There was no need to say it aloud.
Chase raised his eyebrows. “Or what?”
“Nothing.”
“I thought we said no secrets,” he countered.
An exasperated breath left my lips. “Or maybe two of them are dead.”
Chapter 13
CHASE
Sleepless, I lay next to Jasmine with the weight of the world bearing down on my shoulders.
Lucy or Dawn.
Which one decided to change the game? It didn’t make any sense to me. Sure, Dawn kept the gun. I could see that. She relished lavish items. A George Washington antique gun was surely a major thing to have, probably something that she couldn’t let sit in a hole covered in dirt. Dawn loved numbers. Letting an expensive gun rot away on the beach was like urinating in one of the many Tiffany vases she kept along the mantel in Willow Park.
If I had to be truthful with myself, I could see Dawn trying to get rid of Jasmine. No other woman could take her place, until I met Jasmine. It made sense that Dawn would want her gone.
But killing someone?
Chapter 14
JASMINE
“Jasmine!” Troy’s voice filled the quiet house. His footsteps boomed in the hallway. “Jasmine! Get up. We’re getting out of here.”
Chase and I sat up in bed. I doubted either one of us had even fallen asleep. I’d been lying in his arms with my eyes open as Lucy’s young, smiling face flashed through my mind. In every other moment, Chase had stirred and tapped his fingers on my waist.
The bedroom door swung open. The light came on. Troy stomped his way to the dresser drawers, wrenching my clothes out and searching around the room. “Where are your bags?”
“What are you doing?” I yawned.
“Getting us out of here.” He turned and peeked around the dresser. “This guy is dangerous. I’m done fucking around with him, Jazz. When the shit goes down, you think we’ll still be afloat? Hell, no. He’ll be fine.” He hurried into the bathroom. “Where the fuck are your bags?”
“Troy, stop.” I climbed out of bed.
“Do you know there is a body on the beach cut into pieces? It’s just bones now, but they should’ve been somewhat connected.” He marched over to my side of the bed with half of my shirts palmed in his hand, grabbed my pillow, pulled the pillowcase off, and stuffed my clothes in there. “An accidental death, I can deal with. Some poor bastard cut into pieces years ago, no. That means that whoever did it is even worse now. I don’t want you around this motherfucker.” He pointed to Chase. “I think he killed the person on the beach.”
“He did. He just didn’t cut him,” I said, but my words fell on deaf ears. “Our dad did.”
“And don’t try to stand there and defend him. You’re lucky that I even let it go on this long. I was trying to be different from our brothers, not be a pain in your neck, and give you some support. This is too much though. I haven’t been out this long and this guy has death all around him.”
“Did you hear me, Troy?” I tried to grab the now full pillowcase out of his hand. “Chase told me what happened.”
“Good. You can tell me what happened on the plane ride back to the states.”
“No one’s going back to the states, and no one is damned sure going down.” Chase got out of bed. “I wouldn’t do that to Jasmine or you.”
“No disrespect, but I don’t know you like that.” Troy returned to gathering more of my stuff.
“Troy!” I slung the packed pillowcase on the floor. “Would you listen to us?”
“What?” He stopped pulling out another drawer.
I told him the story as fast as I could. When Troy got riled up, there was no stopping him. He remained set on a plan and executed it whether I wanted him to do it or not. If Troy said he would take me out of there, he would. Chase would probably try to stop him. There was no telling who would win out of the two. All I realized was that, I would turn into a tug-of-war between two strong, bull-headed men. God. No wonder I can deal so easily with Chase. I’m surrounded by moronic cavemen. Once I finished, Troy leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and hate swimming in his eyes. Who he hated? I had no idea. I was just glad he’d stopped packing my things.