Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 90448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
My heart pounded in my chest.
“Be quiet,” Chase said through clenched teeth.
“Let her hear me.” Dawn laughed. “Let Ms. Special Pussy find out how long her list of responsibilities is when it comes to you.”
My phone rang in my pocket. I jumped back and bumped into the shelf. A cardboard box caught my eyes. Video tapes and manila envelopes filled it. Names were written on the envelopes in black marker—Vicki, Evelyn, and Yancy.
I grabbed Yancy’s envelope as the phone rang again.
“Hello?”
“Just checking to make sure everything is okay,” Vivian said on the other line.
I looked up at the screen.
Chase and Dawn still stood in her apartment, arguing.
“It’s bad.” My chest swelled with a burning pain.
A numbness filled my trembling fingers as I forced them to open the envelope.
“What’s bad? What do you mean? Troy, turn around. What’s going on, Jasmine?” Vivian asked.
“I can’t tell you over the phone.” I didn’t even know if I could tell them face-to-face.
How do I say it? Vivian, Troy, guess what. We’re all siblings.
“Should we come back? In fact, don’t answer. We’re not even that far away and your voice sounds shaky, Jasmine?”
“Yes.” I pulled out the first picture.
A dead woman with gashes on her chest and neck looked back at me with vacant eyes. Bile rose in my throat. Inside my head, I screamed over and over. “Y-yes. Please hurry b-back. I’m scared.”
“Scared of what?”
I shoved the photo back in the envelope and glanced up at the screens.
Lucy continued to sleep on the floor.
Wendy’s screen showed her in her living room, drinking wine as she watched TV.
Dawn and Chase were still in the apartment standing there in silence. Chase poured himself a glass of whisky while Dawn scowled at him with red, puffy eyes.
Beads of sweat formed on my forehead.
“Jasmine?” Vivian asked.
“How far are you?”
“Barely, a minute or so,” she said. “We ended up staying in front of the mansion and getting it on in the car—”
“Oh god.” I clutched my stomach.
“What? Are you okay?” Vivian’s voice sounded on the verge of hysteria. “Say something.”
“Don’t do anything else, okay? No touching or anything. Just hurry up.”
“What?”
I rubbed my face. “Trust me.”
“Alrighty,” Vivian said. “I can see the house up ahead. We should be at your door in less than two minutes.”
“Okay.” I hung up and scanned the rest of the envelope, trying my best not to look at any other pictures.
White sheets of folded paper lay between the photos. I yanked them out and unfolded them. They were copies of email messages between Dawn and Yancy. I browsed the first two. Yancy had gone to a publisher with a book proposal about her life in Chase’s arrangement.
She must’ve never had to sign an anti-disclosure agreement.
Dawn had been pissed.
“And now you’re just going to leave me?” On the screen, Dawn displayed a wicked grin. “Are you going back to finish fucking her in your apartment? I heard you tell her to meet you there.”
“It’s not what you think.”
“Yes it is.” Dawn sniffled. “Do you even care that I’ll be here crying while you fuck her?”
“I’ll return to finish our conversation.” Chase combed his fingers through his waves. “I just have to talk to her about something.”
“Sure you do.” Dawn crossed her arms and hugged herself.
He muttered something under his breath and headed for the door.
Fuck.
I threw everything down on his desk and hurried back to the closet. There was no way I would sit in his apartment by myself. I sprinted down the steps and slammed the wall closed.
There’s no lock. He can just come in as he pleases. Did he do that with the other girls? Or did one of these women use the secret passages? I’m not going to stand around here to find out.
I darted into the kitchen. A burnt smell corroded the air. Thick gray smoke rose from most of the pots. Waving the smoke away, I covered my nose with my arm and turned off the stove.
Where’s the knife drawer?
Like a crazy woman, I slung open drawers until I spotted a huge steak knife. I wasn’t sure I even needed one, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt.
Did he make it to his apartment yet? If he did, he’s probably looking at me now on his screen.
Shivers of fear crept up my spine. I tried not to look up, pretended like I didn’t know cameras were in there, and rushed out of the kitchen.
Why am I even pretending? I’m sure he’ll notice the freaking knife in my hand and be alarmed.
I rushed out of the kitchen and bumped into Chase.
Chapter 31
Escape
Chase stood there, towering over me. Wrinkles creased his forehead as he stared. “What’s wrong, Jasmine?”
My lips quivered. Sweat trickled down the side of my face. I opened my mouth. The sound of my heart banged against my eardrums in a staccato rhythm.