Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 112567 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112567 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
“Thankfully, there’s other good places that serve dumplings.” I held one finger up to her face. “Here we go. Only follow the tip of my finger. Once you see the face, then close your eyes and tell me who that is.”
She gulped. “Okay.”
“Ready?”
“Yes.”
Inch by inch, I moved my finger down to the first man.
Her gaze followed. She spotted the guy and then squeezed her eyes shut. “That’s Snow for sure. Holy fucking shit!”
Damn it.
Part of me hoped that my father hadn’t gotten to them. Then, we would have an easy path to finding him.
Perhaps, the next guy isn’t Dutch.
“Alright, Monique. That was good.” I held the finger up again. “Let’s check the next face.”
She shook more now.
I pulled her closer to me.
She trembled less and opened her eyes. “I’m. . .ready.”
Slowly, I moved my finger to the second body. Less scared, she followed and landed her gaze on the swollen, beaten face. Her eyes watered. A long breath escaped her parted lips. This time she didn’t look away.
I tilted my head to the side. “Is that Dutch?”
Nodding, Monique gripped my hand harder.
Chen gestured at the other guy. “Get the third body with the money in his mouth. Maybe, this man could give us a clue to where Uncle Leo is going next.”
My people carried over that body.
Monique put her focus back on my face. “I didn’t personally know all their people, but I can tell you if they look familiar.”
I frowned. “Did you have to deal with Dutch and Snow a lot?”
“Their men always came by searching for my dad about whatever money he owed at the time.”
My people dropped the body by my feet.
I raised my finger. “Last one, Monique.”
“Thank God.”
“After this, you can go home.”
“Alright.” She inhaled and then exhaled. “Let’s go.”
I moved the finger and pointed.
As soon as Monique spotted his face, she screamed in horror, “No! God, it can’t be!”
What’s wrong?
“Please, no! No!” She let go of my hand and crashed to her knees. “Daddy! Daddy!”
Shit.
“Daddy, please!” Monique crawled over to him. Her knees and hands smeared with blood. She grabbed at the body. One of the chopsticks fell from the dead man’s eyes.
“Daddy!”
Chen stepped forward as if he were going to grab her.
I put my hand out and stopped him.
“Daddy, no!”
Duck and Hu backed up and watched her.
The rest went silent.
“No!” She hugged her father’s armless body, getting blood over her pajama shirt. “You’re okay. You’re okay. I know it.”
With both hands, Chen ran his fingers through his hair.
What do I do? How do I help her?
“You’re just fine, Daddy.” She rocked the dead body in her arms. More of his blood dripped on her jeans. She closed her eyes as tears left them. “God wouldn’t take you both from me. He wouldn’t.”
Damn it.
So devastated, I didn’t know how long we stood there. This wasn’t our first time in the middle of a bloody massacre. Most days in Paradise City, we saw blood and death. Many nights, I’d seen worse. A cut-up body was nothing. A dismembered head rolling along the floor barely triggered a response.
Not much could stun us. However, the sad vision of Monique—crying in pain and rocking her father’s cut-up body—paralyzed all of us.
With shaking fingers, she pulled out the stack of bills from his mouth. Her voice was a low whisper. “You brought the bag of money back. Didn’t you? You. . .tried. . .”
She took the last set of chopsticks out of his eyes. “You weren’t so bad after all. Were you?”
Damn you, father.
“You brought the money back.” She hugged his dead body close to her. Tears left her eyes. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I’m so sorry.”
My heart broke.
“I should have trusted you, Daddy.” Monique sobbed. “I’m so sorry.”
Chapter nine
The Dark Moment
Lei
Monique was now another victim of my father. She was just lucky enough to be alive. Unfortunately, she would also have to deal with the aftermath of his bloodshed. She would have to swim in the horror and pain that I’d been experiencing these past days.
What happened to you, Father? How did you become such a monster?
It took us several minutes to get Monique to let her dad go.
By then Glory police and medical units took over the space. They walked around the penthouse, getting fingerprints, and carrying away bodies.
Next, several hotel maids came, slowly cleaning up the mess my father and his men had caused. They were so unfazed by the blood that I was certain death had been to this penthouse many times before.
Hu monitored them and our men, making sure no details of my father’s presence was missed. He also dealt with the manager, Bill who was red-faced and shaking after seeing Dutch and Snow dead.
This will be a problem.
I stood in the center of the massacre and was facing the direction of the balcony.
To get her some fresh air, Duck took Monique outside on the penthouse’s large balcony. It must’ve been twenty feet wide and thirty feet long. Several glass tables and chairs were sprawled around a few potted plants. Cigarette butts were scattered around the ground along with crushed beer cans.