Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 70628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“Save it. You wanted to get rid of me, and you did. Do you think I care whether you realized at the time what would happen to me? I don’t. You stole five years of my life just because you wanted Gloria to be in my position so you could be her second. Second! You sold a fellow human being down the river for fucking second! None of this even makes sense to me. Was there money? Prestige? Or are you just a sociopath?”
She doesn’t reply. Not that I expect her to.
Finally, Buck returns. “Aspen, we have to go.”
“What do we do with her?” I’m still pointing my gun at Nancy.
“We take her with us.” Buck says.
“Where? Where are we going?”
“To a safe house. Near Katelyn’s place.”
“A safe house?”
“Luke has…connections.”
Right. Connections. From his drug lord past.
“I don’t like the idea any more than you do,” Buck continues, “but he’s got Pollack there.”
Nancy’s eyes widen, and she gasps. “No, don’t take me there.”
“Listen. I don’t have a clue why my position was so important to you,” Aspen says.
“Come on,” Nancy scoffs.
“You weren’t even going to get it,” I say. “It was going to go to Gloria, not you.”
“I have my reasons.”
“Well, I don’t give a rat’s ass what they were. You put me through hell.”
“I—”
“Save it. When I say hell, I mean literal Hell, Nancy. You can’t even imagine what happened to me on that island.”
“I’m not blind, Aspen. I can see the scars.”
“Seeing the scars and having them inflicted on you is not the same thing at all.”
Nancy stays quiet then.
Until—
“You have to believe me. Please. We had no idea this is what would happen to you.”
“What did you think would happen to me?”
“You were going to be out of the way.”
“Are you that naïve? What do you think out-of-the-way means?”
She gulps. “I guess I didn’t think that far.”
Buck intervenes then. “That’s bullshit, and you and I both know it. Maybe you didn’t imagine that she would be taken to an island and hunted like an animal, but you knew that out-of-the-way did not mean anything good.”
Nancy stays silent.
“Let’s go,” Buck says. “The sooner we figure this out and get to the bottom of this, the sooner you can move on with your life, baby.”
23
BUCK
My phone rings then. It’s a number I don’t recognize. But I better take it. Who knows who could be calling me with relevant information right now?
“Moreno,” I say to the phone.
“Buck, Darnell Davis.”
Aspen’s father? Maybe he’s just calling to check in on Aspen. Did I give him my number? Perhaps Aspen did.
“Yes, hello.”
“Can you speak freely?”
“Of course.”
“Is Aspen with you?”
“Yes,” I say hesitantly.
“Move to a location where she can’t overhear what you’re saying,” Darnell says.
Uh-oh.
This can’t be good.
“Give me a second.” I mute the phone call. “I need to take this outside. Keep your eye on Nancy.”
Aspen opens her mouth to object, but I leave the room quickly and stand outside the front door.
“All right, Darnell. I’m alone.”
“Good. I found a connection.”
“We found a connection as well,” I say. “A couple girls on the volleyball team who wanted Aspen out of the way.”
“Interesting. Does it by any chance have anything to do with a man named Greg Wallace?”
I nearly drop my phone, but I catch it in time. “Actually…it does. What are you trying to tell me, Darnell?”
“Greg Wallace is the brother of Harrison Wallace, of Wallace Leathers. The leather king.”
“I know that,” I say. “Though I didn’t know he was called the leather king.”
“It’s what he calls himself. Sounds like an idiot, but he’s not the issue. You probably know that Taylor Wallace, his daughter, was one of Aspen’s teammates.”
“Yes, and she’s dead.”
“What the hell do you mean she’s dead? I just had my guys checking her out!”
“Well she’s been dead for all of a half-hour. She offed herself when we confronted her.”
“For fuck’s sake. She has information.”
“She did, and we got most of it out of her. Plus her wife, Nancy Mosely, is still alive, and she seems to have more information.”
“Do not let that woman kill herself,” Darnell says.
“We won’t. Aspen’s got her at gunpoint right now.”
“What the fuck are you saying to me?” Darnell grits out. “Why are you letting my baby tree hold a gun?”
“Do you know your daughter, sir? Nobody lets her do anything.”
Darnell pauses a moment. “I taught her how to handle firearms myself. The girl’s a natural.”
“She is. We went to a shooting range, and she knows her stuff.” I clear my throat. “So what’s the connection between you and Greg Wallace?”
“He served underneath me in Desert Shield. I got him kicked out of the Navy.”
“Okay. But I’m not sure how I see the connection.”
“Greg Wallace went to that island.” Darnell says.
“Yeah, I know that. His name’s on the list.”
“I only just got the list this morning. Called in a few favors.”