Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
The tall one coughed into his hand. “Those men are dead.”
Like a zombie, I walked past them, my shoulders lowered, my legs stiff.
“We have tire tracks leaving the gate,” one of the guards continued. “Our people think they know what type of car it could’ve been.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I muttered.
Step by step, I went downstairs with clouds of darkness in my head. Every few seconds, a slash tore the black fog and I swore I could see a knife piercing Benny’s evil skin and all of his intestines spilling out.
She left with him.
The men followed me.
“Sir, we also have a possible ID on the driver, but we’re—”
“It doesn’t matter.” I went to my office, where the liquor filled the bottles and my desk provided a safe place for me to think and scream.
“Uh ... sir, we also have—”
“Get out of here!” I whipped around and came close to choking the tall one, with no idea if he was the guy that had said something or not. “You fucked up! Tire tracks? Did you just tell me that you have someone analyzing the goddamn tire tracks? I know who has her. I don’t give a damn about tire tracks and a possible ID on the driver.”
Saliva spewed from the edges of my mouth. I was a madman with no control, waving my closed fists around their heads and hoping, just praying, that one of them would say one more fucking word. Someone deserved to be punched.
“This isn’t a goddamn mystery!” I roared. “You know who the villain is. I gave you his motherfucking picture, his first and last name, his social security number, height, weight, and a big fucking file with his bio. Do you remember?”
The tall one inched back. The other nodded.
“Tire tracks? We don’t need an ID. We don’t need an expert leaning over the ground and measuring marks in the ground. We need to find Benny Nix.” I came forward and pointed at them both. “You two find her. Find him. Find any fucking body that is connected to this, but most important, you find her, because this is it. This is your legacy. This is your life. This is your children’s lives, and your children’s children’s lives. Because if I don’t have her back to me, I’ll destroy you, and whoever loves you, and whoever depends on you, and anything that you’ve ever built in your life, I’ll hammer it all down.”
I took another step toward them. “I’ll eat away at anything good like a fucking cancer.”
One of them gulped. The other might’ve pissed himself. I could’ve sworn the space in front of his pants had shaded to a darker color.
Quiet passed between us. There was nothing else to say so I turned and stormed away.
Why couldn’t you just trust me, Jasmine? Did you think I couldn’t keep you safe?
Not even drunk yet, I stumbled toward my office and paused.
Jasmine.
Her perfume lingered in the office. She’d been here. That was how much I craved her. That was how much she’d etched herself into my life. I could smell where she’d been and when she was coming. I could sense her presence near me, before even seeing her in front of my face.
She was mine.
You came to my office? Why?
I wrestled to open the door, struggling on the knob more because I was going crazy and less because it was locked. If I’d been calm, I would have turned it. Instead, I twisted and snatched at the damn thing, screaming Jasmine’s name inside my head.
Once it opened, I hurried in, searching everywhere for something. Anything. I had no idea what I was looking for, but I knew she’d been there, in my office, at least for the last time.
Did she sit in my chair and think of us? Did she take something to remind her of me? How long did she stand in here, and wonder if she was doing the right thing?
I knew she loved me. I didn’t question that. Everything else made me crazy though. What was going through her head? Why the hell would she leave this way?
Because she knew I wouldn’t let her leave if I was up. I would trap her to me. Box her in. Cage her.
As soon as I reached the desk I spotted the damned letter. “If this one has a smiley face at the end, I’m going to choke her. I won’t block off all the air, but she’ll feel my fingers around her throat. No more letters, tesoro.”
Reluctantly, I picked it up and read.
Dear Chase,
I’m sorry. I know Benny. He will kill you. I can’t let that happen. Our love is not worth your death. Our love is not worth other people’s deaths.
I need you to move on. I’m leaving. Don’t look for me, because you won’t find me.