Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Marina laughs sharply and flicks away her cigarette. “No, he’s definitely not, because Erick would kill him next.”
“The cook is correct,” Ren says. Marina flips him off. “I am not going to kill you because my boss and best friend would be upset. However, I am going to tell him you took my fucking bait like a starving little minnow. God, how stupid can you be? Marina just so happens to be going to the store? Her car is unlocked? The halls are all empty?”
I could cry. Now that he’s saying it, I can see how everything aligned perfectly. But one problem—
“You didn’t send me the email?” I blurt out, unable to stop myself.
He looks confused, head cocked to the side. “What fucking email? Jesus, Hellie, don’t tell me you’ve been getting online too. Erick’s going to lose his shit. You’ve been very, very bad. What fucking email?”
I shut my mouth and say nothing.
It was a test. Marina, the car, everything, it was a test, except one thing.
He didn’t send the email—that was really from my dad.
Which means I can’t say a word unless I want to get my father killed. Once they know he’s around, they’ll tear the city apart to find him. I can’t take that risk.
“Hellie,” Ren says, getting in my face. “Don’t piss me off. Tell me what email.”
I stare him down. I’ve been really dumb up to this point, blinded by my need to get out and see my father, but now I’m starting to think.
“Hellie.” His voice drops lower. “Tell me, or I am going to make you tell me.”
“No, he’s not,” Marina says. “He’s not going to touch you.”
“Shut up.” Ren’s glaring at me. He slams a fist into the car. “Tell me what email.”
I shake my head slowly and keep my mouth glued shut.
The moment hangs there, tense and thick, and I’m terrified he’s going to hurt me. Marina lights another cigarette and seems bored of the whole thing.
Ren pulls back, cursing as he kicks a rock, sending it clattering away. I relax slightly and hug myself, rubbing my arms, still shaking from the adrenaline coursing through my veins.
“You are going to talk when we get back,” Ren says, rounding on me. “You’re going to tell Erick everything. You’ll admit you tried to escape. You’ll tell him about the email, whatever the fuck that is. And when it’s done, you’d better hope he doesn’t murder you himself. Now get in the fucking car.”
I climb into the back seat. There’s no way I can tell Erick about my father’s message. No way in hell. Marina gets behind the wheel and blasts the air conditioning; it feels like heaven after that damn trunk. Ren gets into the passenger seat and says nothing as Marina navigates the clearing, gets back onto an unmarked path, and returns to the house.
I’m fucked.
No other way to say it. I’m totally fucked.
Erick’s going to be so hurt when he finds out about this.
I hope I can explain. If I’m lucky, I can make him understand—
But I can’t tell him about the email.
If I do, he’ll know my father’s still in Vegas.
Erick will hunt Dad down, and despite everything, I still can’t let it happen.
I bent my morals once already. I agreed to help Erick make these art forgeries, and hell, it turns out I’m really good at it. But I never wanted to do something like that, never wanted to be a con artist and a criminal like my old man.
I have a chance to be better.
I can do something my father would never do.
Which is to keep my mouth shut. I can protect him in a way he would never protect me.
Even if it means ruining something good with Erick.
Chapter 32
Erick
“You did fucking what?” I stare at Ren, seething with rage. We’re in the kitchen of my house. He called twenty minutes earlier and told me to get back home, something important happened with Hellie. I raced back here, only to find out that he created some elaborate scheme to test her loyalty.
And she fucking failed.
“I dangled bait,” he says, holding his hands up like he’s got no part in this. Like it isn’t his fault. “I didn’t force her into anything. I didn’t coerce or trick her. All I did was have Marina mention the shopping trip, and I made it so that Hellie’s exit path was clear and easy. I let her do all the hard work.”
I shake my head, not understanding. “She wanted to go to the store?”
“No, Erick,” Ren says. His voice is soft now, which pisses me off. Like I’m some child. “She was hiding in the trunk. She wanted to escape.”
“I don’t believe this.” I look to Marina as she stands off to the side of the room, avoiding eye contact. “Tell me the truth. Did this happen the way Ren’s describing it?”