Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
I sighed. “I know. I’m just… There’s a lot going on.”
“That serial killer?” she asked. “Have you heard anything? Did that girl come up with anything more than last time we talked?”
I’d told my parents all about the serial killer, and originally why Quaid had asked me to move in with him. I’d told them about the Carter family. I’d told them about my struggles with never having free time.
Mom had listened.
Dad had told me not to be a little bitch and deal with it.
I’d dealt with it, but I might’ve been a bitch still.
“Her name is Sage,” I said. “I don’t know if I told you that last time we talked. Atlas is pretty much shacked up with her right now because everyone’s worried that the serial killer is going to come back.”
“They’re calling him The Jolie Butcher.”
I grimaced.
“I don’t understand,” I admitted. “I mean, I don’t really look like her.”
Angelina Jolie was gorgeous. Meanwhile, I was short and round.
And going to get rounder…
“You have her lips and her hair,” Mom said. “Then again, I guess you could say that I have the lips and hair, and you have my lips and hair.” She paused. “Holy shit, I can’t believe you’re pregnant. This is a dream come true.”
I groaned.
My mom was always under the opinion that I’d never have kids, because I was a ‘perpetual student.’
In reality, life wasn’t as easy as just having kids like my parents’ generation got to do.
You had to establish a life plan, essentially. At least, if you wanted to provide your child with a good life, that was.
“Anyway,” I said as I glanced at the clock and realized how close I was to needing to leave. “I’m being picked up in three minutes. I’ll have to call you back after I’m done to let you know how the appointment went.”
My mom squealed one more time, then said goodbye.
I was snatching my sweatshirt—it might have been July in Texas, but the air conditioners worked well—when the doorbell rang, indicating my Carter Security guy was here.
I looked through the peephole to spot Quincy and Hollis.
“Who is it?” I asked, knowing it was them.
Hollis flipped off the peep hole, then smiled when I opened the door with a laugh.
“We have an appointment, too,” she said as she took me in. “Our kids are going to grow up together!”
I stepped out into the Texas heat and groaned, already feeling a dampness to my brow.
“Now we need all the other brothers to get on board,” I teased.
Quincy snorted and fell into step beside us.
I climbed into Quincy’s bright blue, fancy smancy truck, and received a growl from him before he said, “I was going to get that for you.”
“But you got the door for your wife, and she’s all that matters,” I pointed out.
“I get the door for both of you,” he grumbled. “You just have to let me get her in first.”
Hollis snickered as Quincy rounded the hood of his truck. “They all get so bent out of shape when you do it yourself. You should see Germaine. He gets downright surly.”
“What about my dad?” Quincy asked as he hopped into the truck with an ease that said he was much more adept than we were.
“I said that your dad gets butt hurt when we get in without waiting,” Hollis said. “So, are you thinking one baby or two?”
I choked. “It better be only one.”
“Do you see the amount of natural twins—and one set of triplets—that Germaine and Garnett have? That’s not normal,” Hollis disagreed with me.
“Well,” I hesitated. “Let’s pray that it’s only one then.”
Jesus Christ, just the thought of having two…
“So, any more leads?” Quincy asked me.
“I assume you know quite a bit more than I do, Quincy,” I pointed out. “Quaid shares with me, but he also shields me.”
“Do you blame him?” he asked. “But also, I bet he shares way more with you than he’s supposed to.”
That made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
“Sage is doing better. She still has no memory of anything that happened beyond the eye color of the man who took her,” I explained. “That’s all Quaid’s shared with me.”
“Let’s talk about how Atlas is glued to her side and living with her,” Hollis suggested, practically bouncing in her seat.
“Atlas doesn’t want us talking about that—or her,” I pointed out. “But from what I gather, he has a thing for her. She’s too scared and anxiety-filled to notice, though.”
I didn’t blame her.
But it made me feel bad for Atlas, who was around her and watching her struggle.
That was the worst way to experience life, if you asked me. Feeling helpless was an awful feeling.
“Ladies, you have arrived,” Quincy said. “And your second escort awaits.”
I looked over to see Quaid standing at the entrance, once again decked out in his DPD finery, with his arms crossed and his aviator sunglasses covering his eyes.