Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Yasmin walks over to me. She’s got dyed black hair tied up in a bun, her cheeks sharp, emphasizing her frown.
We hug, and then she scoops Felicia up, giving me a look.
I get it. Don’t talk business in front of her.
“Are you excited about your holiday?” Yasmin asks a second later, bobbing Felicia up and down.
Felicia beams, letting out a noise that might be yes or might be an impression of an opera singer.
Kenny steps forward, lowering his voice. “We need to talk.”
I nod, waving a hand at him and Yasmin. “Come on. I’ll introduce you to everybody.”
We sit in the living room.
Me, Julie, Kenny, Yasmin, and Freya.
Annabelle is taking care of Felicia in the children’s room. It was heartbreakingly sweet to see how keen she was to take care of the child, making me think of the day she becomes a grandmother and how lucky mine and Freya’s children are going to be.
It’s difficult to focus on the task at hand with Freya sitting across from me.
She’s showered and changed into the fresh clothes Kenny bought and other supplies – and now I find myself wanting to get her sweaty again.
I ended up sleeping until the early evening yesterday, and then it was my turn to take the night shift.
Julie was with Freya all night, meaning we had no time alone.
In fact, the last alone time we had was in the security room.
My body hungers for her.
We should tell her mom. If I knew Freya felt the same….
“So,” Kenny says once I’m done summarizing the situation.
Julie told us the truth last night, explaining about the phone call.
“This Mike… does he have a surname?”
“Lancaster,” Julie murmurs.
Kenny glances at me, probably reading my face. “What is it?”
“That’s a British name, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, Mike’s British. Didn’t I mention that?” Julie asks.
I sit up. “Would you recognize his voice?”
“Definitely.” Julie dismally stares as if reliving past horrors. “Why?”
Taking out my phone, I navigate to the folder where I’ve saved the audio files. Then, clicking play, Mr. Red’s voice fills the room, explaining the job before last.
“As you can see if you review the files, he’s more than earned this, Felix. He deserves it.”
Julie shudders as if the voice has become physical and it’s invading this room.
“That’s him.”
“You’re sure?” Kenny says, one hand clenched over the other, looking ready to do something and do it now.
“Yes,” Julie replies. “I only spoke to him a couple of nights ago, remember.”
“So much for being some neutral broker,” I growl, thinking of what Julie said about her dad.
The gas explosion. He didn’t deserve that…no amount of jewels, money, anything would earn that fate.
Yasmin winces. “I’m sorry.”
I turn to her, shaking my head. “We’ve been over this. It’s not your fault. As long as you promise to come to me if you’ve got a problem in the future.”
“I will.”
“Then you don’t need to keep apologizing.”
“But if it wasn’t for me,” Yasmin says, “you would never have had to work with him.”
“That’s true. But it’s also true he’s a sadistic lunatic who probably enjoys this on a warped level. He would’ve found somebody else to mess with if it wasn't us. At least now, we have the chance to stop him.”
“Why didn’t you stop him before?” Julie murmurs.
Everybody is caught up with Julie’s revelation and Yasmin’s situation.
Still, I don’t want to blame this on my sister.
“He did it for me,” Yasmin cuts in when I hesitate. “For Felicia. We had no reason to believe Mr. Red was a liar. Honestly, this whole thing makes my head hurt. Not just because of how evil it is. But it’s like there are wheels within wheels within wheels.”
“It’s okay.” Kenny smiles at her. “It seems the situation is this. This Mike, Mr. Red, he’s got it out for you, Julie.” He glances at Julie, then looks at Yasmin again. “For you, Yasmin, it was all about the money. He purchased your debt and wanted to take his chance to recruit somebody of Felix’s skills. He could’ve gone on with the charade.”
I nod. “He could’ve let me believe he really was some honorable criminal broker. If the last target had been as fucked as the rest, I would’ve taken him out and moved on.”
“But he overreached,” Kenny goes on.
“And now he has to go,” I growl.
Kenny nods grimly. “You’re right. None of you deserve to live with this. This man. Torturing you because it makes him feel tough. I’m going to run a check on Mike Lancaster. If it’s a pseudonym, we’ll keep digging. In the meantime, I suggest everybody rest up.”
He gives me a look, and I get the message…
He wants me to rest, too, just in case something happens.
When it’s time, we’ll both need to be sharp.
Once we’re done, I approach Kenny outside.
“Did you bring it?” I ask.
He nods. “It’s in the car. But I’m not sure what good it’ll do. If Mr. Red and Mike are the same man – which seems to be the case – he already knows that Freya’s the target.”