Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
I’d been watching the train wreck that was Janie and Ryder’s life unfold on the internet for the last hour or so and wishing and hoping that my family’s name didn’t come into the conversation, but it was even worse. Somehow, the things that Twit had said in front of the cameras came up, and it all went downhill from there.
Somehow, they’d learned that the church was just a front for my other endeavors, something no one else should’ve known since I’d gone to great lengths to hide the fact. There was nothing written anywhere that would lead anyone to that reality, and yet, who I thought was a little girl, had found it out.
My kids, whom I’d tried my best to shield for my own purposes, were exposed—the lives they led at my behest, the truth about where their money really came from, all of it. I’d had to turn off my phone when the kids and my business associates started calling because my head wasn’t in the right space to deal with them right now.
The girls were already losing followers online, and their businesses were taking a hit. I expected things to be much worse by morning, and this MengeLiNi person was still going. All my years of subterfuge, the backdoor deals I’d made to get my family into the spotlight, were all being revealed, and the public was eating it up.
I was expecting to hear a knock on the door any minute and to be taken out in cuffs. My phone buzzed in my hand, scaring me half to death. I could’ve sworn I turned the thing off half an hour ago. I opened the message and wasn’t sure what I was looking at for the first few seconds.
It was a video of some sort, on a boat, it looked like. “Wait a minute, isn’t that…. I recognized some of the faces as they came into view. “What is this?” The video went fuzzy before it cleared up again, and I was greeted by a scene of horror.
My mouth opened in a silent scream as I watched the first lion rip the throat out of one of my clients with its teeth. My body went cold, and I had to use the bathroom in the worst way, but I couldn’t move.
What’s going on? I couldn’t think above the screams that came through the screen. Then I started to question why this was sent to me. It was an obvious threat, wasn’t it? The people I’d just watched being eaten alive were all people I dealt with.
They were all there, well, most of them anyway. The men and women I’ve been procuring kids for to feed their proclivities over the years. It was all over, but how? Who? I was more afraid than ever before, especially when it hit home that the video was sent as some kind of warning.
I was alone in the house after sending everyone else away, and for that reason, I couldn’t stay here. I ran upstairs and grabbed the emergency bag from the closet. It was best to be gone before the reporters showed up to stake out the place or whoever this was to show up here, and I met a fate worse than the one I just witnessed.
I barely got the key in the door to lock it from the outside when I heard a strange noise in the air. It sounded like something in the wind, and then there was pain, so much pain….
***
*Scott*
I sat in the dark, staring out at the waves and wondering where I’d taken a wrong turn and why I hadn’t turned back before it came to this. Was it back in college when I decided that being rich was more important than anything else? That I was willing to go to any lengths to get the things I wanted?
I didn’t grow up poor, far from it, but it was never enough. I wanted more. Was it my fault that I was so driven? Of course, I didn’t start out wanting a life of crime; I had a lot of ideals back then. But it had been so easy to slip into the shadier side of things, and besides, it paid better.
I always knew I wanted to do something with music, though I was never musically inclined. I knew that the entertainment industry was the way to go though, but little did I know that it would set me on the path that would lead me here. I’d envisioned nights spent having lavish and elaborate parties the way they were portrayed in old black-and-white movies.
I wanted to be here more than anything because when it came to entertainment, Hollywood was the obvious hub. But where had it started? Was it the first backhanded deal I’d made that had robbed my client of millions? Maybe.