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)
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.” I rolled my eyes like Kat, fuck.
‘If you had not committed such great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.”
“Genghis Khan?” Dafuq!
***
*Mary*
“I told you; no one knows where she is. And the Saunders people won’t let anyone get close to Ryder right now. You shouldn’t have come out here.” Has he always been this damn annoying and stupid? I guess I should’ve expected him to show up at my door when all else failed, even though I’ve told him a thousand times that no one was supposed to learn about our affiliation. It was too dangerous and would only lead to questions that were best left unanswered.
Everything is falling apart too fast for me to catch my breath. It seems that as soon as I put out one fire, another one rages out of control. Now this. He’s shown up at my door unannounced, expecting me to save his ass again. I probably should’ve helped him out when he first complained about his home going into foreclosure, but it’s not my fault that his daughter couldn’t finesse what amounted to chump change out of her husband. Stupid twit!
“Where else was I supposed to go? I don’t have a home; my daughter is missing, and her house is crawling with men in those stupid suits that won’t let me in. Somebody’s got to tell me something. I’m going to this Saunders guy’s place.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“What? Why? He’s just some big-shot producer. He can’t keep me away from my son-in-law.” He started to head for the door, and I wished I had a gun in my hand to take him out of his misery.
He’s always been a loose cannon. Not too bright and quick to fly off the handle at the slightest provocation. “Stop right there, Andrews, don’t you understand, right now, this movie deal is the only thing we’ve got going for us. If this falls through, we’re dead in the water. His association with Saunders is the only thing keeping this whole thing from blowing up in our faces.”
“I don’t understand any of that. I told you I didn’t want any part of that other business; I just wanted my kid married, that’s all.”
“Yes, well, you still signed off on it, and you knew what you were getting into. You want to jump ship now, but it’s too late; you’re as much a part of this as the rest of us. And for your information, Chad Saunders isn’t just some producer, as you well know. He’s an eccentric holier-than-thou asshole who would bring this whole house of cards down on our heads. So get your head out of your ass and try to help me think of a way out of this mess.”
“So where am I supposed to stay? My wife has already gone to her sister’s place, but I can’t just sit around there doing nothing, and no one knows where Janie is.”
“Janie is fine, I’m sure. Ryder would’ve said something if she wasn’t. Didn’t he say that she was in quarantine?”
“Yes, but where?”
“Does it matter? You can’t go see her anyway.” I, too, have been worried about where she was, but Ryder assured me when I spoke to him a couple of days ago that she was getting the best care in a safe place.
If I had the time, I would’ve looked into it myself since I’m not one to leave anything to chance, but I have my own problems to worry about. “I guess you can stay in the guesthouse for a while, but you’ve got to keep a low profile. No one must know that you’re here.”
He seemed to calm down a bit, and I asked one of the staff to show him the way. Good riddance. I wish I had never gotten into bed with him and his stupid daughter, but she was handy at the time and would’ve done anything, including selling her soul to marry Ryder Sumner. If I hadn’t needed to get him away from that Elena bitch as soon as possible, I could’ve held out for a better prospect, but there’s no point in looking back at it now; that bull was way out of the pen.
I looked around my kitchen as if lost as if I’d never seen it before. I’ve been doing that a lot lately, staring into space while my mind emptied itself of everything but fear. I’ve never known fear like this. I’ve always been the one to instill fear in others, but now the tables have turned, and the enemy has me in his grip.
Speaking of enemies, I don’t know who or where mine is. I’ve tried and tried again to no avail, but this faceless, nameless person is nowhere to be found. And somehow, that makes the whole ordeal more stressful. I’ve sent my girls away to keep them away from all this, hoping against hope that it doesn’t touch them.