Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 66978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
The abuse I suffered at the hands of my own mother—torturous physical and emotional abuse.
In some kind of warped way, I’m almost glad I was abducted and sent to the island.
At least it got my mind off other things.
But which is worse? To be abused and tortured by someone who’s supposed to love you, or by strangers who have no relation to you whatsoever?
I already know.
Which is why it was so strange, being on the island. Why none of the other women understood my strange kind of envy. I’m not sure I fully understand it yet. Why did it disturb me so much to be in competition with the others? I didn’t want to be chosen, so why did I become angry when someone else was selected over me?
Because I’ve been yearning for attention my entire life…even the kind of attention that hurts.
It’s the only kind I ever got, and I got a lot of it on the island, especially from The Dark One.
I worked through the jealousy. I understand it was wrong, and it was a product of what I’ve been through in my life.
So maybe…
Maybe it truly isn’t Brindley who’s been sending me those messages.
Maybe it’s time to confront her directly.
I can’t right now. It’s too late and I’m exhausted. But I can find Leif, tell him what I’ve discovered.
Maybe it’s time to be honest with him. To tell him what I’ve been through. Help him understand why I am the way I am, and that although I still struggle, I’ve come such a long way.
I want him to know that I’m trying. Because I…
I feel things with him that I’ve never felt before. And I’m not just talking physical, though the physical was incredible. I feel something more. I’m not sure what to call it, but it’s a warm feeling. A good feeling.
An almost…happy feeling.
But is it happiness? I have nothing to compare it to. I’ve never felt happiness before.
I walk back over, knock on Leif’s door.
And still…no answer.
33
LEIF
I didn’t plan to pull an all-nighter with Buck. We had enough of those in Afghanistan, but at least we’re in his cushy apartment that he shares with Aspen, not sweltering in the desert, looking over our shoulders for enemy fire.
“She didn’t tell me anything,” I say. “I asked her for the name of the aunt who left her the money, and she clammed up quickly.”
“So she realized you were after information.”
“Not at first. First she accused me of wanting her for her money.”
Buck lets out a chuckle.
“Until I explained I didn’t want her, money or not. Then she escorted me to the door.”
“So it’s not that she refused to give you the aunt’s name, it’s that she wanted something more than you were able to give, and she thought by asking for the aunt’s name, you were wanting to know more about where she got her money.”
I shrug. “Hell, I don’t know. I personally don’t think there even is an aunt.”
Buck taps busily at his computer, and then he raises his eyebrows.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Actually, there is an aunt. Clementine Taylor, and she was a hedge fund manager with Norsemen Funds.”
I stop my jaw from dropping to the floor. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I wish I were, but I’m not. Clementine Taylor did exist, and her will was probated in Tucson, Arizona. She did leave an estate of approximately ten million to her niece, Racine Taylor.”
“You got the will?”
“Right here in the database.”
“I’ll be damned.”
“She wasn’t lying. Her aunt did pass away about a year and half ago. And most of the estate passed through trust and wasn’t held up by the probate court at all. So pretty much overnight, Racine Taylor was a rich woman.”
“Except she was already a rich woman. Those half-million dollar payments started coming out six months after Kelly was taken.”
“Yes, there’s that as well. It looks like she got four of those altogether, and now she’s worth about thirty million dollars, as we already knew. She got into some good stock buys and increased her wealth, and then she got another cash infusion when Auntie Clem died.”
“Okay. So it’s still possible she sold her daughter.”
“It’s possible for sure. The only thing that doesn’t make sense is why she had to wait six months for payment and why she was paid such a large sum.”
“Right, when the people who took Aspen and Katelyn were paid right away, and not nearly as much.”
“Then maybe… Maybe she wasn’t involved in her daughter’s kidnapping,” Buck says. “I truly doubt that Derek Wolf paid in the millions of dollars for these women. Hell, if he did that, he could have probably gotten a few to volunteer.”
“Maybe, but not if they knew for sure what they were getting into.”
“Of course not, but if you’re willing to pay that much, there would be a few biters.”