Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 92702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
I hardly have time to breathe before there’s a brief knock on my door. “What?” I bark.
Prince opens the door enough to peer into the room. “Is it safe? Or will I get another shoe thrown at my head?”
“It depends upon your reason for interrupting me.”
“Oh, then I’m safe.” He enters the room, and his smile drops away. “We found him.”
“Frankie?” I’m already out of my chair, prepared to go. “Where?”
He winces, and I’m reminded of how unusual it is for a piece of news to be truly good with no strings attached. “That part you’re not going to like so much.”
“Out with it, for fuck’s sake. I’ve had enough games today.”
“He was seen coming and going from the Alvarez compound.”
I knew it. For once, I didn’t want to be right. “That motherfucker!” I sweep an arm over my desk, sending papers, books, and even my phone flying. Prince merely takes a large backward step to get out of the way. “And you’re sure it’s him?”
“Positive. I’ve seen him enough times. As soon as you see him, you’ll know it’s true.”
“Yes, I’m sure I will.” Prince has never come to me with bad intel, and I highly doubt he would have made this announcement were he not completely sure.
Why did it have to be Alvarez? It’s almost sad how very clear everything is. Alvarez obviously lured him in with some promise or another, though I can’t imagine how much the man must have promised to sway Frankie’s loyalties. The man made a hundred-thousand dollars off my grandfather in the days before his death. What more could Alvarez promise?
I’m kidding myself, asking questions like this. There is no limit to the depths some will sink to when it comes to money. There’s no such thing as enough.
“That fucking bastard. I’ll kill him. He’s fucking dead.” I can barely think for the pounding in my head, the rushing of blood in my ears. I want him in front of me, here and now. I want to hear him scream. I want to rip out his beating heart and hold it in front of his face so he can look upon it in his final moments.
My hands shake with anticipation as I pour myself a drink and gulp it down all at once. That lying, traitorous piece of shit. Grandfather trusted him, and look where that trust got us all. The whiskey does little to blunt my fury, so I have a second before slamming the glass down. “I want to see him. I need to see the bastard for myself.”
“I was going to suggest we run surveillance.” Prince glances toward the window, where darkness is about to fall on the other side. “And I have a new toy I’d like to test out.”
“This isn’t the time—”
“Believe me. You’ll understand once you see it.”
“Fine. So long as that toy doesn’t give us away somehow.”
“It won’t, trust me.” I don’t have much of a choice, do I? He’s one of the few people I can trust in all of this, a point that becomes clearer by the day. Even Paolo, someone I believed I could entrust with the care of my wife, failed me in the end. Pathetic.
We can’t leave right away, no matter how eager I am to set my eyes on that piece of shit traitor. “Paolo!” I call out, knowing he can’t be far. And he isn’t, appearing mere moments after my echoing voice fades to silence. Of course, now he’s eager to please, asking how high when I tell him to jump. He wants to get back in my good graces.
“I’m going out. I can’t say for how long. I need guards throughout the house—front and rear doors, here in my study, and walking the perimeter. Four-hour shifts. I’m trusting you with this.”
“You can count on me.”
We’ll see about that. Before he can leave, I ask, “Is she upstairs?”
He nods. “She hasn’t left her room since we returned from the school.”
“Good.” She can’t get into any trouble up there—after all, I already went through everything.
“What should I say if she asks where you’ve gone?”
“Since when does she need to know where I go?” He accepts this with a firm nod, then pulls out his phone before leaving the room. I hear him requesting extra bodies and leave him with a reminder to reach out immediately at the slightest hint of trouble.
“What’s his story? I heard you tearing into him.” Prince gets behind the wheel while I slide into the passenger seat.
“Don’t worry about it. Just get us there.” His sigh only makes me bristle. “What business do you have eavesdropping on what happens in my study, anyway?”
“Eavesdropping? I could’ve been around the corner, and I would have heard most of what you were saying. You didn’t exactly take great pains to be quiet, you know.”