Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
With a whimper, she turns to Dad. “She insisted on going.”
“Going where?” he asks, suspicious.
“Home. She was determined to go home and grab some things for Ren. She took one of the cars—I think Frank was driving,” she adds, wringing her hands. “And I can’t get a hold of her. They should’ve been back by now, and she’s not answering her phone.”
“All right, there could be a logical explanation for this.” I hear something else in Dad’s voice, though. It’s tight, like he’s talking through clenched teeth, trying to hold it together for her sake. There is nothing worse than the helpless feeling of watching him calling Frank, seeing his face fall a little at a time with every ring that goes unanswered.
Sophie lets out a broken cry before covering her face with her hands. “I should’ve gone! I should’ve gone with her. I should never have let her go alone. Oh, god, what are they doing to her?”
“One thing at a time.” Dad pats her shoulder while typing something into his phone with his other hand. “We’re going to find her, and we’re going to bring her back. This could all be a misunderstanding.”
He knows better, and so do I. This isn’t a misunderstanding.
It’s another shot fired in a war none of us wanted to get into.
This time, it could be Luna who ends up being a casualty.
19
SCARLET
“Don’t make me regret bringing you along.” Roman looks at me over his shoulder, sitting in the front seat of one of the SUVs in which Dad sent us to look for Luna. “You promised to follow the rules your father set down.”
I can still hear Dad’s deep voice in my head, and I rattle off the words he used before giving me permission to go with Roman and Sophie and the two extra cars full of armed men. “I promise, I won’t do anything to jeopardize anybody, I’ll stay close to you and listen to everything you say.”
There was no way I wasn’t coming along. I couldn’t sit around the house, waiting for a phone call. I have to see for myself what happened to Luna. I only hope I don’t end up regretting it.
The fact that I would even think something like that makes me grind my teeth. Luna will be fine. God knows Dad sent enough team members along with us in case things get dangerous. I don’t think they will. Nobody would ever call me an expert on Rebecca’s twisted mind—it’s not something I’d be proud of—but I feel like she wouldn’t want to stage a fight outside of her own home turf. She would want to feel safe, like she had plenty of people to fall back on.
Or I could be completely wrong, and we could be heading for a bloodbath. The questions running through my head and all the ugly images they bring up make me want to scream until I have to bite down on the inside of my cheek to keep it together. So many what ifs.
Sophie’s soft weeping hasn’t stopped since she started crying back at the house, and it’s enough to break my heart. I feel so damn useless, sitting here with nothing to say, nothing to offer but a soft pat on her arm. “She’ll be all right,” I whisper, but the words are empty. It’s more like wishful thinking than anything else. Something I need to believe, or else I’m going to start crying, too.
“I shouldn’t have let her go.” She keeps whispering it, almost like a prayer. “I shouldn’t have let her out of my sight. What was I thinking? She would’ve gotten over being mad at me for telling her to stay.”
“These people are sick,” I whisper. “You can’t predict what they’re going to do. Believe me.” That’s not enough to get her to stop blaming herself or to stop the tears from flowing. Like I needed another reason to hate Rebecca. Like she hasn’t already ruined so much of what I care about.
There are two SUVs in front of us, and my heart is in my throat as they pull through the front gates with us behind them. Everything looks totally normal so far. What did I expect? There’s nothing comforting about the seemingly peaceful atmosphere, though. Goosebumps pebble my arms and the hair on the back of my neck sticks straight up as we draw closer to the house and whatever is waiting inside.
We pull up close to the front courtyard before one of the armed men from the other SUVs hops out and holds both hands up to stop us, glancing over his shoulder at whatever we can’t yet see. A handful of guys start up the front stairs, and when I crane my neck, I can see the door is open a crack. Sophie must see it, too, and she releases a strangled whimper.