Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 113056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
I handed him the laptop and he very carefully slid it into the basket and then put the shower cap-like seal back on, put the top lid back on, and slowly cranked something on the side of the drum so that the basket descended slowly without splashing. He then took off his gloves and mask so I followed suit. We went outside and sat down on the curb.
“What now?”
“Thirty minutes. JC and Hugo went for a coffee. We check to make sure it’s dissolved. Should be gone, not a trace. Then JC picks it up and we go home and put this behind us.”
I sat there and my mind streamed visions from Kruna, from being broken, from being stuck with Mr. Frost. I ached. And then I felt numb.
And then the numbness evaporated when I felt the beautiful touch of the man who’d saved me, who brought me back from near catatonia, who’d kept his promise and made sure that Kruna was taken down and destroyed.
“You kept your promise to me,” I said.
He’d put one of his hands on the back of my neck.
“About Kruna. You took them down. You made them hurt. You saved all those girls. Thank you, babe. I still can’t believe it. Not only do I get all of those things, but I get you. I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”
JC and his employee came back and checked the drum and showed me, with a flashlight, that there was nothing but liquid in it. No sign of that hard drive, no sign of a single screw or wire from that computer. It was an extreme method to get rid of it but it was thorough and I was taking no chances whatsoever that Frost’s hard drive would turn up somewhere.
JC’s clean-up services were worth the exorbitant fees he charged and he was worth keeping in our Rolodex.
He and Hugo sealed the drum up and wheeled that dolly away from our sight and put it in the back of a truck.
I took my wife home and made love to her in our bed, quietly though, since her sister was in the den. I’d have to do something about this. Time to get a bigger place.
We were having a family dinner. Me and Tommy, Sarah, Dare and Angel and Holly, Tessa, Lisa, Bianca and Nino, Luc and Eddy. I’d made lasagnas, Eddy and Luc brought dessert, Tess made bruschetta, Bianca made salad, and Angel and Dare brought the wine.
Lisa came early and helped me set up. She was quiet, subdued, but Tess arrived first. I planned it that way. At Tessa’s request.
Tess walked in. Lisa froze.
“Leese.”
“Hey.” Lisa stared.
“I’m sorry that I made you feel like we might not be able to get over how you came to be part of our family. But…” Tess choked up. I choked up. Lisa’s face crumpled.
They fell into one another’s arms.
“You’re our family. We love you. I’m sorry for what you’ve been through but I’m so glad you’re here, in our family.”
Lisa sobbed. “I’m so sorry that you got taken and violated. And I wanted to come to you the minute I heard but I…”
“It’s okay. I was a bitch to you.”
“You were processing.”
“I was still a bitch.”
“I have something for you,” Lisa said, and reached into her purse, which was sitting on my kitchen counter.
I started handing out Kleenexes.
“They found your phone. It was crushed. But I took it to a guy at the mall and he got your pictures off it. I remembered you saying your memory was full like, two days before, so I knew you had lots on there. There were… like… 289 of them. They’re on this little thumb drive.” Lisa passed it to her.
Tessa fell apart.
“Jim. I knew there were pictures and I never backed it up and that’s all I could think about when they were kidnapping me. I – fuck. Thank you, Leese.”
We were all crying again.
Tommy walked into the kitchen and made an immediate U-turn and left us in our crying huddle.
He knew what my intentions were with this dinner, so he probably wasn’t at all surprised.
The dinner was filled with good food, laughing, good-natured teasing, and kids running around, my dog getting spoiled, and it felt really great to spend the evening with my family.
13
Almost Six Months Later
My pregnancy was ticking along nicely. Uneventfully. I was eating a lot, keeping busy getting ready for the baby. I spent a lot of time with my sisters-in-law and my foster sisters and Rose regularly came over.
I’d even started going out by myself. Sort of. Tommy had a guard with me every time, but I was driving. Walking. Doing things. I was driving my Jeep, taking my no-longer little dog for walks, going to pregnancy yoga, hanging out with the family, and I was living.