Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
I didn’t expect an answer, not really. Not Jasper or Virgil and barely even Ma talked to me about the business. It had been months since I took over tech and security for both sides of Ashby holdings, and still, they were slow to catch up.
“I want them gone. Obliterated. No longer in existence. But if they leave Glitz for good, they can have her back. If they want to stay and fight, she’s dead. Ronan has one week to decide.”
Shit, things had escalated. “I’ll keep an eye on them, see if anything happens you need to know about.”
Surprise flashed, but he brushed it aside and nodded. “Thanks.”
I finished my coffee and returned back to my office and bank of computers to work and not wonder what Bonnie was up to, because it was none of my business.
None at all.
CHAPTER FIVE
Bonnie
I couldn’t be out of pills already. There were sixty in the bottle and it had barely been fourteen days. No. That couldn’t be right. I’d only taken a couple extra here and there. To ease the pain.
I checked and double-checked the only purse I’d thought to take with me. The pills had to be here! The pockets of the slacks I wore earlier in the week were empty too.
My makeup bag held no pills and neither did any hidden corner of my car. “Dammit!” I ducked backed inside the mansion to grab my purse and what little cash I had before heading into the hustle and bustle of Glitz. To see how a girl like me could find some pain pills without a prescription. I didn’t want to ask Dr. Callahan to refill the pills before it was time. He’d probably tell Sadie.
So, I turned toward the part of town where I used to rent a room, still feeling half-terrified as I slowed down and parked under the yellow lights of a gas station. I wasn’t sure exactly how to do this. I couldn’t just walk up to someone and ask them if they sold black market pills. Could I? And I was pretty sure calling them ‘black market’ might make me sound like a cop. Or an informant.
“Hey, Red. I got what you’re looking for.”
I stopped and looked over my shoulder at the guy with the long hair. He couldn’t be more than nineteen or twenty if that. “Yeah? How do you know what I need?”
He looked me up and down, taking a few steps closer but not enough to be threatening. I stood tall and tried my best to look unafraid. Tough. “You look like a woman who likes to relax once in a while.”
I shook my head because I wasn’t a pill head. “I am a woman in pain with at least another week before I can get a refill on my prescription.” I didn’t want this kid to think I was some kind of junkie, even though I didn’t know him.
“Sorry, babe.” He shook his head with a shrug, flashing a too charming smile. “I don’t deal in pills. Too risky. But I got something just as nice. Better some say.” He was smug. Too smug, like the cat who got the cream. Like he knew this was a done deal.
Well he was wrong. “I can’t afford something else,” I told him. “My insurance pays for the pills.” At least it would when I was no longer relying on the goodwill of the Ashby family and their private doctor. I hoped. Then again, Mother and Father had taken everything but my car, so it was unlikely I even had insurance anymore.
A depressing thought for another time.
“Anyway,” I sighed. “Thanks for the offer.”
“Squeaker. You can call me Squeaker, pretty thang. What’s your name?”
“It’s…uhm, Bonnie. Nice to meet you.” I cringed at my desperate need to always be polite. Well-mannered.
Squeaker snickered. “Nice to meet you, Bonnie.” He held up a small plastic bag with a brownish gold powder inside. “This one’s on me. You like it, you find me, and I’ll get you fixed up right.”
“Really?”
His smile never wobbled. “Really.” He waved the tiny packet back and forth between his index and middle fingers, teasing me. “What do you say, Red, are you and me gonna be friends?”
It didn’t seem smart to make friends with a guy like Squeaker or a guy named Squeaker for that matter. But he said that powder was just as good as the pills, and I was starting to ache. Bad.
“Sure, Squeaker, we’ll be friends. Until I can get a refill.” I plucked it from his hands and took three steps back.
“See you soon, Bonnie.”
“Yep.” I sent a wave behind me and stopped. “Wait. How do I, you know, do it?”
He chuckled. “Just snort it, Red.”
Like the powder the lady gave me in the bathroom. How hard could that be?
“Thanks,” I told him and hurried back to my car, occasionally looking over my shoulder just in case someone thought to mug me. Again. By the time I made it back to the Ashby home, I was more than ready for something to make the pain go away.