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)
“Buck, Leif.” Reid shakes our hands, and then his gaze falls on Aspen. “Ms. Davis, I’m glad you came along. You may be able to offer some insight.”
Aspen shakes Reid’s hand. “It’s Mrs. Moreno now.” She smiles. “But Aspen is fine. And that’s why I’m here. I want to help.”
“I know we’re asking a lot of you and your new husband, postponing your honeymoon for a little while, but we think this might be serious.” He nods to the receptionist. “I don’t want to be disturbed during this meeting. Not at all.”
“Yes, Mr. Wolfe.”
Then to us, “Follow me.”
Buck, Aspen, and I follow Reid through the winding hallways to one of the conference rooms. I’ve been in this particular room many times, but it always leaves me in awe. It’s huge, of course, with a solid cherry table that seats up to twenty. The chairs are cushioned with blue and gold brocade, but the most iconic part of the room are its walls. They’re home to a triptych of paintings by Roy Wolfe, and whenever I look at them—abstract in blues, golds, grays, and whites—I see something different. Today I see the ocean…but perhaps that’s because I was just in LA at a house on the beach for Buck’s wedding.
When we enter, Rock—Reid’s oldest brother and chief executive officer of Wolfe Enterprises—stands.
He looks a little rougher than Reid, who always looks refined. But there’s no mistaking the resemblance between them. Only their eyes are different—Reid’s are blue and Rock’s are green. But they both have the same determination in their gazes.
“You all know my brother Rock.”
Rock shakes hands all around. “Good to see you. Thank you for coming. My wife, Lacey, will be here in a minute.” He gazes at the doorway. “Here she is now.”
Lacey Wolfe is blond and blue-eyed, and she’s just starting to show a baby bump.
“Mrs. Wolfe,” I say, “nice to see you again. And congratulations.”
“Thank you, Leif. And please call me Lacey.”
“You know my friend, Buck Moreno, and this is his wife, Aspen.”
A smile spreads across Aspen’s face when I say the word “wife.”
Lacey shakes both their hands and holds onto Aspen’s a bit longer. “I just want to tell you that you’re amazing. And thank you for coming. We all feel so terrible about ruining your honeymoon.”
Aspen attempts a smile. “Buck and I will have a honeymoon. I just feel so fortunate that, after all I’ve been through, I found such an amazing life for myself. So I want to help Kelly.”
“All of you ladies are amazing,” Lacey says. “Your strength and fortitude humble me.”
“That’s kind of you,” Aspen says, “but your family made sure we got the best mental health treatment on the island.”
“Yes, Riley and Matt have done an incredible job with the treatment center. I’m so glad it was helpful to you and the others.”
“Most of the others anyway,” Reid says. “Please, have a seat. All of you.”
“So what’s the story?” I ask. “Which woman has been making threats against Kelly?”
2
KELLY
I won’t rest until I see you back on that island.
I shiver as I read the latest text message.
Haven’t I been through enough? I’m finally learning to accept my life, my past, work through not only my time on the island but my childhood as well. The therapist hired by the Wolfe family, Macy, has been great. I have to commend the patience she has with me.
I’m not an easy person to deal with.
I never knew that until recently, but now I’m beginning to see why I do some of the things I do.
Why I was the way I was on the island.
Why I am the way I am now, and how to go about making the changes that I want—need—to make in my life.
But someone doesn’t want that.
And I don’t understand why, because she has the same past that I have.
Her name is Brindley
Brindley McGregor. But her name on the island was Smoky. Short for smoky quartz, because of her grayish eyes.
Her eyes aren’t gray so much as bluish gray, but she was one of the last women to come to the island before it was shut down, and maybe they were running out of gemstone names.
I was known as Opal, and honestly I’m not sure why. My hair is auburn and my eyes are dark blue. Opal seems more of a light-blue name, but who knows? I never stopped to think about why they named me Opal. I didn’t care.
I just accepted my fate. I accepted it because I figured it was all I deserved.
After all, my childhood was…
Less than adequate.
I laugh out loud at my own thought.
Less than adequate? What a fucking euphemism. As a rule, I hate euphemisms. Why not be blunt? Why not be offensive? Life is blunt and offensive sometimes. More often than not, in my opinion.