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)
“True enough.” I cock my head, my mind racing. “Something’s not right between Racine and Kelly. That much is obvious. Why else would she refuse to see her mother?”
“Aspen didn’t see her parents at first. It’s hard to imagine what these women were thinking. Their mindset.”
“It’s not that hard to imagine.” I gesture to a scar on Buck’s arm.
“You and I went through a lot, but we were trained for it. What we went through wasn’t pretty—and it’s nothing I want to experience again—but we knew what could happen to us out there. The fact that a lot of it did doesn’t change the fact that it was a risk we consciously took. It was our choice.”
“True enough. These women didn’t make the choice.”
“No, they didn’t. They didn’t take this risk. It was thrust upon them.”
“I guess I can see why Aspen didn’t want to see her parents at first. It’s humiliating. You and I should know.”
“Exactly,” Buck says. “But, Aspen did see her parents after a while. In fact, I found her at a train station going to Colorado to see them. When I went after her when she disappeared.”
“So she made the choice to see them on her own.”
“Right. After a lot of therapy, and after realizing that there was nothing for her to be humiliated about. But with Kelly it’s different,” he says.
“Yeah, it totally is. I did not get good vibes from Racine at all. She said all the right words, claimed to love her daughter, but her acting left a lot to be desired.”
“So you don’t believe her?”
“Not only no, but hell no. She knew how to sniffle at the right time, how to dab at her eyes. But she was dabbing at dry eyes, Buck. Dry fucking eyes.”
“They…”
“Right? So whether she had anything to do with her daughter’s abduction or not, they did not have a good relationship. Of that I’m certain.”
“There’s only one way to find out the truth about that,” Buck says.
I nod. “I know. I have to ask Kelly.”
“And you know how that will go.”
“God, do I. But I have to tell you, I’m understanding her better and better. I don’t think she has a nasty streak at all. I think she’s just super defensive. She’s been hurt her whole life, so now she strikes before anyone can hurt her again.”
“Do you plan to hurt her?”
“No. Not intentionally, anyway. So I suppose that means…”
“It means hands off, Phoenix.”
“You didn’t keep your hands off,” I shove back at him.
He doesn’t reply. How can he? Until—
“No, I didn’t. And I’m glad I didn’t, because that lovely lady sleeping soundly in the next room is everything to me.”
I nod. “I know, bro.”
“You’re not feeling something for Kelly, are you?”
“No.”
But the lie is bitter on my tongue because the truth is that I am feeling something for Kelly. I’m going to have to tamp it down. She’s certainly not ready to be with anyone, and in my own way, I’m not either.
No more hanky-panky with Kelly Taylor.
And I’m surprised at how much that thought saddens me.
I rise. “Send me a copy of all the docs you found. I’m going to get some shut-eye. Good night.”
“Don’t you mean good morning?”
I shake my head and sigh. “Damn. What is it? Eight o’clock already?”
“Seven thirty.”
I yawn. “See you, Buck.”
“Take it easy, Phoenix.”
I leave Buck’s, take the elevator down to the fourth floor, and head to my place.
And then I drop my jaw.
34
KELLY
No, mama. Please, not the closet!
But she shoves me inside anyway. “Bad girls sit by themselves in the dark. And you’ve been a bad girl, Kelly.”
I don’t bother asking her what I’ve done.
She won’t tell me anyway.
I don’t even know.
Was I late coming home from school?
No.
Did I leave a mess at the table? Crumbs when I fixed myself a piece of bread with peanut butter?
That’s probably it. I love peanut butter, but it’s so sticky. I can’t help but get it somewhere. Sometimes she can see the tiniest streak on the counter.
“No, mama, no!”
She grips my shoulders. Shakes me. Violently shakes me.
“Kelly!”
I pop my eyes open. For a moment I don’t know where I am, and I strike. I kick at the person who’s gripping me.
“Damn, that hurt.”
Leif.
Leif’s voice.
I remember. I decided to wait for Leif outside his door, and I must’ve fallen asleep.
He’s rubbing at his shin.
“What the hell are you doing out here?” he demands.
“Where have you been? I needed to talk to you last night.”
“I was out,” he says.
The spear of jealousy slices through me, gutting me.
Out? He was out? With a woman? After he and I just…
“You’re a pig.” I sneer.
“So be it,” he says. “Look, I’m exhausted. What do you want, Kelly?”
Why did I come here?
Right. I wanted to talk. I wanted to tell him about my successful first night at work. I wanted to tell him…