Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“She’s weird,” I argued.
“That doesn’t mean she would shoot you.”
“It means she would approach situations differently than others. She burned sage in my office when I started.”
Chase shrugged. “That’s not really evidence for murder.”
“Says the guy who’s been banging her for years,” Vivian said.
“We’ve never had sex,” Chase countered.
“Oh, goodness, is this the one sister wife who only watches?” Vivian asked me.
“Yes,” I said.
“Watches who have sex? My sister?” Troy put his glass down and glared at Chase.
I waved my hands from side to side. “Okay. Let’s all ease up on Chase. Lucy never watched me have sex with anybody, but she did explain to me that she didn’t like to have sex. She only watched.”
Vivian leaned Chase’s way and targeted the point of her knife to his neck. “Explain, please.”
We all directed our attention to Chase. He may well have been used to pressure himself, but not from people like us. Vivian wasn’t from my hood, but she played there enough with me to have the boom of the streets flowing through her veins. People in my neighborhood would point and say, “Now, that’s a tough little white girl right there.”
Like me, she’d wrestled with my older brothers for years. When Jon Jon from apartment 4C kicked her and yanked up her shirt, she chased him four blocks and whipped his bony behind. My big brother, Sherman, held Troy and me back, explaining that we couldn’t fight Vivian’s battles all the time or more people would pick on her. I’d hated to admit it, but Sherman was right. She fought two more times after that, and then no one messed with her anymore. By the time she hit her teens, they had all stopped bullying her. The boys began drooling over her figure instead.
“And what am I explaining?” A hardened mask slipped over Chase’s usually calm face. Gone was the loving man. The pit bull of Wall Street appeared. They’d dubbed him that in a magazine article I’d read while researching him. The smile disappeared. His eyes darkened. He placed his hands under the table and sat back in his chair. “Ask away.”
“Who do you think shot Jasmine?” Vivian asked.
“Dawn.”
“Why?”
“Because she hates Jasmine the most.”
I leaned back in my chair. My appetite left with the little cheeriness of the meal. My stomach tightened. I hoped I wouldn’t vomit everything up. It wasn’t that I was scared, just enraged. I didn’t like battles where people didn’t play fair. If Dawn wanted me gone, she should’ve approached me herself, not from far away down a darkened alley with a gun.
Vivian crossed her arms over her chest. “What are you doing to protect Jasmine?”
“As you see, I kidnapped Jasmine and plan to keep her next to me the entire time until this person is discovered.”
“Which may be Dawn?” Vivian asked.
“Yes.”
“Where is Dawn now?” she asked.
He averted his eyes. “I don’t know. My men can’t find her.”
Now I leaned forward. “Excuse me? What do you mean you can’t find Dawn?”
“They’re all missing,” Chase said.
“Even Lucy?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Three rich chicks are gone after my sister is shot.” Troy poured himself a second glass. “I say let’s go after all of them.”
“You sound like Benny,” Chase said.
Not a good idea. Troy really doesn’t want to be compared to our. . .dad.
“I’m not him.” Troy seized the whole bottle and set it next to his plate instead. “If Benny were involved, he would just kill them all and think the problem was solved. I at least want to make sure the person deserves to die.”
Vivian dropped her fork and scowled at him. “T-that’s not something my dad or you would do.”
“You don’t know him like I do. And you damn sure don’t know me if you don’t think I’ll kill someone who deserves it.” Troy took a swig from the bottle.
“Stop it, Troy,” I muttered.
“Then maybe we should shift our discussion to my father since apparently he’s a mass killer now.” ’Vivian’s bottom lip quivered. “Does anybody have anything to say about him? Let’s just get it all out now.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.” I picked at my mixed greens. “In fact, let’s change all the topics to something more enlightening. What were we talking about? Hot dogs. Do you know the most expensive hot dog in the world is served in Vancouver? It’s made with—”
“I don’t care about hot dogs. I want to hear why Troy thinks my father is a killer and is always hinting around at that. And Chase is over here with this knowing look as if what Troy is saying about Dad is justified.”
I checked Chase’s smirking face and mouthed the word, “Stop it.”
He changed his expression. “Tell me about this hot dog, my love.”
“It’s made with lobster, Kobe beef seared in olive sauce, and truffle oil. The restaurant serves it for a hundred dollars,” I said.