Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 91212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
As the helicopter lifts from the ground, keeping at a hard angle to the left as it arrows us in the direction we need to go, I can't help but think we might be too late. Cora doesn't know how to handle herself in these situations. She hasn't been trained. She has to be feeling betrayed.
Is she already gone? Chris refused to let William speak with her, and there could be a reason for that. What if she could no longer speak?
"No," Jericho snaps. "You get that shit out of your head. You don't take that path until you have to."
I nod my head in understanding, but there's no way to stop the train. If she dies today, I die today, and now I fully understand why Noah prayed for death after watching the three people he loved most in the world get taken away from him right before his eyes.
There's no coming back from that.
There's no life after such a loss. My best friend would've died that day even if Alejandro Cortez left him with air in his lungs.
The sacrifice makes complete sense now, and as we fly in her direction, not knowing what we'll find, I know there's a very real chance that today could be my last because love always ends in tragedy, and I without a doubt love Cora Preston.
Chapter 40
Cora
William is hours and hours away. That's the only good thing about this entire situation. It will take a very long time for him to get here, and with every second that passes, I imagine Chris coming to his senses.
I stayed quiet because he held a gun to my head when he placed the call. I've never seen a gun in my brother's hand. As scary and awkward as it was for me, he looked right at home holding such a dangerous thing, and it was just one more piece of the puzzle that made no sense to me.
Chris's ability to hide how he felt about everyone in his life and who he really was is scaring the absolute shit out of me. I don't know if anything was real. What makes someone grow up to hate the people who love him? How is his perception of life and Sadie's perception of life so different from mine and William's?
We all needed to meet expectations. We all had our roles to play. There were times I remember hearing young William tell our father that he didn't want to follow in his footsteps. He wanted to go to the movies with his friend. He didn't want to work on acceptance speeches for winning the presidency in his high school senior year. Chris wasn't privileged to that argument because he was young and already in bed when it happened. William fought against who he was expected to be for a very long time, and it wasn't until after our father died that he stepped up and decided that what Dad wanted from him was what he wanted himself. Hell, maybe it's not what he wants at all but he feels obligated like I do with a lot of things my mother did before her death. It's insane how someone’s legacy can be such a noose around someone else's neck.
Chris is no different. He doesn't want to be president. It's as if he has something to prove to our deceased father, and I'm sure it has more to do with being worthy of the same level of attention that he perceived William got.
I feel like I played right into his hands. I knew William was out of town. I'm linked to his calendar, something he provided so I can "think twice about bothering him at important times." I looked this morning because I wanted to discuss Faye's dwindling memory with him so we could work out a plan on how to proceed.
My chin wobbles, the threat of another sobbing session taking over.
"I fucking swear," Chris mutters. "If I didn't need you alive right now."
He growls as if feral with the idea of killing me, and I just know he's keeping me alive so he can kill me in front of William. Destroying his brother is his ultimate goal. He sees William as the problem as if he's the one who asked for all the attention he got from our father. I think Will would've been happier to just be left alone so he could be a kid rather than the forced trips to the office and spending his free time learning the intricacies of how the government works and who is responsible for which part.
"William hates his job," I say, tears still very likely as they burn inside my nose. "He didn't want to be what Dad turned him into."
"He loves the power," Chris snarls, waving that damn gun as if to indicate that Will has control of everything.