Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
“Yes, I’m looking for Brock. Is he here?”
She nods. “Yes, he is. Do you have an appointment with him?”
To discuss what? The type of tape he uses? How big his boxes are? It’s a packing warehouse, what exactly would I need to book an appointment for?
“No. I just wanted to have a quick word.”
“What’s your name?” she asks, standing.
“Briella.”
She nods and tells us to take a seat before disappearing into the sea of boxes to find Brock. I look to Karen and murmur, “This place is super weird.”
“Right?” she whispers back. “I don’t really know how they run a business out of something that looks so ... run down.”
I shrug. “Beats me, but to be honest, I’ve seen worse.”
“True,” she agrees.
We wait until the receptionist returns with what must be Brock, though, as he nears closer, I shake my head in confusion. Maybe Brock isn’t here. There is absolutely no way that’s my sister’s boyfriend. Magnolia is picky. She knows she’s beautiful and she makes damned sure to pick exactly what matches her. She’s never had anything less than an absolutely gorgeous boyfriend. Not this scraggly haired, tall, skinny, pimply man.
I mean, he looks like an overgrown teenager.
As he stops in front of us, I’m certain she’s brought us the wrong person.
“You’re lookin’ for me?” he murmurs, crossing his arms.
Up close he’s even worse, and that’s saying something. His hair is oily like it hasn’t been washed—or brushed—for days. His skin has a greyish tinge and his clothes hang on is rake skinny body. He looks like he’s on drugs, or maybe he just doesn’t care about personal hygiene. Either way, there is no way my sister would be with him. No way.
“You’re Brock?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.
“Yep. You are?”
We’ve obviously gotten the wrong Brock. We’re way off track here.
“Sorry, I must have got my people mixed up. I’m looking for my sister but I’m in the wrong place.”
I stand and Karen stands beside me, looking equally as confused as Brock.
“Who is your sister?”
“Magnolia,” I say, knowing full well he’s not going to know who she is anyway.
His brows go up. “No kidding.”
Sweet Jesus, please tell me this overgrown teenaged man is not my sister’s boyfriend.
Rupert must be pressing on a fragile part of my brain, because there’s just no way.
Am I hallucinating?
The doctor told me that could happen as Rupert got bigger.
“Do you know her?” I ask, even though the words come out strained because I’m still in shock.
“Yes.” He nods. “I’m her ex.”
Oh, thank the lord they’re not together anymore. Thank the sweet, sweet lord.
“You’re her ex?” I purse my lips and glance at Karen who is curling her lip in the same disgust I feel.
“Yeah, I’m her ex, until she ran off a few weeks ago and dumped me. Haven’t seen her since. She’s got my stuff; I want it back.”
“She ran off?” I question.
Brock nods. “Yep, just disappeared one day. No idea where. Can’t get hold of her. Figured she blocked me.”
“You have no idea where she might have gone?”
He snorts. “It’s Magnolia, fuck knows what’s goin’ through her head. She was all over the place.”
Maybe she was, but it still doesn’t make any sense. Mag is not the kind of person to just disappear. She’d never just stop talking to me without an explanation. No. Something is wrong here, I just don’t know what.
“You’re sure you haven’t seen or heard from her?”
Brock glares at me. “That’s what I just said, isn’t it? You want to find Magnolia, go look for her friend Phoebe. She is the one she’s been hanging around. Them two have been gettin’ themselves into trouble, wouldn’t surprise me if trouble caught up to them.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I snap.
“It means—” he leans closer and I get a smell of his breath and think for sure Magnolia must have lost her mind “—she’s up to no good. Playin’ with the wrong crowds. She’s askin’ for trouble. If you find her, tell her I want my shit back.”
With that, he turns and walks off.
I try to call out, but he disappears into the back and I’m left standing with my hand in the air and my mouth open. I drop my hand and shout, “Fuck!”
“It’s okay,” Karen says, placing a hand on my shoulder. “I know where Phoebe lives, we’ll find her and get to the bottom of this.”
I exhale and turn, facing Karen. “It’s like we’re on a wild goose chase that’s just taking us around and around in circles. Do you think I should go to the police? I just have a bad feeling.”
“Let’s go and see if we can find Phoebe, and before you go to the police, I think you should talk to Alarick and the club. They’ll be able to help.”
Alarick won’t help me.
Alarick can’t stand me.