Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
I couldn’t tell her I was really Ivy de Souza without explaining all of it. “Rainey” had been telling people for two years that her sister was living happily in Chicago. To say that I was actually Ivy and the real Rainey was gone, would lead to questions I couldn’t answer.
“Starved,” I finally said. “It’s hard to do something as normal as eating and chatting with you after everything that’s happened.”
Blowing out a breath, she flopped back on her pillows. “Tell me about it. My attack. The video of Roan’s beating. The Crows strung up and branded in the square. To think I wanted to leave Bedlam because it was the most boring place on earth. Now I would give anything to rewind back to the sleepy, peaceful town where nothing ever happened.”
I thought of her mother downstairs. “That’s what so many people fought for Bedlam to be over the years. A home. Our home,” I said. “Where we’re safe to live and raise our families without being harassed and exploited by people like the Crows and Steven Ellis.”
“Ugh. They are reason enough for why we don’t need Bedlam to be like Hunter’s Crest. We could use some updates around here, but none that those fucks have had their grubby hands on.” Shaking her head, she threw out her hands. “Enough. I don’t want to talk about those guys anymore. Let’s do something fun today. Get our minds off everything.”
“I really want to do that, but would it be okay if we went to visit Roan? A lot’s happened and I want to tell him in person.”
“Of course, I should’ve thought of that. Is he doing better? Last I heard they had him on so many drugs, he sleeps all day.”
“I don’t know if he’s better,” I confessed. “That’s why I want to see him.”
She squeezed my arm. “Let’s do it. Afterward, we can grab lunch at a theme café. Maybe do some shopping for a get-well gift.”
I said yes to it all, thankful she was willing to drive me. The whole being-without-a-car thing was quickly becoming inconvenient. It made it way too easy for the Bedlam Boys to leave me places and take off. It also meant that in all these dark, wooded, secluded places that called my town home, I’d be trapped.
After breakfast, we showered, dressed, and took off for Hunter’s Crest Hospital. Nora stopped us at the door, demanding to know where we were going. I couldn’t know exactly what she knew, but I had to assume it was more than me at all times.
The Society had been operating to keep people out of Bedlam for a long time. Decades upon decades, passed down from daughter to daughter. I didn’t need to tell her Steven Ellis and Foundry were a threat. And maybe I didn’t need to tell her Dante and his followers were threats too, but if we could ever have a real conversation, I’d bet there were quite a few things that she could tell me.
Like why Gran. Why our farm? Why her ex-husband?
I slipped past her, leaving my questions on my tongue. She had no reason to reveal her secrets to me, not unless I revealed a few of my own.
Paris blasted music the whole way. I appreciated it since it gave me a reason not to talk. The guys noticed the change in me right away. For as long as possible, I had to delay that revelation for Paris. The truth would come, but any decent person would insist we go to the police and start the hunt for Rainey’s killers. Neither one of us could walk into that station with Davidson in charge.
Paris turned into the visitors parking lot, pulling me out of my musings. Seeing the three-story, state-of-the-art facility in front of me and comparing it to the small office in the middle of town with a single doctor, I understood why Cairo was working so hard to get Bedlam its first real hospital.
We wasted precious time rushing Roan to Hunter’s Crest. We would’ve wasted even more if we hadn’t been able to get ahold of Doctor Nash. My boys were making Bedlam better in their own way.
But what were Foundry’s plans? A thriving city center to rival Hunter’s Crest?
My ass.
He’d raze the town to the ground to extract every drop of wealth hidden beneath it. When he was done, what was his incentive to rebuild the pile of dirt and rubble? He’d just take his precious stones, return to his mansion, home, and headquarters, and count his money.
“I’m glad those bastards are in jail,” Paris said. We paused before the front desk to get visitor passes. “I just hate that it took this for them to finally be put behind bars.”
“Their first mistake was attacking you, Paris. They were never going to get away with what they did. The Crows underestimated Bedlam. Big-time.”