Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 163387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 817(@200wpm)___ 654(@250wpm)___ 545(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 817(@200wpm)___ 654(@250wpm)___ 545(@300wpm)
“Both? Don’t you know anything? Listen, their name; Davenport was not always their family name; they changed it to hide their true identity. Haven’t you ever wondered why you hardly ever hear about the descendants of our country’s forefathers?”
“What are you talking about?” I think mom was getting high again. The first time I caught her, she claimed it was to help with the stress of her job, but I’ve always known that was a lie.
“How could I have given birth to someone this dense? Just stay away from Annalisa Davenport; that’s an order.”
“Annalisa?”
“Yes, who did you think I was talking about? Don’t you even know her name?” My screech was loud enough to shake the rafters. No wonder I could never find out anything about her; Lisa’s not even her stupid name.
Mom kept going on and on about some stupid thing or another like I cared, and then she threw a word out there that stopped me in my tracks. “Did you say, heiress? She’s an heiress? I’m not even an heiress.”
“Susie, what in the world is wrong with you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Now go back in there and apologize.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. She stole everything from me, and you want me to kiss her ass? That’s not going to happen. Call dad right now.”
“He already knows, and he told me to handle it because he’s tired of your drama. Good thing he doesn’t know who’s involved, and if you don’t want him to find out, you’d better do as I say, got it?”
“I’m not apologizing to her. It will be a cold day in hell before that happens.”
Mom grabbed my arm, digging her nails in, and for the first time in my life, I was afraid of her. I’ve heard others talk about her temper and the bruises she’d left on the staff over the years, but it’s never been turned on me, not quite like this.
“What do you think it means that your father got a call about a deal with her grandfather not even an hour after this incident? Your father is relying on this deal to help with his campaign next fall. This could be big for us. So, if you don’t want him to cut you off like he’s always threatening to, you’d get your ass in there and apologize.”
“Excuse me, Mrs. Powell, she’s going to have to come with us.” An older cop opened the door and stuck his head in.
“What? Where?”
“The Davenports have decided to press charges.”
“What the hell for? I just broke a stupid windshield; I’ll pay for it.”
“I’m sorry, but the vehicle you vandalized is worth quite a bit, and the damage exceeds a misdemeanor.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means in this state it’s a felony. You could be looking at jail time.”
“What? Mom call dad.” There’s no way he’d leave me here like this. No matter how mad he’s been in the past, he’s always let me slide. And there’s no way he’d want for his colleagues to hear about this.”
“We just left them; I told them we would be back. Let me talk to the Davenports.” I nodded my agreement as mom moved toward the door.
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. They’ve already left. Their lawyer will be taking over from here. This way, please.”
LISA
“There’s no way to have her credits taken away, they’re not big on that in the states, and there’s no real precedent, but her degree can be revoked if she spends a year or more in jail, and we push for it.” Harold was on a roll.
“Lisa?” Mom asked as if she were leaving it up to me. Fat chance of that happening, but thanks for the nod, mom.
“Yes, let’s do that.”
“I should warn you, though, that the senator might push to get her off with community service, or at least he’d try. It’s not a very serious case when you think about it.” I could see Susie slipping through the cracks already, and now that we’d come this far, there’s no way I was going to let that happen. She’d opened the door; I’m gonna push her all the way through it and hope that there’s a steep drop-off outside so she could fall and break her stupid neck.
I guess it’s my thirst for vengeance that made me lose my mind and do what I did next. “What about drugging someone and trying to molest them?”
“Lisa!” Dad tried to shush me, but it was too late.
“What?” Mom spoke up at the same time he did, and I could swear the room went dark.
“Blaire.” Once again, dad tried to kill the conversation.
“No, let me hear this.”
“She drugged Cody and tried to abscond with him.”
“How long ago was this?” Harold asked as he moved around the papers in front of him.