Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 63786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
From the doorway, I watch the scene unfolding. Nurses and doctors struggle to stop him from convulsing.
Terrified he’s going to die, I start walking backward to put some space between me and what is happening in that hospital room until I hit a solid form behind me. I spin around and come face to face with Agent Michaels.
Before I can stop him, he puts his arm around me and pulls me in for a hug. And I’m so busy sobbing it takes me a moment before I realize what is happening, but when I do, I push him away.
“I don’t need you to do that,” I say, taking a step back.
He nods. “Understood.”
I swipe away my tears. “What are you doing here?”
“The same as you. I’ve come to see how Igor is.”
“Since when do you care about him?”
“Since he might become a witness when he wakes up.”
I glare at him. “Igor would never betray Lev.”
He looks over my shoulder, and I turn to see what he’s looking at. Igor is still shaking on the bed, but the medical staff are able to bring his convulsions under control, and he settles.
“This can’t be fun for him,” Agent Michaels says. “I wonder how he’ll feel about things when he wakes up.”
I snap back to look at him. “You’re a piece of work. Preying on people when they’re feeling emotionally low.”
“I’m just doing my job, Brooke.”
“I told you, it’s Miss Masters to you.”
He smiles, but despite his movie star good looks, I can see what really lies behind his white smile and Californian tan. He’s a dog with a bone, and he’s going to do whatever it takes to keep it.
“Goodbye, Agent Michaels.”
I brush past him, but he takes me by the arm.
“Todd Bastik is up for parole,” he says.
A sudden wave of emotion surges through me, and all I can do is stare at him.
Ten years ago, Todd Bastik spent the day drinking and getting high on meth before climbing into his truck and driving to the local liquor store for another bottle of rum. Already out on bail for vehicular manslaughter, he was so drunk and high he could barely walk. He only got a mile down the road before he collided head-on into the car my father was driving. My mom was in the passenger seat, and I was in the backseat listening to Nine Inch Nails on Spotify.
Within seconds, my family was wiped out because Todd Bastik was a selfish asshole who didn’t care about anyone or anything other than himself and a damn bottle of rum.
Agent Michaels’ eyes gleam. “He’s been a model prisoner. He’ll probably get it.”
More tears well in my eyes. “But his sentence was for eighteen years.”
Agent Michaels holds his hands out like it’s out of his control. “He’s been a good boy.”
I can’t stop my chin from quivering because damn Todd Bastik and damn any parole board that lets him free.
Ten years.
Is that all my parents’ lives were worth?
“But I can stop it from happening,” Agent Michaels says. “I know three of the parole board members very well. My word will go a long way. You want to keep your parents’ killer in prison, I can make that happen. All I need from you in return is the right information about Lev.”
I think of my mom in her last moments. How frightened she was because she didn’t want to die. How her fingers went loose in my hand, and her body settled heavily against mine as she died in my arms.
How I couldn’t save her.
“Tell me what I need to make sure Lev pays for his crimes, and I will assure you Todd Bastik will continue to pay for his.”
Is this my chance to make it up to my mom for not being able to save her that night?
To ensure her killer remains behind bars like he deserves?
I look at Agent Michaels. He’s offering me a way out of this big pile of crazy I’ve been dropped into, and he’ll keep that monster Todd Bastik from getting parole.
My hand slides to my stomach.
But I won’t betray Lev.
He’s the father of my baby.
Yet it’s getting harder and harder to stay in a world where I would even have to consider it.
14
LEV
I get home at nightfall. It’s been hours since Feliks called to tell me the update from Ibiza.
Upstairs, I find Brooke in our bedroom, curled up on the bed, reading.
She looks up when I walk in, and I can feel the tension in the room. But it’s not the same frostiness I’ve felt since denying her a visit with her friends. This is something new. Something is off.
“Is everything alright?” I ask. “Is the baby okay?”
Putting down the book, she climbs off the bed and walks over to me. “The baby is fine. I’m fine. Well, kind of.”