Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 142664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
“Could you kindly repeat that?” Something in my voice must’ve alerted her to my mood because she rushed to hang up the phone after promising her Mom to call her back.
“Why are you so pressed?”
“Don’t be an ass, why do you think?”
Unlike her, when I get pissed, I go cold. I’m sure she saw it in my eyes, and that is why she left her chair and came to plant herself in my lap. “Hey, she’s mine. Don’t even think about it.”
“I’m sorry to have to disappoint you, but I don’t think so.”
“She didn’t do anything to you, and besides, I let you take Denny.”
“You didn’t let me do anything. I want you to call your mother back and find out what she’s talking about.”
“Uh-uh, not until you calm down.”
“What makes you think I’m not calm?”
“The temperature just dropped about ten degrees, and it’s not because of the weather.” I didn’t answer for fear of saying the wrong thing. I didn’t want to cut her with the sharp edge of my tongue because my anger was not directed at her.
I was more than happy to let her carry out her little revenge plots, but this was serious. If the woman had gone to such lengths, there’s no telling what else she would do. But more importantly, no one was going to get away with harming her or even thinking they could get away with it.
She could argue the point that I didn’t know her back then, but my anger where she’s concerned is retroactive. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t know her then; she’s mine now, which means she was always meant to be mine, and I’ve destroyed people for less.
I wouldn’t be the man I am if I let this stand. “Excuse me one moment.” I tried moving her off my lap, but she didn’t budge.
“Where are you going?” She wrapped her arms around my neck and held on tight.
“I need to make a call.” She shook her head before I was done speaking.
“Nope, not yet. You don’t even know where she is.”
“I do. Remember, I told you that I know where your enemies are?”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. So, where is she?” I didn’t trust her to tell, and besides, she had my entire team at her disposal. I’m sure she could pick up the phone and find out in five seconds.
“You have to let me get in on this. I won’t take no for an answer.”
“I’ll think about it, but don’t do anything before clearing it with me first.”
“I make no promises.” When last I checked, Helen was sleeping in her car, or trying to, in the parking lot of a twenty-four-hour Walmart.
She hadn’t eaten since she left the house and didn’t seem to have any funds, which I’m sure was thanks to my wife, and was miserable, according to the reports, because of the fleas that had followed her from her home.
From the description I received, she seems to be suffering from something called flea-borne typhus, which, from the sounds of it is not pleasant, especially for someone who had no access to medicine.
I may have felt sorry for her before this new development, but any woman who would put a hit out on and eight-year-old child doesn’t deserve my sympathy.
Her daughter was still behind bars, probably forgotten now in the wake of the illness that sounds almost like delirium. I imagine she must be suffering; both of them are. But that’s not good enough; it's nowhere close. I’ll make sure to give Helen a most painful end once this one is through with her.
GARRETT
“How do I go about finding a rabid raccoon?” She flipped through the magazine she’d been reading for the last half hour.
“What do you want with that?” I was almost afraid to ask. It’s been almost an hour since she’d tossed out the last diabolical idea she had for dealing with her enemies.
“Did you know that rabies can make a human nuts as it breaks down their central nervous system? And if it’s not caught in time, that’s a whole other schadenfreude.” My wife’s brand of evil is on a whole other level.
As I mentioned earlier, my people still had eyes on Helen, so I knew every move she was making. I told this one about it, of course, and that seems to have given her ideas.
As a businessman, I’ve had to go to battle a time or two, especially in hostile takeovers; my team has nothing on her. I’ve noticed some things about her, and I must say that with each new thing, I fall deeper in love with her, which is great, because there were times a few weeks ago when I asked myself if I had lost my damn mind.
Anyone who knows me will know that I never do things like this. I’ve always taken my time, sometimes too long, when making monumental decisions. In fact, some of my closer acquaintances had questioned whether or not I was having some kind of mental break.