Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 68006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
I swallow.
All I had for breakfast was a piece of dry toast. Maybe I need to eat something. But I can’t take a break with Georgianna’s and my tables to deal with. I work through it. I work through the stomach pain and the nausea that comes as well, until—
I’m heading to a new table to take an order when I have to make a trip to the bathroom.
I make it into a stall and empty the dry toast and mostly stomach acid into the toilet.
God.
I must have caught whatever kept Catania from coming into work today.
I sit on the floor of the stall and wipe my mouth with toilet paper. I have to go back to work. Catania’s out, Georgianna is still on a phone call. I’m all there is.
I have to go back to work.
I heave again into the toilet, and this time it’s painful. I’ve already emptied my stomach, so it’s nothing but dry heaves. When it finally subsides, sweat is trickling down my forehead.
I grip the edges of the toilet seat and attempt to stand, and then—
I wake up.
I wake up, naked, in a strange concrete room.
16
LEIF
This strong woman. Sometimes I can’t believe I’ve knocked down part of her wall.
But there’s so much more to go.
“I don’t eat chocolate,” she says into my shoulder.
“I know. You told me.”
“I never talk about why I don’t eat chocolate,” she says. “But I think…”
I pull away from her a bit, meet her gaze. “What?”
“I can’t be sure, but I think I was poisoned by chocolate. Chocolate that a customer at the diner left along with his payment for his check. The weird thing is, it wasn’t even my table.”
“What?”
“Yeah. I never really knew who was responsible for sending me to that island.”
“I thought it might’ve been your mother.”
“Yeah, the thought has crossed my mind. Did she really hate me that much?”
“I don’t know. Only she can answer that question.”
She sighs. “Yes. She did hate me that much, but how would she even know about the island?”
I place my arm around her shoulder. “Kelly, let’s sit down. I need to tell you a little bit about your mother.” I lead her to the couch, take her hand in mine. “I met with her.”
She pushes away from me. “You what?”
“You know, she does want to see you.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s all an act. I will not see her.”
“I know. I told her that.”
“What the hell did she try to tell you? That I had some kind of idyllic childhood?”
“She alluded to that, yeah. I didn’t believe her, of course. But that’s not the main thing I need to tell you.”
“What is it then?”
“Your mother came into some money about six months after you were taken.”
Her eyes pop into circles. “You don’t think…”
“No, I don’t. I don’t think she was the one who sold you out to the island. First of all, the money she came into was a huge amount. More than anyone else got for selling out their friends or family to that island.”
“What did she get?”
“Two million dollars, paid over the course of a year.”
“My mom is fucking rich?”
“Yeah. She got into some hot stocks at the time, and then later she had a rich aunt who died with no offspring, leaving your mother the entire estate.”
“What’s she worth now?”
“Around thirty million or so.”
Kelly’s jaw drops. “I agree that she wasn’t behind my abduction. I can’t believe anyone would pay two million just for me.”
“I agree with you. I don’t think that’s where the money came from. The Wolfes are looking into it, but so far they haven’t been able to track it.”
“It was five years ago, and whoever did it wouldn’t have left tracks,” she says.
“Probably not, but they will uncover it, Kelly. I promise.”
She sighs.
“Did your mother ever mention who your father was?”
“She said he was a one-nighter. She didn’t even know his name. Then she told me he was dead. I don’t know.”
“We know one thing about him, probably,” I say.
“What’s that?”
“Clearly, your mother likes red hair. She colors her hair red, and your hair is red. So it’s not outside the realm of possibility that your father had red hair.”
“Great. So we’re looking for a dead redhead.”
“He may not be dead, Kelly. Is your mother known for telling the truth?”
“I don’t know, Leif. I don’t know the woman. I don’t want to know the woman.” She buries her head in her hands.
“I understand. But do you want to find out who sold you out?”
“I don’t know. I never really thought about it before. My life has always been such crap, I just figured it was no worse than usual.”
My heart hurts. As if a giant fist is squeezing it, trying to juice it.
This beautiful woman—with so much intelligence and cunning and love inside her—never thought she deserved anything better than to be held captive on an island and used and abused in the worst way.