Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 71179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
I raise my eyebrows. “You’re a vegan?”
“Only for those six months, but it gave me a sense of clarity. It was basically a fast.”
“You went hungry?”
“No, but we would fast for twenty-four hour periods at least once a week. The fast makes you consider things. It makes you consider how lucky you are to not be hungry.”
“True. Hell, we always lived in luxury.”
“And I still did at that point. Like I said, I had plenty of money. I never went hungry, never went without food or clothing or shelter. But I felt an immense amount of guilt, wondered if I should just end my life. And that’s why I went to the monastery.”
“What did you find out?”
He places a hand over his heart. “I found out that I’m human, Savannah. That I’m not perfect. But I put my own needs before the needs of my siblings, and part of me regrets that very much.”
“And the other part of you?”
“The other part of me has no regrets. I did what I had to do for my own well-being.” His gaze falls. “I didn’t want a life of crime. A life of always looking over my shoulder. A life where human lives had no more value than a business deal.”
“I know,” I say. “I hate that part. They say it’s not personal, it’s business. But you know what? Taking a life is personal. Taking a life is the most personal thing you can do.”
He nods. “I know. I came to the conclusion that it was okay to do what I did. That it didn’t make me a horrible person. It made me a person who took control of his own life, and that I had to trust you and Mikey to take control of yours as well.”
“Except Mikey was already dead at that point.”
“I know. But that’s the life he chose, Savannah. He didn’t have the strength to leave. Hell, maybe he never wanted to leave.”
“I wish he could have been happy, Vin. He deserved that.” I sigh. “But he’s in a better place. It’s Dad that confuses me more than ever. I’ve seen a side of him that I never thought I’d see. I never thought he would forsake me, but he locked me in a room once. He locked me in a room with his attorneys and the McAllister attorneys and Miles and his father. They were bartering for me. There was no landline going out, no cell phone service, and the door was locked from the outside. I couldn’t escape, Vinnie. They had me trapped.”
His eyes are wide. “God…”
“I couldn’t believe it either. I basically told them I wasn’t going to cooperate, and it must’ve tugged at Dad’s heartstrings a bit, because he let me off. He let me off as long as I took a job as a parole officer and did the favors he asked.”
“And you did?”
I bite my lip. “I did. For five years, and then I begged to be set free. And Dad made it happen. That’s when I moved to Summer Creek, got a job as a parole officer, met Falcon. Only to find out that I was never truly free.” I bury my face in my hands.
He reaches over and squeezes my shoulder. “I don’t think either of us will ever be truly free, Sav. But I’m here now, and you and I together will figure out what Dad, Grandpa, and the McAllisters are up to. And then there’s one other thing I need to do.”
“What’s that?”
His face darkens. “I’m going to see our esteemed grandfather behind bars if it’s the last thing I do on this earth.”
19
FALCON
Two nights.
Two nights of subsisting on Froot Loops for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly for lunch, and microwaveable macaroni and cheese for dinner.
At least I was moved out of the big holding cell.
I share a cell now with a meth head named Germs.
Seriously, he calls himself Germs. His actual name is Steve Germundson, and his teeth are rotted out, his eyes bloodshot.
He’s skinny as a fucking rail, and he leaves half his Froot Loops every morning.
I gobble up the rest of them. They don’t give me near enough food.
We don’t get any outside time because this is the county jail and there’s nowhere for them to put us. So I do what I can in the small cell. Sit-ups, push-ups, jogging in place. Working out until I’m a massive ball of sweat.
That of course just makes me hungrier.
“Man, Bellamy,” Germs says. “You fucking stink.”
I roll my eyes. “Funny, they didn’t give me any deodorant. You know, this being a five-star hotel and all.”
“Ease up, man. I just call ’em as I see ’em. Or smell ’em.” He erupts in laughter.
“Yeah?” I turn around and leer at him. “Well shut the fuck up. At least I don’t fart all night like you do.”