Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 122609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 409(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 409(@300wpm)
“Oh… well, I—”
“My Uber will be here soon. I told you ’fore you left out of town that I needed to pick up something for Poppy’s graduation present.”
Poppy was her mother’s goddaughter. A caramel woman with ringlets of light brown hair who’d won beauty pageants, had done some resident modeling, was a local news anchor, married to a wealthy Japanese man who owned several Toyota used car lots, and had gone back to college to get her PhD in Finance. She was everything her mother had wanted her to be. Instead, Honey had a rebellious streak. Honey on the other hand turned down an offer from Harvard. Mom never let her forget it. She didn’t chase a currency footpath, though she was fortunate enough to make her own money, and had a nice nest egg if she said so herself. The bigger issue was that she looked quite a bit like her father, Mom’s first love. The problem of it all was that Mom tried to act as if he’d never existed. But Malik DID exist. He was my daddy…
James started snapping his fingers. A signal to get off the phone.
“Okay, I’ll let you go. Tell Poppy I said hi, and congratulations on her achievement.”
“I will. Talk to you later, Honey.”
“Yes, I love you.”
Archer snatched the phone from her hand and ended the call.
The sound of footsteps grew louder and louder in the distance. She looked toward the direction of the hallway and saw a familiar form emerging. Her stomach turned to lead, weighing her completely down.
“I’m sure you remember Billy,” Archer stated, pointing to the man who had been the source of her recent nausea. “He’ll be escorting you to your job today. You’ll explain, only if anyone asks, that he’s your apprentice. Someone you’re training to shoot.”
Billy looked expressionless as ‘24K Magic,’ by Bruno Mars, started to play. A party song for a horrible time—so comically ironic.
“Billy, take her where she needs to go. Don’t let her out of your sight.”
Archer disappeared out of the room, and then it was just the two of them. She imagined this man hated her from the way he glared at her. She wasn’t certain why, but he looked at her as if she were the cause of all of his worries in the whole big wide world. Possibly he felt babysitting her was beneath him. She couldn’t say that she disagreed. He was wearing a wrinkled dark green shirt, slouchy black pants, and a gun.
She got to her feet without prompting, then smoothed out her leggings and long sleeved black and white striped shirt that Archer had gotten from her luggage for her to wear. Slipping her baseball cap on, she headed to the bedroom she’d been utilizing. She gathered her photo equipment with Billy standing so close to her, she could smell the cigarette odor from his clothing and hair. Avoiding eye contact and conversation, he led her out of the house, which was an intricate labyrinth of hallways, twists and turns until they were standing outside at the back of the house. He pointed to a black Mercedes, opened the passenger’s side door, and she slipped inside. Moments later, he started the engine, and they headed out.
“I don’t like you.” His gruff voice bit the air as if it had teeth. “I don’t trust you, either. I think Archer’s plan is a bad idea. Anyways, he’s the boss. If you think I won’t shoot you in front of others, in broad daylight, you’re wrong. No runnin’. No talkin’ unnecessarily. Just do your job and that’s it. You got it?”
“Yup. May I ask why you don’t like me when you don’t even know me?” She honestly didn’t care, but perhaps it would provide additional insight.
“He killed Tone over you. That was not just a coworker—he was my friend. You’re bad news… Don’t give me a reason to blow your head off. I’d love to right this second, but Archer wouldn’t like that unless I show it had been necessary. I can’t think of what explanation he’d go for, but give me time. Not liking you isn’t enough of a reason for me to take your life—at least it wouldn’t be in his eyes. He’s possessive about his toys… Keep your mouth shut from here on out. You and I have nothin’ further to talk about.”
She crossed her arms as she looked out the window, trying to appear indifferent, unmoved and unconcerned.
Oh my God. He killed the guy who tried to assault me. So Archer does care… at least on some level…
Soon, they’d be in front of the restaurant, and she’d execute an award-winning performance of fakery and fuckery. Act like there were no problems in her life, and like she was there of her own free will, taking pictures, smiling and providing a service …