Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
My thoughts are interrupted by my ringing house phone. I groan and reach over to pick it up. Cole left for work awhile ago, and Aubry and Aimee are away this week. I wonder which one of them is calling—or maybe it’s Becky. I look at the caller ID, and it says Private. I consider letting the machine pick it up, but curiosity gets the best of me—as usual.
“Hello?” I say.
“Is this Blake?” a harsh male voice asks.
“Who’s calling?”
“An old friend of her pops,” he replies, giving me chills.
What the fuck?
“Blake doesn’t have a father,” I reply as evenly as I can.
He laughs and coughs heavily. I can tell he’s a smoker. “Everybody has a father, Cupcake. Let me speak to Blake.”
“Blake’s father is dead, sir. Please don’t call here again,” I say before hanging up.
I feel my face heat from the blood rushing to my head before the phone rings again. Private caller. I grab my cell phone with my shaky hands and call the first person I think of-Mark. I rapidly explain the call I received and what the man said to me. He tells me that he’s sending Bruce—my old security guy—to pick me up in five minutes. I agree and start getting dressed rapidly. When I’m in the closet, I hear the machine beep, and the same man’s voice flows through the room.
“Blake, pick up the phone,” the rough voice says. “Your father’s not dead. He just doesn’t want to be found...but I can take you to him.” My stomach drops and I hold on to the doorframe as I try to catch my breath.
Why are these people bothering me? How did he get my information?
“Blake, what happened to the boy? Cathleen?”
I can’t breathe. I try, but I can’t. Only gasps escape me. My legs finally begin to function, and I run to the phone.
“Hello?” I shout. “Hello?” But the line is silent.
A loud knock on my front door makes me jump. I take a couple of deep breaths and walk out of my room. I look through the peephole and see Bruce standing on the other side, his full-grown beard bleeding into his scruffy salt-and-pepper hair. I open the door and see him eye me curiously. I look down and see my disheveled wardrobe. I grab my long black pea coat and put it on. It’ll have to do.
I ask Bruce to give me a minute and run back to my room to grab the answering machine. I have to play the message for Mark. When I get to his office, I don’t even bother to check in with Skipper. I just barge right into Mark’s office. He looks up annoyed but stands when he sees it’s me. I take a seat before he reaches me, because the adrenaline I’m running on is fading, making my knees weak again.
“Are you alright? Give me the machine,” he says, grabbing it from my hands. “Let me get you some water.”
As he serves me the water, I explain to him again what my conversation with the man was like. He plugs in the machine, and when I hear the voice, I cover my ears and look down. I can’t bear to hear the man’s words again. I look at Mark and his face has completely gone pale.
“Who is it?” I ask, my voice barely a whisper.
He clutches on to his shoulder as if he’s been hit by a bullet and sinks into his seat. He doesn’t answer me. He just stares blankly into my face.
“Is it true? Is my father alive?”
He exhales. “Your father…I can’t talk about him right now,” he says as he looks around his office, conveying a secret message to me. Oh shit. This is bad. “He’s been dead a long time though,” he says, but his eyes are telling me a different tale—a tale he needs me to know now.
I nod. “Yeah, you told me,” I say, playing along. “Anyway, I just needed you to hear this. Do you know who it is?”
He nods but doesn’t say a word. I know we’re being taped or recorded, so I don’t ask anymore.
“Mark...” I whisper. “Cole...” I say, taking a breath between my words, willing my tears to stay in my eyes. “If anything happens to me…” I choke through a sob. “Will you please take care of him?” I cry.
Mark looks at me with sad eyes for a long time before he nods his head.
“Blake,” he says softly. “I’ll always watch over both of you.”
“Promise me, Mark. If anything happens to me, please promise me,” I whimper, no longer in control of my sobbing. “Promise me that no matter what he says, you’ll have two security guards on him. Promise me,” I scream.
“I promise, I promise. Nothing is going to happen,” he says sadly.
“It already has, though,” I reply weakly. “It already has.”