Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 59176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
“Maybe he’s still out of the country,” she suggests.
“It would help if he’d answer and tell me that.”
Annika and Ivie return with a tray full of sandwiches and chips, soda, and water.
“I’m starving,” Annika says, taking a sandwich and some chips for herself. “Eat up. There’s more in the kitchen if you’re still hungry.”
“This is enough for an army,” Nadia says and bites into a sandwich.
I try to call my brother again, but it goes straight to his voicemail.
“Son of a bitch,” I mutter and then pin Ivie with a stare. She blinks and looks behind her.
“What?”
“I know you talk to my brother. Have you heard from him?”
“Shane?”
“Yes, Shane. Where the fuck is he?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugs and then says it again. “Honest, Carmine, I don’t know. I haven’t heard from him in a few days. He said he had some work to do and that he’d be in touch. Not to worry.”
“Yeah. That sounds like him.”
I bite into a turkey on rye and look around the room.
Nadia and I have been back in Denver for three days, and we haven’t learned anything that we didn’t already know when we arrived.
It’s damn frustrating.
“If you hear from him, tell him to call me.”
“I can do that.”
“So, um, Annika,” Nadia begins and smiles at her cousin, “Rafe asked about you the other day.”
Annika doesn’t even pause in the fast consumption of her chips. “Okay?”
“I told him to ask you, but he said you don’t reply to his texts or calls.”
“No.” She slips another chip into her mouth. “I don’t.”
Nadia sighs and watches her cousin in exasperation. “Are you ever going to?”
Annika chews her bite, swallows, then looks at Nadia and says, “No.”
“Why not?” Ivie asks. “He’s a good guy, A.”
“This is nobody’s business,” Annika replies and reaches for another bag of chips. “I’m just not going to, okay? I’m sorry, Carmine. I don’t mean to insult you or anything.”
“Rafe’s an idiot,” I reply happily. “I wouldn’t reply, either.”
“He’s not an idiot,” she says softly. “He’s brilliant and kind and all of the good things that Rich wasn’t.”
She sets the unopened bag down.
“Then I’ll ask again.” Nadia’s voice is gentle. “Why won’t you answer him?”
I figure this must be what it’s like to be a fly on the wall during a girls’ night. I don’t think I want to repeat the experience.
“Because I’m broken, and Rafe is way too good for me.”
“That’s a pile of bullshit,” Nadia says simply. “You’re not broken, and no one is too good for you, Annika Tarenkov. You’re hurting, and you need time to heal. You’ll get there.”
Annika shrugs a shoulder and reaches for the laptop.
“Let’s just get back to work and get this over with.”
Time drags. Several hours and two sandwiches later, we’re still at square one.
“I officially hate paper,” I announce as I push the last folder aside. “And I know too much about all of these people’s medical histories.”
“Let’s call it a day,” Nadia suggests. “We can start again tomorrow with fresh eyes. Maybe we’ll go to Rich’s office.”
“It’s empty,” Annika replies. “I went there to clean it out shortly after you left for Europe, but someone beat me to it. The only thing left was the desk.”
“What?” I stare at her, dumbfounded. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because you were in France, on vacation. And, frankly, I didn’t care. It was one less thing I had to deal with. Somebody did me a favor.”
“He wouldn’t have kept something incriminating there,” Ivie says, shaking her head. “It wasn’t secure, and he wasn’t there all the time. If there’s something that can help point to who’s behind all of this, I think it’ll be here. Rich was cocky. Arrogant. He felt safe here. Knew that no one would mess with him here.”
“You’re right,” Annika agrees. “And I was not allowed to be in here. Especially when he was gone. If there’s something to find, it’s here.”
“We need to stop for today,” Nadia announces. “We’re all moody and tired. We’ve been at it since sunrise. We need to get some rest and start again tomorrow, like I said.”
I watch Nadia. She looks exhausted. We haven’t stopped moving since France. There’s been little time to rest and get over the jet lag.
She’s not wrong. We do need to rest.
“You’re right. We’re probably missing something because we don’t have our wits about us. Let’s pick it up in the morning.”
“Thank God.” Annika closes the laptop. “I’ve tried every combination of words and numbers I can think of.”
“If Shane would answer his phone, he could get into it without breaking a sweat. I’ll keep trying him.”
“I will, too,” Ivie adds and reaches for her cell.
“It’s settled then,” Nadia says and stands to stretch. “We’ll come back tomorrow.”
* * *
“I needed to get out of there,” Nadia confesses when we pull into the driveway of our rental. “I love my cousin, you know I do, but she was irritating the shit out of me today.”