Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“The sooner we have the chip, the easier you’ll sleep, having sweet dreams of your son.” Godfrey got to his feet. “I know what it feels like to lose a child. Believe me, nothing will prepare you for the pain of the loss, so make sure you don’t screw it up.” He waved a hand at Doumar. “You can go.”
Doumar’s tension didn’t evaporate until they were back in his car, heading toward the trailer park. Sky clutched her bag in her lap, the mobile phone she’d bought with Doumar’s money burning an imaginary hole through the plastic.
“When Godfrey gets what he wants,” she started carefully, “what happens to us?”
“He’ll go away, and we’ll carry on as always.”
She dared to glance at him. “He’ll never go away. He’ll just find something else to use us for, like the senator and the president.”
Doumar’s jaw clenched, but he remained quiet.
“Sooner than later, we’re going to get caught. We won’t get away with what he’s making us do forever. We need to take Niels and run.”
He lifted his hand so fast she hit her head on the side window in a reflex to avoid his fist, but instead of hitting her, he curled his fingers into a ball and dropped his hand. “Don’t play me. I’m not a fool.”
For the rest of the way, she said nothing. Doumar dropped her at home and took off without a word. When he turned the corner, she dropped the bag on the pavement and rummaged through it for the phone. The red dot that showed Doumar’s progress lit up on the screen. Pushing to her feet, she grabbed her bag and ran up the road as fast as her heels allowed. The connection was distance sensitive. It only permitted a few kilometers. If she lost the signal, the risk she’d taken would be for nothing.
A short way up the road, she found a taxi. With a sigh of relief, she shifted into the backseat.
“Go,” she instructed the driver. “I’ll give you directions.”
They drove for a good forty minutes before the dot came to a halt in a posh neighborhood on the outskirts of the city.
“Stop,” she said, her heart hammering in her ribcage. “Pull over, but keep the engine running.”
Five minutes later, the dot still hadn’t moved. Doumar had parked. She paid the driver with Doumar’s money and got out in a lane flanked by trees. Keeping behind the protection of the sturdy trunks, she advanced to the place the dot indicated. It was a double-story house. She ducked when Doumar exited a garage and walked to the front. Fear made it hard to breathe. She could’ve asked Frans to come with her, but it would’ve been unfair to put him in a situation so dangerous. Following Doumar to find Niels was one thing, but stealing his money to plant a bug on him was something completely different.
The front door opened before Doumar reached it. A boy came running out in a blur of speed, rushing straight into Doumar’s arms.
Niels.
Sky had to clamp a hand over her mouth to prevent his name from slipping out loud from her tongue. Doumar’s body obscured her from getting a good view. Pain lanced at her heart, seeing them so happy together when she was hidden behind a tree, an outsider to his world. Hungrily, she waited for a better glimpse while emotions clogged up her throat.
Her son.
She’d found him.
All that was left to do was to grab Niels when Doumar wasn’t looking and run.
Doumar laughed, spinning the boy in a circle, and then her world stopped turning. The boy didn’t have blond hair. He had brown curls, and he was a head taller than Niels. The strength left her knees. She sagged against the tree as reality sunk in.
Doumar deposited the boy on the ground. Hand in hand, they mounted the steps. A brunette wearing a homely apron and a smile, the loving kind that doting wives reserved for husbands, opened the door. Stopping in front of the woman, Doumar threaded his fingers through her hair and kissed her gently. The embrace went on until the boy tugged on Doumar’s hand. Doumar released the woman with a laugh that reached the perimeter of Sky’s hiding place like a taunting echo. The woman stepped aside for Doumar and the boy to enter, patting at her disheveled hair. Her face was flushed with a happy glow.
As the door closed them into the warm light of the handsome house, Sky went down on her knees in the damp soil. Her hope caved in. She’d blown her only chance. Her insides twisted painfully, sending nausea up her throat.
Taking strength from her resolve to save her son, she straightened, holding onto the tree for support. She shouldn’t give up yet. Niels could be in that house. He could be living with them. She dusted her knees and looked up and down the street. Certain that no one was looking, she crossed the street, slipped through the gate, and went around to the side of the house.