Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
It makes sense. I’ve seen what Dax is capable of, and I know that he isn’t going to stop until he either dies or he gets rid of everyone trying to stop the cruelty he’s inflicting on women.
“He thinks I’m dead, and because of that, I’ve been able to watch him. Been able to keep an eye on everythin’ he is doin’. I’ve got around this fuckin’ world locatin’ women and returnin’ them home.”
“Wait, you’ve been bringing women home?”
“Yeah,” he goes on. “Yeah, I’ve been trackin’ his sales and findin’ where the women have gone and returnin’ them. It hasn’t been easy, though. You gotta know that I haven’t been able to save nearly as many. Fuck, there are so many out there, stolen from their lives, some with no family to even come after them. They’re with monsters, some not so much. It depends how lucky you are ...”
“It’s horrible,” I whisper. “It’s so damned horrible.”
“You have no fuckin’ idea. He runs a big operation, bigger than you can possibly imagine. He’s manipulatin’ women into thinkin’ he’s goin’ to provide them a better life, into thinkin’ the horrible world they’ve left behind is goin’ to be better where he sends them. He makes them believe that he’s givin’ them a home, a lovin’ life, and he even has it set up to show them what they’re walkin’ into—an act, of course. They believe they’re bein’ sold to better themselves. Until they get there and the curtains are open, and they see that they’ve been set up. By then, it’s too late.”
“How ...” I shake my head in horror. “How does he get away with this ... How do they believe him ... I just ... it’s almost unfathomable.”
“You’re right about that, it is. But it works. He’s so fuckin’ clever. He makes the women sign themselves over so it doesn’t link back in any way to him. He can say they made the choice. He’s smarter than you can even begin to realize. As for the how they believe him, that’s easy. You put yourself in the shoes of a broken, sad woman. No—or a very small—family, no friends, hard fuckin’ life. In comes this incredible man, who makes you feel safe, who shows you a safe world and safe people and you believe it’s true so you choose to take that life ... it’s not so hard to believe if you’re in their shoes.”
“How ... how many have you brought back?”
“Only six, honey. It hasn’t been easy. There are probably hundreds more, those are the ones I spent my time trackin’ over the years. One a year, basically. It takes that long to find them.”
“Some are better than none,” I say softly. “You did a good thing.”
“Yeah,” he murmurs. “Listen, there’s more. So much fuckin’ more. I need you to hear me out on the next thing, and not lose it. Yeah? I need you to just listen. Can you do that?”
My heart starts racing, whatever he’s about to tell me is going to shock me, that much is clear. I take a deep shaky breath. I’m ready to know everything. I’m ready to hear it all.
“Yes,” I say carefully. “Yes, I’ll listen.”
“Your momma wasn’t havin’ an affair, or doin’ something she shouldn’t be, so whatever stories you’ve told yourself over the years, they haven’t been true. I need you to know, before all of this, that your momma is an incredible woman.”
Here come the tears again.
I let them roll down my face silently.
He continues.
“A few years before she had you, before she met your daddy, she had another boyfriend. She likely never told you about him, because, well, he wasn’t a good man. He wasn’t a nice fuckin’ person. She fell pregnant to this man and had a child. A daughter—her name is Cova. She put her up for adoption, thinkin’ it was the best thing she could do for her. She didn’t want her raised anywhere near this man. That was the last she heard about Cova, until years later when she went to look for her. To see how her life was goin’. She contacted her adoptive family, only to find out they had passed away and Cova had gone into the system.”
I can’t breathe.
I can’t think.
My whole world is spinning.
King continues.
“She traced her to where she could, but the poor girl had been tossed around until eventually she had moved out on her own and had gotten into a relationship, a bad relationship. After that, her life spiraled downhill. She was using drugs, drinking alcohol, selling her body for money. The girl had nothing. No one. She tried to get clean, and then she met a man ...”
“No,” I whisper, gripping my chest.
Everything hurts.
Everything is fucking burning.
“His name was Dax. After that, she disappeared, and nobody knew where she had gone. Your momma and I had spent years lookin’ for her, trackin’ her down, and Dax was where it ended. Your momma, she wasn’t about to give up, and got herself involved. I didn’t know, I was lookin’ into it for her, but she went behind my back and started talkin’ to him, started foolin’ him into believin’ she was broken, she wanted to find her daughter. Then, he found out who she was ...”