Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 89232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Clearing the way. I can only imagine what that means. Getting rid of people in the most literal sense, no doubt.
A shiver crawls over my skin. Now it makes sense why Dad was involved with them. That’s why he warned me, why he told me they’re bad people. He tried to make me understand, but he couldn’t tell me everything.
Shit. That makes us bad people too.
I’m going to be sick again.
“This house,” I say. “Everything.”
“Don’t think like that.” Ryan’s demeanor is gentle. “There’s also the legal side of the business.”
Is that supposed to make us feel better? A laugh catches in my throat. The only thing preventing me from letting it out is consideration for my mom. My dad lied to us. He did something terrible, something unimaginable, by putting weapons in people’s hands for sinister purposes I don’t even want to think about. If I want to puke, how must Mom feel?
“Do you understand why this can never come out?” Ryan asks. “If it does, we’ll be hunted by governments and powerful arms dealers.”
My family’s expressions are mostly resigned. Mom’s mouth is turned down, her bottom lip quivering. They’ve all had time to come to a decision on how to handle the awful situation. They’re only waiting for my compliance.
“Why don’t we stop?” I ask, looking around the room. “You can cut out the illegal part and carry on with the legitimate business.”
Ryan’s smile holds sympathy, the kind that an adult reserves for a child who doesn’t have a concept of the harshness of reality. “Do you think for one minute the arms dealers will simply accept that? Do you believe they’ll shake my hand and say, Thank you very much for doing business with us for the past ten years. We’re going to miss you. But don’t worry, we’ll easily find someone else to smuggle our weapons into your country.”
I go cold. Of course not.
“No,” Ryan continues. “They’ll make us do it. Do you know how? Jesus, I don’t even want to go there. Perhaps they’ll torture me. Or maybe they’ll kidnap my son. Hey, why not kill one of us?” Swirling the liquor in his glass, he walks to the window and says more to himself than to us, “At least they’re paying us now. If they force our hand, they may realize payment isn’t even necessary.”
All those scenarios he mentioned make me break out in a sweat.
“Do you have to be so graphic?” Mom asks in a tremulous voice.
“What?” Ryan shoots her a look from over his shoulder. “Do you prefer that I hide the ugly facts from you like Dad used to do?”
A sob tears from her lips.
“Ryan,” Mattie exclaims, scowling at him as she wraps an arm around Mom.
“Fuck.” Ryan pinches the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry. The last few days were tough. I’m letting the situation get the better of me.”
“This is too much, Ryan.” I say. “Even for you. You don’t deserve this.”
None of us deserves the heritage Dad left. And for what? For a pretentious house on a hill by the sea? For fancy cars and glitzy parties?
“We’ve all been questioned, Bella,” Mattie says. “The doctor was kind enough not to let the police interrogate you at the hospital. He said it was better done at home in an environment where you feel safe. You’ll have to give a statement too. We just have to make sure we all tell the same story.”
“Like the one I briefed you,” Ryan says. “Stick to the truth as much as possible. That’s the golden rule of lying.”
“We have an appointment at your father’s lawyer’s office the day after tomorrow for the reading of the will,” Mom says. “It’ll have to be tomorrow.”
Ryan turns his back to the window. “It’ll be this afternoon. The authorities weren’t happy about waiting until after Bella’s discharge. I doubt they’ll wait longer.”
“They don’t suspect murder, do they?” Jared asks.
“No.” Ryan frowns. “But Bella discovered the body. Questioning her is protocol. I arrived on the scene more than four hours later. They’ll want to know why Bella didn’t call an emergency service immediately.”
Mattie’s tone is gentle. “What happened, Bella? Can you tell us?”
I wring my hands in my lap. “When I…” I swallow. “When I walked in on…” I can’t say it. “Angelo manipulated my neck.” I point at my nape. “He pressed on points that made me black out.”
“Son of a bitch,” Ryan says with gritted teeth.
“He no doubt did it to prevent you from calling for help,” Mattie says. “He couldn’t risk getting caught near the scene.”
“Or it was an act of mercy,” Jared says. “Maybe he wanted to give Ryan enough time to get there, preventing Bella from having to deal with everything.”
We all stare at him. Under Mattie’s cutting look, his expression drops.
Mom’s tone is cold. “There was nothing merciful about that man’s actions.”