Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104532 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 523(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104532 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 523(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
I haven’t spoken to my mom since Leon met with her. We can’t discuss what happened on the phone, and I didn’t want to go around to the house where the walls have ears. During a quiet moment in the mid-morning, I send a text message to my mom to ask if she could meet me for lunch. She replies immediately, asking when and where.
At two, I take a table outside. A couple holding hands are drinking smoothies at the far end of the terrace, but otherwise I’m alone. Vero always sips gazpacho at her desk, working through her lunch hour, and Annie takes her break at twelve. Joseph is off from one. When he gets back at two, it’s my turn.
At one minute after two, my mom’s Landcruiser pulls into the parking lot. She parks in front of the bakery and hops from the driver’s seat wearing a red sundress and matching sandals. Her dark hair is twisted into a French roll.
“Violet,” she says, coming over with outstretched arms. “I miss you so much.”
I get up to hug her. “I miss you too.”
She pulls away and holds me at arm’s length. “You look well. Happy.”
Knowing what she wants to hear, I say, “I am.”
She glances at the name of the parlor above the awning as she takes a seat. “So this is where you work. It looks very upmarket.”
“Vero, the owner, runs the place like a boutique plastic surgery clinic.”
“Mm.” My mom looks at the spread on the table. “Salad and fruit. Someone is eating healthy.”
I flush a little admitting, “Leon packed the lunch.”
“I figured,” she says with a wink. “That man is a keeper.”
Leaning over the table, I lower my voice and bring up the subject I’ve been wanting to discuss with her since before yesterday. “I can’t believe you told him. You took a major risk. What if Leon had gone to Gus?”
Her smile is confident. “Leon is too invested in you to risk either of us. Besides, he’s not stupid. He’s seen for himself that Gus is quick to make promises but not always prone to keep them.”
Of course, my mother doesn’t know Elliot committed plagiarism and that I had a hand in it. She doesn’t know Leon has a vendetta, and therefore, she can’t understand the enormity of the gamble she took. If Leon wanted to, he could’ve blown the whole thing open and exposed all of us.
But he didn’t.
For me.
He didn’t steal those photos just because my mother asked him nicely.
He did it to protect me.
My mom waves a hand. “It all worked out, didn’t it? There’s no reason to act so upset.”
Oh, but there is. Now that Elliot no longer has something to hold over her head, she may go astray again.
“Don’t forget,” I say. “Elliot is still having you followed.”
“Stop worrying.” She folds her hands on the table. “Elliot was bluffing.”
My stomach draws tight. She’s too blasé about this, not taking the threat seriously enough. “You don’t know that.”
“No one followed me when I drove Leon to Auckland Park, and no one followed me here.” She motions around, emphasizing her point. “You know Elliot. He’s always been all bark and no bite.”
“Mom,” I say, my voice laced with concern. “You have to be careful.”
“I am being careful. I’m not going to make the same mistake again.”
I truly hope so. “I have no idea how Elliot is going to react when he discovers the photos are gone. You destroyed them, right?”
“Straight away.”
I blow out a sigh of relief. “That’s good to know.” I continue carefully. “I was thinking. Maybe you should take up yoga or a hobby. It’s good for stress relief.”
“Thank you very much, but I don’t need to exercise or take up knitting to keep me out of mischief.”
Mischief is a light way of putting it. I still wish I could take her away from everything, but helping her run is no longer an option, not when I can’t run with her. If she disappears, Gus will torture her whereabouts out of me. Then he’ll go after Leon. He’ll threaten us with each other’s lives. Even if I’m not privy to my mom’s destination, Gus won’t simply take my word for it. He’ll go as far as he must, all the way to pulling the trigger. I can’t do that to Leon, not after everything he sacrificed for me. I can’t repay him by getting him killed. I can’t return his forgiveness by running from him.
Anyway, if I run, Leon will find me. He’s clever like that. How quickly he discovered those photos and the PI who took them is the proof. There’s nothing and no one he can’t trace by following a few electronic crumbs. In today’s world, nothing functions without technology. No matter how careful I’ll be, it’s impossible to have no electronic interaction. At some point, something will pop up in a system somewhere. Someone will see something. Someone who needs a monetary reward will talk.