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)
A rush of fear travels through me. “What about the video of my mom?”
“The virus wiped out the system, including the video.” He hesitates. “But Elliot had a photo that one of the neighbors must’ve taken. He just sent it to me.”
“What?” I clutch my stomach. “No. It can’t be true. Your friend checked with the neighbors.”
“He did,” he says in a tight voice. “A few of those houses are standing empty. Whoever took the photo either moved or was kicked out. Many of the lessees under-rent illegally. It’s impossible to trace everyone who lived there.”
“This can’t be happening,” I say in a breathless voice, rushing through the door. “Where’s Gus? Has he seen the photo?”
“We have to assume the worst. I’m handling it. I promise you. Now just go home and do as I tell you. I have to go, darling. I love you.”
The line goes dead.
I stare at the phone like a zombie. My mind refuses to function. All I can focus on is that Elliot has a photo of my mom. The stench of the warehouse comes back with vivid clarity. I gag. When I close my eyes, all I can see is the man on his knees. All I can hear is Elliot’s mocking laugh as I empty my stomach and Gus’s voice telling me what happens to traitors. All I can feel is my stepfather’s fist in my hair as he whispers in my ear what will happen if I make a sound.
I grip the edge of the table to steady myself as I sway on my feet. I never told my mom about that day. I didn’t want her to feel worse than she already was. Maybe that’s why she never realized how serious her infidelity was. If anything happens to her, it’ll be my fault for not telling, for keeping my mouth shut.
Fuck.
I swallow back bile, feeling wetness on my cheeks.
I have to warn my mom. I have to tell her. She needs to run. Now. If Gus gets home before she’s gone…
A wave of nausea pushes up in my throat. Dragging in ragged breaths, I dial my mom’s number with a shaky hand.
“Come on, Mom. Please, pick up.”
My mom’s phone goes to voicemail.
What if it’s too late? What if Gus is already there?
Dialing Flora’s number, I run from the kitchen.
Annie shoots me a concerned look when I rush past her.
“Is everything all right, Violet?”
I manage in barely intelligible words, “I-I… Have to go. Family emergency.”
Flora never keeps her phone switched on during working hours, but I have to try. Hers goes straight to voicemail without ringing.
Ignoring the stitch of pain in my hip, I sprint for my car. I fumble with the ignition button as I dial the landline at the house, but the phone only rings and rings. Why is no one picking up, for crying out loud?
I burn the tires pulling out of the parking lot, dumping my phone on the seat next to me. Leon and I are roughly the same distance from Kyalami Estate. He may get there before me, but I may have better luck with the quieter backroad via Dainfern.
I drive like a maniac, earning insults from the drivers I overtake on the single road. A bus veers onto the narrow shoulder when I speed past just as a car approaches from the opposite side. The bus driver waves his arm through the window, flipping me off.
Sweat trickles down my back when I reach the estate. I stop in a cloud of dust next to the baffled guard at the entrance.
Pushing the button to lower the window, I ask in an urgent tone, “Has Gus Starley passed through?”
The guard gives me a quizzical look. “I can’t be sure. I came on duty ten minutes ago.”
“Fuck.”
“Is everything okay?”
I don’t bother to answer. I press my thumb on the fingerprint reader to lift the boom and race to the house.
When the property comes into view, I go cold. The main gates stand open. The Maserati is parked at the end of the driveway. There’s no sign of Leon’s bike.
No.
I come to a hard stop behind the Maserati and almost trip over my own feet when I jump from my car. The front door has been left wide open, something Gus never allows for security reasons.
“Mom,” I call, running up the porch steps and through the door, vaguely aware that I sound hysterical.
Silence greets me. A chill slithers down my spine, making the hair on my arms stand on end.
“Mom! Flora?”
I race through the empty foyer and come to an abrupt halt in the doorway of the lounge. My mom stands in front of the open French doors, her pretty face ghastly white, and Gus is pointing a gun with a silencer screwed onto the barrel at her.
“You cheated on me, you bitch?” Icy fury sounds in his tone. “You let that fucker put his dick in what’s mine?”