Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
He shut down. “I’m going to check on Kala.”
“You won’t have her around much longer. Once I verify the data, I’ll let her go and you’re going to have to deal with me. Drake is going to the bank today. Think about that,” she warned.
Kyle stopped at the door, but he didn’t turn around. “I doubt I’ll think about anything else.”
He moved on, and she was left alone.
Maybe she was keeping the wrong one. Maybe Kala would be a more charming companion.
She took a deep breath and banished the thought. Once this was over, Kyle would come around. He had to.
And maybe she would keep Kala, too. It would be fun to have a little one to mentor. It would be smarter to kill the Taggarts. Despite what she’d said to Kyle, she didn’t truly think they would leave him here with her.
She groaned at the thought. There were a lot of Taggarts. But then, it could be a fun game.
Kyle seemed to like games now. He would find out just how ruthless she could play.
* * * *
Kyle walked back into the small prison where Kala sat on one of the two cots inside.
“Thank god, you’re dressed. Were you trying to blind me?”
As jail companions went, he could do far better than Kala. It was like being locked in a small box with his uncle, but she didn’t have her father’s discipline. “Well, you nearly gave me a heart attack. Don’t do that again. I don’t want you alone with any of these people.”
She seemed even moodier than usual, staring at him with her arms crossed over her chest and a deep frown on her face. “You’re the one who had to make yourself all pretty for your girlfriend.”
He glanced over at the guard and decided to not have that discussion with her. Julia was already suspicious. He didn’t need for her to decide he wasn’t worth the trouble before he even had a chance to get out of here. MaeBe would come, and he didn’t want her to find his corpse.
“Sorry,” Kala said under her breath.
He sighed as the guard closed the door, locking them in.
Only Julia would have a prison cell in her vacay house. He’d hoped he would have many opportunities to escape once they got to Julia’s hideaway, but this place was pretty much impossible without help. They were in the basement, and the door down was well hidden. She’d flicked a light switch in a particular way to get the panel to slide open and reveal the steep steps that led down to this detention center. He’d wondered how many people had been visitors over the years. It was well equipped with a small bathroom and shower that could easily be monitored with one guard, but Julia had two on them at all times.
He’d made the mistake of thinking he could take a quick shower and everything would be okay. He’d nearly lost his shit when he’d walked out and the cell door had been open with no Kala inside.
“I was hungry,” she said.
“Why didn’t the guard bring you something?”
“He said he wasn’t my mom and if I wanted food I should cook it myself,” she replied. “I think he’s lazy. Or he doesn’t like being stuck down here anymore than I do. I won’t do it again. I think they’re going to order some pizza. What did you ever see in her?”
The guard who was monitoring the security system looked half asleep. He was relying far too much on technology. He thought he could relax because there was no way they could escape from the high-tech cell, and for now he was right. All of that would change if MaeBe could sneak onto the system. His hacker could handle anything. “I was in a dark place. She was exciting at the time. Bad choices were made.”
“So she’s evil, right? Like there’s nothing good about her?”
He wasn’t sure why she was suddenly interested in his past relationship with Julia. She’d been mostly quiet, only speaking to ensure him this was all his fault and that her life was pretty much over because her parents would punish her forever. “Well, I guess some people would say she’s good at her job.”
He’d hoped to make her laugh, but the words seemed to send her deeper into herself.
“Hey, what’s going on?” He sat across from her, keeping his voice low. “Did she say something to you?”
“She was actually pretty cool,” Kala replied. “I mean in a really evil way, but she didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.”
“Yeah, that is something she’s good at. She’s excellent at manipulation.” This was another reason he hadn’t wanted Kala to be alone with her. “She points out things that seem to make sense, but she’s warping the truth. She twists or turns it so it serves her purposes.”