Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
I can hear her cry on the other end. “No. No. Don’t call anyone.”
“Where is he?”
“Sleeping off the bender. He should be asleep all day. Please don’t call anyone. Don’t.”
“Will you leave with me?”
There’s a pause.
“Apollo and I are here at Olympus. Can we come and get you? Please, Ani. Please. Apollo and I won’t allow anything to happen to you. I promise.”
There’s still silence on her end other than the occasional hiccup and sob.
“Ani?”
“Yes… Come and get me.”
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
Apollo
I kill alone.
I’ve never had a partner. I’ve never even spoken of the exact time and method of when or how I’d kill someone. Solo. I’ve always been solo.
But there was no way I was going to leave Olympus Manor without Daphne. Even locking her in a cage wouldn’t have worked, because my hysterical wife was determined to rescue her sister with me.
We rode in silence for the entire ride. I wasn’t sure what to say or what to ask. The little she told me through her shaking and tears was enough to know the man needed to die. And if she hadn’t looked me in the eyes and said, “Kill him now,” I would have done it, regardless.
“The trailer’s up this dirt road,” she says, pointing to a washed-out path that isn’t passable by vehicle.
“Can we make it on foot?”
“I think so. I’ve only been here once. But I remember it not being too far up in the woods.”
The rain coming down is going to make the hike up the path muddy and uncomfortable. I want to tell Daphne to wait in the car, but her sister doesn’t know who I am, and me arriving alone most likely won’t go well. Daphne doesn’t give me time to consider any other options, because she hops out of the car and starts running into the trees. I have no choice but to get out and chase after her. I don’t blame her for her sense of urgency. If it were my sister up there, I’d be doing the same.
Fortunately, the muddy path is actually more of a driveway. It doesn’t take us long to reach a trailer the color of piss. Ani must have been looking out the window, because she walks out the door with a blue Adidas duffle and enough bruises on her face to match the bag perfectly.
I clear the distance between us as fast as I can, take the bag from her, scan her face and head for severe injuries that require any immediate first aid, and then hand the bag to Daphne when I feel her sister is safe enough to travel. “Go down to the car with your sister and wait for me.”
Ani looks over her shoulder at me. One of her eyes is already swelling shut. “You aren’t coming?”
“I’m not coming.”
“Don’t go in there.” Ani turns her head to Daphne. “Don’t let him go in there. Mark is sleeping and he won’t know I’m gone until tomorrow at the earliest. Don’t go in there and wake him up.” She points at the bag. “I have all I need.”
Daphne puts her hand on her sister’s arm, and then her sister’s belly that is no longer carrying a baby. “He’s not going to leave you alone. You said it yourself to me over and over again. He won’t just let you leave.”
Daphne looks up at me and nods her head. I can see it in her eyes that she still wants me to follow through with the plan.
“What are you going to do?” she asks. There’s panic in her voice. “Going in there and kicking the shit out of him isn’t going to do anything but piss him off more. Let’s just go. I can leave the state, maybe. I can just run and hide, and he’ll never find me.”
Daphne shakes her head. “No.”
“What do you mean no?” she asks her sister, clearly not having any idea what Daphne and I both know is going to be the outcome of the day.
It’s raining harder now, and both women are soaked all the way through. “Wait for me in the car. I won’t be long.”
“He’s just like Dad, Ani. You know it.”
Daphne’s words finally are what it takes for Ani to catch on with what’s going to happen next. She shakes her head vigorously and takes a few steps back to the trailer. “No. No! You are not going to kill him. We can’t just go in there—”
I take a step forward so I’m blocking the trailer from Ani. “We aren’t doing anything. I am. You and Daphne need to go to the car and get warm. I’ll be there soon.”
Ani shakes her head, but then suddenly stops when the front door of the trailer opens and a man wearing nothing but faded boxers blinks against the rain. “What the fuck is going on here?” he demands. “Ani, you get your ass inside here now.” He then squints against the falling rain and sees Daphne. “I told you to stay the fuck away from your sister. I told you that I’d kill you if you stepped foot on my land again, you stupid bitch.” When he sees that Ani hasn’t made a move to do as he asked, he repeats. “Get in the fucking house, Ani!”