Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
"Do you think we're making the wrong choice here?" Briella says, more to herself than anyone else.
"No," Merleigh answers before I even get the chance. "No, trust me. She is better off here."
That girl has probably seen things we can't even begin to imagine.
If anyone would know, it would be her.
"Listen to Merleigh, Briella. She knows what she's talkin' about."
Briella nods and then looks back to Merleigh. "We're thinking of going to the lake for a swim. Merleigh hasn't swum in a very long time, and it might help her to feel better. Do you think we can do that?"
I shrug. "Can't see why not. Take Bohdi with you, just to keep you safe."
In other words, make sure Merleigh doesn't lose it and do somethin' stupid. It's not that I don't trust her, but I don't trust the fact that she's had drugs in her system for a long time, and now she's coming down from that. They can trick the mind and make people do stupid things. Even if they don't want to. I'd feel better knowing they were protected.
"Okay, great. Should I ask Cova?"
I shake my head. "You need to let her get through the worst of this in whatever way she needs to. Right now, this is the best option for her."
"You're right. Her therapist is coming in two hours. I hope that'll help her out a little bit. I can't imagine how she's feeling right now. Believing she's lost the love of her life, even if we don't get it, it hurts her all the same, and that's a terrible, terrible feeling."
She's right.
It's fuckin' gut-wrenching.
We should know.
"She's goin' to get through this. She's got the best person to get her through."
Briella smiles at me, grateful. "Thank you."
"Welcome, honey. I'm goin' to a meeting now, but I'll send Bohdi your way."
"Thanks."
I disappear down the hall and into the main room where everyone is sitting around, having a few drinks and a few laughs. I go over to Bohdi and tell him he's going to escort the girls. He takes it like a champ and gets up without question. He'll be patched in, in no time. I do not doubt that.
He's going to make a hell of a biker.
"I'VE TRACED SOMETHIN' interesting," Cohen murmurs, flicking through some pages in front of him on the desk.
"What might that be?" I ask, lighting a cigarette and bringing it to my lips.
"Back to Aviana's uncle. Was lookin' into a heap of documents we got from Bryant's place and happened to find a receipt made out to Aviana's uncle, for the payment of two items. Doesn't say what. Doesn't say who. But it's for a shit load of cash. It made me look into it further, and they have some business dealings. I got a feeling Aviana's uncle could be the big dog in this picture."
No fuckin' shit?
Is that even possible?
Makes sense, he's had a hand in this from day one. We just haven't been able to figure out how exactly he slotted in. Had a feeling he was big time, considering what happened to Aviana when shit went down with her family. She disappeared, and I'm damn sure he had somethin' to do with that. I'm also certain he had somethin' to do with makin' it look like she was still alive.
Smart. Rich. Big-name.
It's damn possible he's got control of all this.
It's starting to come together nicely.
If we can link it back, we might just be able to bring this down.
"I'll get onto Zariah, see if we can figure it out. If we can, it'll make this operation a fuck load easier to bring down."
"You're right about that," Kendric agrees. "Less bloodshed that way, too. Are we still sendin' Waverly in?"
"Yeah, the more we know, the better. The more people involved, the bigger case we have. It's worth takin' every risk."
"What about Bryant, chances are he's goin' to show his ugly fuckin' face up again soon?" Mykel growls, angry that by the time they got back to that dick bags mansion, he was long gone.
Out of the way, he disappeared.
He was smart enough to go running, but he won't be smart enough to stay hidden.
We'll find him, and we'll make sure he's out of the picture.
Until then, it's best to let Cova believe he's dead.
If she thinks he's gone, then she's far more likely to get on with her life.
"If Bryant shows his face," I mutter, inhaling a deep puff of my cigarette. "I'll take him out so fuckin' fast he'll wish he never popped back up."
"Either way, we're on a better path than we were before," Cohen throws in. "That's better than what we were dealin' with."
"It's far from over, but right now, feel like we've got the upper hand. If we can get underneath this, we can bring it down to its knees. We just need to figure out every single player, so we don't make any wrong moves."