Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 64501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
I should want him dead. Of course, I should. The man is a killer. He’s also my father, and I’ve never felt so fucking tormented in my life. That man has hurt people—Alana and her father, amongst many others. He will hurt more. He may even kill again. But deep down, controlling him, not killing him, is easier to swallow, even if, perhaps, it’s not the way to make the world a better place.
Caleb intends to kill him.
Blake has already stated that they’ll try to stop that from happening.
The only thing I can do that is one step better is to warn my father when the truth is, Alana will never be safe as long as he’s alive. I’m not warning him. I’m not fucking doing that. He’s a killer and he’s devious enough to turn the tables on Caleb, and probably will.
I push to my feet and decide I need Alana close this afternoon.
***
Working from home is a logical choice and I make fast work of getting the heck out of the office. So much so that thirty minutes after that encounter with Caleb, Smith delivers me to my building. Alana is shocked to see me, but pleased. She has work to do as well, and we order from a healthy place down the road and settle into my office together for a working lunch; her in a big “comfy” chair—her words, not mine—me behind my desk.
She’s so damn happy and at peace that I just can’t bring myself to tell her what’s in the air. That is, until Blake calls me. “Your father’s on the move, by foot, actually. He’s having Mary meet him at a coffee shop only a couple miles from his apartment. Mary’s in an Uber right now.”
“And Caleb?’
Alana’s gaze jerks from her computer to me upon hearing his name. “He’s with your father, acting as bodyguard.”
The irony of that statement is profound. I disconnect with Blake and fill Alana in on what’s happening. “Nothing big is going to happen at a coffee shop,” she says. “I think you can relax on that point. But he’s conniving, and so is Caleb. There are too many snakes in the grass to know where to run. Maybe you should call and talk to all the board members one-on-one this afternoon.”
She’s full of good points.
I start dialing, but in the back of my mind is Caleb saying, “Today is going to be a good day.”
Chapter Forty-Three
Kellan
On foot, I follow West Senior and his would-be assassin toward their meeting spot with Mary, where I have no doubt that he plans to fuck her without fucking her. The Russian was easy to turn on West Senior. Everyone hates the man. He cheats everyone he crosses paths with. And when the Russian mob has that opinion of you, you’re pretty fucking low. They want him out of the picture. I don’t know how he pissed them off, but if Caleb doesn’t kill him, they might.
West Senior and Caleb halt abruptly, seeming to exchange sharp words, but it’s a short exchange, and we’re moving forward. Another block. Another. One more to go when we pause at a stoplight, the crowd is bustling, street performs just behind where Senior stands. A homeless person begging for money. A little old man in a torn trench, wearing an oversized hat, steps behind Senior, and unease fills me. Something feels off, and as much as I hate West Senior, my job is to ensure he’s not killed.
I ease forward, closing the space between me and him, when suddenly the old man exaggerates a trip and falls into West Senior. The events go into slow motion. West Senior is shoved in front of a truck, and the end result is brutal. West is hit by an oncoming truck and bounces into a car. Caleb steps into traffic, shouts for someone to call 911, and begins life-saving steps. The old man takes off running.
With Blake in my ear on a mic, I announce, “West is down, hit by a car. I’m going after the guy who pushed him into traffic. I need backup.”
Blake curses. “A block away and on the way. I’m pulling up the camera footage.”
I chase after him, but the fucking crowd is insane, and I’m too slow. By the time I’m at the bottom of the tunnel stairs, he’s nowhere to be found. I eye a bathroom and walk that direction, but there’s no one inside. Once I’m down on the train pick-up ramp, a train is just leaving the tracks. I run up the stairs to the street and report the exit location for Blake to locate on camera and get a man there. But this is going nowhere. The old man is gone. And if I’m right, I’m a witness to the murder of Damion’s father.