Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
“Slap him until he is alert enough to stand,” Than told Gathe. “I’ll go get the Escalade and bring it up to the back door.”
I stayed back, keeping my distance. If I got too close, I wasn’t sure what I’d do to him. And he wasn’t worthy of a quick death.
“There he is,” Gathe said after the third slap. “We have open eyes, but the condition of his brain function is still iffy.”
I watched as Gathe stood back up, dragging Arthur up, too, by one arm. When Arthur saw me, his eyes went wide, and he began to struggle against Gathe’s hold.
“Go ahead and pull your arm out of the socket,” Gathe told him. “If you haven’t figured it out, we don’t give a fuck.”
“Don-don-don’t,” he stammered out, then began to whimper.
“Ah shit,” Gathe said. “He pissed his pants. I don’t want piss on the seats. They’ll stink the entire ride home.”
“I’ll grab a bag out of one of the trash cans out front. He can sit on that,” I told him. “Let’s go.”
I went on ahead of them while Gathe taunted Arthur’s struggle to walk and scolded him like a child when he stumbled. The man wailed just before we reached the door, and I glanced back to see Gathe dragging him by the hair of his head. His legs sliding across the floor.
“He’s a bad seed,” Gathe said, exasperated. “Doesn’t fucking know how to listen.”
Twenty
Cressida
The kitchen was stocked with basic necessities. There were coffee pods for the Keurig, half-and-half, as well as a holiday flavor creamer in the refrigerator, along with eggs, butter, cream cheese, and bagels. I found some other items in the pantry. Taking out the sugar and a loaf of bread, I went about making myself breakfast, although I had no appetite. I realized I’d not eaten at all yesterday either, and I didn’t want to meet with my new employer on an empty stomach. I was already going to be tired; at least, I could make sure I wasn’t hungry.
Sleep had come for me last night, but it took hours. I had a shower, then sat on the sofa, looking out at the quiet street while the world slept. Somewhere around four, I’d finally gone to bed, which meant I had a solid three hours. I was going to need a lot of concealer today for under my eyes.
While my coffee was brewing, I opened my purse and found a pen, then turned over the papers detailing my new job to write down a list of things I needed to do today other than go to my new place of employment.
The first thing was to get a phone. I glanced over at the envelope that contained my debit card. I didn’t want to use any of that money. It wasn’t mine. I had done nothing to earn it.
Taking the pen in my hand, I wrote down, Go get a new bank account.
I could put the money I did have in it and leave the other alone. I would find a way to send the ten thousand back to Bane Cash. But that was something I would figure out later. I had more pressing matters.
Walking over to get my cup of coffee, I went about fixing it up with cream and sugar, took the bagel I had toasted with cream cheese, and went to sit at the small two-person table. I was back to being alone. Looking around at the bare walls and lack of holiday decorations, I sighed heavily. This was my life. I wasn’t on the streets. Arthur wasn’t a threat. No one was going to control me here. I wouldn’t get a broken wrist if I didn’t behave the way I had been instructed.
Yet my heart was still heavy with something beyond pain. There was a deep sorrow that took the ability to feel any joy about anything. I had learned to survive without Kash, and I knew I could do it again.
Bane wanted me to stay away from Mississippi and Kash. He didn’t have to worry about that. I never wanted to see either again. Both always left me broken.
This wasn’t what I had expected. When I’d read what my salary was going to be, I’d imagined a large doctor’s office with several doctors. But here I stood, behind the front desk, with my only coworker being a six-month-old golden Lab named Rocket. He bumped my leg, and I smiled down at him. I’d given him two of the doggy treats that we had out for patients who brought their dogs in with them. The little cutie was working his charm for more.
I bent don’t to scratch behind his ear as he wagged his tail furiously. “I was told you only get two in the morning and one in the afternoon,” I told him. “I don’t need to make Dr. Carmichael mad at me on my very first day.”