Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 128313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
“Jas, it’s . . . it doesn’t sound good. The police have got in touch as you’re his next of kin. They called here because they couldn’t get hold of you personally.” Forrest’s tone was too soft, too filled with emotion. “The first responders are at the scene. They’re trying to get him out as we speak.”
I stumbled as I slipped on mud and righted myself to climb into my Range Rover. The phone connected to the car’s speaker. Forrest was still speaking, but it became white noise in my ears as I skidded out of the car park and hit the country roads that led home. The wipers were on their fastest speed, and I squinted as I drove, trying to navigate the labyrinths that were England’s dark country back roads, made worse by torrential rain and lack of lampposts.
“Is he dead?” I found myself blurting, chest aching as I awaited the response.
Forrest was silent, and I felt my heart physically begin to crack. “I don’t know, Jas,” Forrest said carefully. “The police said they’d know more when they had got to him.” Forrest swallowed loudly. “The car sounds like it’s in a really bad way.”
A choked sound ripped from my throat as my mind conjured up what that could look like. My father, the man who raised me and the best man I knew, trapped in his car under a prison of rubber and metal.
“I’ll meet you there,” Forrest said. “I’m about ten minutes behind you.”
I hung up on Forrest without another word and drove more recklessly than I should to get to a car wreck. But this was my father. I didn’t even remember the journey to the crash site. The only sign that there was even an accident up ahead was the sudden flashing of emergency vehicle lights and the road closed off by the police. I stopped in a long line of cars and threw my door open. I didn’t even turn off the engine as I ran forward. I pushed past the temporary barriers that had been used to close the road and shouldered past the policeman who tried to stop me.
I choked on a sob when I saw my dad’s treasured vintage Defender up ahead . . . or what was left of it anyway. Right now, it resembled a mashed-up silver piece of metal.
“Dad!” I screamed, as arms wrapped around me from behind. I didn’t know who they belonged to, but I threw them off me and made a rush for the car. But when I got there, firemen were cutting off the door. As one of them pulled it from the broken frame, I dropped to my knees.
“Dad!” I shouted again, but my body began to tire, all the life draining from me. Because when I looked through the crushed frame of the car, my father’s lifeless eyes stared back at me, blood marring his face. He was still strapped in the driver’s seat.
But he was gone.
My father was gone.
And there was nothing I could do about it . . .
I blinked back to the here and now as the memory played out in my mind, the smell of charred rubber, metal, and blood, and the feel of thrashing rain still so prominent in my mind. Hallie’s hand was on my cheek, keeping me grounded. I stared into her searching eyes, her open, kind, beautiful eyes, and I found myself saying, “I don’t think my father’s car crash was an accident.” Those words seemed to slice right through the steam around us in their heaviness.
Hallie froze, lips parting in shock. Clearly, whatever she guessed I might have said, it wasn’t that. I brushed a wet strand of hair off her shoulder. Before she could say anything, I kept going, a dam broken down. “We also believe Lady Dahlia was drugged in Saint-Tropez and Genny’s fall was orchestrated on purpose.”
“Jasper . . .” Hallie said, shock and pain flickering on her pretty face.
“And the day Dahlia got loose and you helped us?” Hallie nodded. “Her stable block’s electrics were hacked so she could escape.” Hallie swallowed. “And I’ve been getting letters,” I blurted. Now I’d started speaking, I couldn’t stop. It was like a tidal wave, all my pain pouring out of me in one devastating blow. Hallie turned fully in my arms and sat between my legs. Her hands landed on my chest, and all her concerned focus was on me.
“What kind of letters?” she asked, softly.
I followed a droplet of water as it ran down Hallie’s neck and over to her shoulder. Leaning forward, I kissed the drop, her skin silky soft beneath it. Hallie shuddered. I lay back, placing my hands over hers on my chest and said, “Threatening ones.” I inhaled deeply. “Ones that vow to destroy me, my family, and . . . anyone I love.”