Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 79253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“Meryl Streep. I love,” he says.
“Yes, she’s great.” I lean back on the couch. “So tell me, Jack. What are your hobbies?”
“Hobbies?” he asks. It must be a new word for him.
“Sorry. What do you like to do for fun?”
“Fun? Oh, yes. I love to bake.”
“Oh really? What do you bake?”
“Lots. Cakes and cookies. Pirozhki, vatrushka.”
“What are those?”
“Very tasty. I make for you.”
“That’s very kind.” I smile. I like Jack a lot. It’s nice to have a friend. “Do you have a specialty? Something you make that is the best?”
“Oh, yes. Cherry tart.” He rubs his belly. “Delicious.”
“Really? You know, that’s one of Rouge’s favorites.”
He widens his eyes. “Rouge likes cherry tart? Perhaps I make for her?”
I laugh at that. “I’m sure she’d appreciate the offer, but I doubt Rouge would ever eat anything she didn’t make herself.”
Jack.
I hate how things ended between the two of us. We were such good friends those first couple of months when I worked at Aces, but then we had a falling out a year or so after we met. I can’t imagine how much fun we would have had if we’d stayed friends for the nearly five years I’ve worked—
Wait.
Five years.
Jack started just a few months before me. In March of that year.
“Oh, my God.” I spring to my feet, pace around Alissa’s bed.
“What is it, babe?” Harrison asks.
“The Jack of Hearts. He’s an employee at Aces. In the Hearts section. And his five-year contract is about to end.”
Alissa’s eyebrows shoot up. “So you think…”
I nod gravely. “He’s the next one on my sister’s list. The next person she’ll kill.”
“Then this music box is telling us to keep an eye on him,” Harrison says. “Maybe we’re supposed to follow him after he finishes up his last day. See if we can save him.”
I bite my lip. “There’s only one problem with that plan.”
“What?” Alissa asks.
“The Jack of Hearts… He kind of hates my fucking guts.”
12
HARRISON
The day after I pulled Maddox Hathaway out of the ravine and saved his life, someone knocks on the door of our mobile home.
I open it to see the face of a man I’ve seen plastered on billboards and TV commercials. He’s the guy running for mayor. Henry Something.
I widen my eyes. “Yes?”
He offers me a toothy grin—the kind as fake as the Easter Bunny. “Little boy, is your mommy or daddy home?”
“Um, my mom is.” I call toward the kitchen. “Ma!”
She lumbers toward the front door. Ma is a big woman, and the entire mobile home shakes every time she takes a step. She drops her jaw as she recognizes the man at our door. “Mr. Hathaway!”
He bows his head. “Ma’am.”
“What brings you to our humble home?” Ma looks back into the house. Dirty dishes and socks litter the floor. “I apologize for the mess. I would have tidied up if I knew the man who is running for mayor was going to visit us today.”
“No problem at all, ma’am.” He looks down at me. “Is this little Harry?”
“It is.” Ma clasps my shoulders. “But how do you know his name?”
“This young man saved my son’s life yesterday. He got separated from our driver. Wandered into an area not too far from here. A little ravine. He apparently slipped and fell in, and your son pulled him out and saved his life.”
Ma looks at me in shock. “You did?”
I nod. “I guess so. He fell in. I’ve fallen in lots of times. I knew how to get him out safely.”
“You’ve fallen into that ravine lots of times?” Ma asks. She grins sheepishly at Mr. Hathaway. “I guess I don’t know enough about my own son, sir.”
Mr. Hathaway grins. “I empathize. Raising kids is the hardest job anybody can ever have, isn’t it? Doesn’t matter what part of town you come from, it’s always a challenge.”
I hold back a scoff. Maddox probably grew up with a bunch of nannies. He mentioned yesterday that his parents don’t pay him any attention. But it would be rude to bring that up in front of his dad right now. Especially now that I know his dad is one of the most famous people in Chicago.
Ma grabs me into a hug. “My brave little leprechaun! Wait until I tell your father. He’s going to be so proud of you, Harry!”
“Who is it, Ma?” a voice from behind me grunts.
It’s my older brother Harold. He and I are the only two of my brothers home right now.
Ma beams at Harold. “Your little brother saved the son of Henry Hathaway!”
Harold raises an eyebrow. “Huh. Good for him.”
“If I may,” Mr. Hathaway interjects, “I’d love to invite Harry over for a playdate. I think it would be good for Maddox to socialize with someone who lives in a…different part of town.”
“Of course, Mr. Mayor.” Ma blushes. “Or rather, Mr. Soon-to-Be Mayor. You certainly would have my vote if we lived in Chicago proper.” She glances toward the kitchen. “Can I get you a drink or something? It’s a long drive from downtown Chicago. You must be parched.”