Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“Water,” I replied, thinking that was the easiest out of the options.
She walked over to a bar area and opened a cabinet that I realized was actually a refrigerator. Reaching inside, she took out two fancy glass bottles of water and brought them over, handing me one.
“Thank you.”
“It’s always stocked. Help yourself. Halo wants you to make yourself at home here. She understands being … alone.” Winslet gave me a sad smile. “But you’re not. It just feels like it.”
Yes, I was. I didn’t say that though. I twisted the top off the water before saying anything.
“I don’t know anything about my parents,” I said, wishing that Calvin had found out where their bodies were at least. Or let me contact the people my father had worked with so I could ask. “I want to know where they are, if there will be a funeral. I … I realize I can’t attend, but I need to know they will be buried properly. That their …” I paused as my throat tightened. “That their lives will be remembered.”
Winslet’s brows drew together. “No one has told you anything?” she asked.
I shook my head. “The only contact I had with anyone was when they called to tell me my parents had been murdered and that they were coming to get me and not to leave my hotel room.”
She blew out a heavy breath. “And you left to come here and never saw them?”
I nodded.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, like she was thinking about something, and shifted to the doors leading into the house. “Oz will know. I’ll make sure he finds out for you.” She looked back at me. “I’m sorry about your loss. I lost my mother when I was young, but she wasn’t … good. I never knew my dad, so I can’t begin to understand how that feels. Were they good parents?”
I swallowed the water. “Yes. I’m an only child. My dad worked a lot and often had to be gone because he was undercover. But Mom and I were very tight. We spent a lot of time together.”
As painful as talking about them was, it also felt right. I wanted them to be remembered. They had been important, and their lives meant something. They’d been my world, except for Calvin.
She seemed unsure about what she should say. Talking to someone you’d just met about her dead parents had to be awkward.
I decided to turn the conversation back to her. “If your mom died when you were young, who raised you?” I asked.
A smile touched her face, and I was relieved that this question wasn’t going to lead to more sadness. “Marley.” She said the name with affection. “My elementary school counselor. She got custody of me and”—there was a pause and a flash of sorrow in her eyes—“my brother.”
Was he dead too? I didn’t want to ask that, but it was obvious mentioning him was difficult for her.
“And she was a good … guardian?”
Winslet nodded her head. “The best. She took in and gave a home to two very damaged kids, and she did the best that she could. Perry, my brother, suffered more by our mother’s abuse than I did. He, uh … he isn’t around.”
I was curious what that meant, but by the way her voice had gotten thick with emotion, I knew not to pry. That was all she wanted to say about it. I understood not wanting to talk about things. Haunting shadows that you didn’t want to resurface. Until yesterday morning, I hadn’t had any of those. It hadn’t been a club I’d wanted to join, yet here I was. Its newest member.
Seven
Forge
Bane sat on the edge of his desk while Oz poured a drink into a glass. I closed the office door behind me and walked farther into the room to see Kash over on the sofa. The Savelle brothers were all here. Before my mother’s diagnosis, this would have made me fucking giddy.
“Halo said to tell you she will be ready in an hour,” I told Bane. “Hawks fell asleep on the ride back, and I carried him up to his bed. She’s gonna get ready while he naps.”
Bane nodded. “Thanks.”
Oz turned around to look at me, then took a drink from his glass. “Dad’s staying at the house with Mom. She’s been feeling poorly today.”
Fuck. I should have gone to see her. I would do that as soon as I was allowed to leave the house.
When Oz gave Bane a nod, he cleared his throat. “All right, I was put in contact with Coleman,” he began.
I frowned. “The attorney general?”
He nodded. “Yes. Blaise had him call me,” he replied. “They’ve been able to keep some details out of the media. The victims are being laid to rest in a private ceremony that will be heavily secured. However, it isn’t safe for Elsie to be there. They aren’t happy about the fact that Calvin brought her here, but Coleman said he told them that she was safer with us and it was one less thing they had to handle. He did mention that they expected to have to do a complete identity change for her. Calvin doesn’t want that, and I am sure she doesn’t either. For now, she stays here. They are pulling back right now and starting over with their search for Telos. I’m guessing no one wants the job after what just happened. We will wait and see what they do before making a call on what we will do with Elsie.”