Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
There was no need to check out the other photos. I’d figured out the theme, dark and horrific. Snapping away at the whole room with my phone, I headed for the drawers. Old cobwebs covered most of them. I had to brush them away before opening the drawers. Clothes were still folded inside. Lots of pink outfits. I pulled a few out and held them up in front of me. I had a bunch of nieces. Most of them were in middle school and could probably wear the shirts and pants that I had in my hands.
So the girl of this room was young.
I looked under the bed. Several boxes lay underneath. I wrenched one out, not knowing what to expect, and spotted tattered boxes full of small skeletons. Some were frogs. Other were the decayed little bodies of creepy crawlers—dry shells of bugs and spiders, wilted remnants of garden snake skins.
Did this chick kill these things and leave them under her bed or did they just happen to die under her bed over time? A kid that couldn’t take care of animals was one thing. A kid that liked to kill small animals was a whole other beast. Which one are you, sweetheart and how could this deal with Jazz?
My phone buzzed. I pulled it out and checked it.
Chase: Security notified me that you’re in some old rooms.
Are you fucking kidding me? Why didn’t I remember that this guy would have cameras everywhere? I’m slipping.
I typed into my phone.
Me: I just got lost.
I knew that his men probably had footage of me breaking into each room and taking pictures. If Chase was going to pretend that he wasn’t hiding things, I wouldn’t be straight with him either.
Chase: Well, let’s try to make sure you don’t get lost again.
Is this motherfucker threatening me or am I just paranoid?
Chapter 12
Jasmine
Chase kept checking his watch. It started once the moon arrived and the sun had gone down. It continued all through dinner. By the end of the night, he stared at me in bed, probably waiting for me to fall asleep. I hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to Troy. All he’d done was send me a bunch of pictures of broken sculptures and some sicko’s fantasy of a girl’s bedroom. Those crazy pictures followed with his jumbled texts, discussing how a man who locked rooms like this had some crazy shit he was hiding. Once again, Troy recommended me to cut Chase. That was my brother’s way. When shit went bad, he would simply say, “Jazz, just cut him.”
Even worse, Chase caught him on camera breaking in and hadn’t even brought it up to me.
“What time are your men going to search for the gun?” I pulled the covers over me.
“Don’t worry about these things or—”
“That’s not an answer. I would like to know a time, Chase. Are they looking for it now?”
“No.”
“Then when?”
“Later.” He slid closer to me in bed. He only wore pajama pants, but I had the feeling it was all a front, that he’d be dressed and out of here as soon as I closed my eyes.
“They’re going to look for it tonight, right?”
He tapped his fingers on the blanket in front of him. “I’m not sure.”
“Bullcrap.”
“I don’t want you involved.”
I displayed my hurt arm. “I’m already involved. Don’t piss me off by shutting me out for my own good. Things like that will only get you cut.”
“Cut?” He smirked.
“Not with a knife, but cut out of my life, yes.”
That smirk left his face. “There won’t be any more of that.”
“How do you figure?”
“I’m done letting you go.”
“You didn’t let me leave.”
“Trust me. I did, and I’ll never do that again. Next time you have a problem with me, I’m taking you on a private island and we’ll just have to figure it out, eventually.”
“And will you be kidnapping me?”
“I won’t answer that for fear of incriminating myself in the future.”
I thought about the creepy bedroom images that Troy sent me. “Do you have a sister?”
“What?”
“Do you have a sister or brother?”
“No.”
Then what weird little girl slept in that room?
“Did Lucy and Dawn stay at the house a lot when you came for the summers?” I asked.
“Not really. Their families’ houses are within walking distance from this one. Lucy’s home has been sold and redone. Dawn’s family maintains theirs and allows their family members and friends to use it for vacations.”
“But neither officially stayed here, like with her own room to maybe rest her head and decorate?” I asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know. Did Lucy consider this place a second home?”
“Sure, but she almost never slept here and would’ve never had a room to decorate. I could barely decorate my own room.”
“Why didn’t Lucy sleep here?”
He avoided looking in my eyes. “It’s a long story. The short answer is that her parents didn’t like her away or with other people over night.”