Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64366 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64366 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
I clicked off, not wanting to hear any more of his empty apologies and excuses. The bottom line was he didn’t want me. For whatever reasons, and for however long, he didn’t want me. And it fucking hurt.
I did the only thing I could think of. I called Dr. Tanner. She would know what to say to make me feel better, or at the very least come over with some good pharmaceuticals to make everything okay for a little while. But she didn’t answer her cell again. It was the third time I’d called in two days, and she still hadn’t returned my calls. That wasn’t like her. Maybe she’d had enough of my drama, too. It was bad when even my psychiatrist couldn’t handle the crazy.
But I needed her. I was still raw from the hypnosis session and the disturbing memories that had surfaced as a result, and now Jamie had left me. If there was ever a time I needed some therapy, or just a shoulder to cry on, it was now.
I’d always had Dr. Tanner’s cell number, so there was no reason for me to know her office number. I went online and looked it up. Maybe my uncle had managed to get her cell phone blocked, too.
Dr. Tanner’s office phone rang twice before a man picked up. “Hello?” he said, which I thought was an odd greeting for a business office.
“Uh, is this Dr. Tanner’s office?”
“It is.”
“My name is Michael Santori. I’m a patient of Dr. Tanner’s. I’ve been trying to call her cell, but she hasn’t answered. I thought maybe her phone service is out or something?”
“This is Kage?” the man asked, suddenly sounding more alert. “This is Julie’s— uh, Dr. Tanner’s— husband, Dale. I don’t know how to tell you this other than to come right out with it. Julie has been missing for two days.”
“What?” The room swam. “Are you sure? There’s nowhere she could be?” I sounded like an idiot, but I couldn’t process the information properly. And my mind had already suggested something so horrific I felt guilty for even thinking it.
Dr. Tanner had disappeared right around the last time I’d seen her. Oh, God. What if she’d confronted my uncle after she left my apartment? What if she’d told him what she’d discovered, and that she knew what he’d done? What if her disappearance was all my fault?
And then on the heels of that thought came one that was even worse. One that stopped me dead in my tracks as I paced the room.
Both Jamie and Dr. Tanner witnessed my hypnosis. As far as I knew, they were the only two people besides my uncle who knew the truth about my past. Could it possibly be a coincidence that they had both disappeared from my life in a matter of a few days? Somehow I didn’t think so.
“I’m sorry to hear Dr. Tanner is missing,” I said, suddenly remembering Mr. Tanner was on the phone. “I know you must be worried sick. Please let me know if I can do anything to help you find her.”
“Thank you, Kage. I’ll keep you posted.”
I could not get off of the phone fast enough. If my suspicions were true, and Jamie was in danger, I had to take action immediately. Before, I hadn’t actually thought my uncle capable of harming Jamie in a physical way. Maybe I just didn’t want to believe it, because there was certainly enough evidence to the contrary. But now that Dr. Tanner had gone missing— and let’s face it, gone missing usually meant they just hadn’t found the body yet— I was really worried for Jamie.
At the very least, I was certain my uncle had coerced him into breaking up with me, and clearly Jamie had cooperated. That was a good sign. But I felt guilty about the comments I had made about Cameron, and about Jamie being with other people. Because right now I was thinking I’d rather watch him bang the entire student body of Georgia State University than to know that one hair on his head was in danger.
Chapter 13
(JAMIE)
IN retrospect, I probably should have run when I saw that Aldo and Aaron had been dispatched to retrieve me from the Vegas airport. It was pretty stupid to climb into the back of a limo driven by the very people I suspected of spying on me. But then nothing had made much sense in my life since I’d met Michael Kage. It felt like I was in a perpetual dream that morphed into a nightmare every few days. There were no rules.
I had definitely been watched, and calls had been intercepted and blocked. But those were the only concrete things we knew. The threat of danger had only been a vague hint, and nothing had been done to make it seem imminent. It hadn’t occurred to me that, if a smart guy like Santori wanted to do something bad to me, he would make sure I didn’t see it coming. The problem is that I’d underestimated him. Intellectually, I’d known he was smart and powerful. Instinctively, I’d known he was capable of evil without remorse. Now that I knew what he’d done to Kage seventeen years before. The coming together of those three things in my mind should have made a din to rival the bells of Christ Church Cathedral. Only it didn’t. Somehow I’d just let the knowledge sit there like little innocuous puzzle pieces, not even worth my consideration. I had more important things to worry about, like sex, and jealousy, and whether or not Kage should spend money on me.