Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
“How did you do that?”
“We wrote ‘get in touch’ and our office number on a piece of paper and held it up to the camera.”
This was disappointing. I was hoping there was some kind of commando code or street sign language they used.
“Is that it?” I pressed.
“That and a confirmation of what we already knew. Pretty much anyone on the street would face torture before they’d give up Mountain or any Shadow Soldier.”
“Surely that can’t be true,” I said quietly, even though the girls at the diner gave much the same impression.
“It’s probably not, but Mountain is smart enough to steer clear of any weak links.”
I would think this Mountain was pretty awesome, if he hadn’t involved my brother in his operations.
Right, moving on to another lead.
“Did the General give you anything?”
Eric shook his head. “Except, in the short time since we saw him, he seems to be spiraling. He kept asking us who his target is, couldn’t concentrate on anything else, and any time we tried to bring him into the present, his confusion was extreme, so we had to quit trying.”
God.
The General.
“Damn,” I whispered.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Mary’s settled, and even though veterans’ affairs aren’t Scott and Louise’s expertise, they have connections. So they’ve made it their mission to get him someplace where he can get the help he needs.”
“That’s good,” I mumbled.
“Yeah,” he repeated.
“So in the end, we got nothing,” I remarked.
Eric handed me a filled wineglass. “Not nothing, honey. If your brother loves you half as much as you love him, he now knows from a variety of sources you’re keen to talk to him. The ball is in his court, and I figure he’ll run with it. In the meantime, we’ll keep looking.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled before taking a sip.
“One more thing I gotta update you on, and one thing, with your car in my garage and your pastitsio in my oven, we’re in a place now that you need to know.”
Oh boy.
Although I was all the way down to be in that place with him, neither of these sounded like things I wanted to discuss.
But better to get them out of the way so we could eat, then he could do the things he wanted to do to me.
Therefore, I asked, “What are those?”
“Savannah texted seven times today.”
Brilliant.
I shot him a scrunchy face.
“My thoughts exactly,” he said when he took it in. “I didn’t reply, and after number seven, I blocked her.”
“So there could be twelve.”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. We checked. She was on her flight. She’s in LA now. And with her blocked, there’s not much she can do to get to me.”
I nodded because this was true.
Though it was interesting to know their resources extended to being able to check if someone was on a flight.
I filed that in my To Discuss with Turner Later folder, and was mentally photocopying it to add to my Ask Arthur if He Can Do This Too file, when he kept speaking.
“I understand what happened, Jess,” he stated.
“Sorry?”
“The intensity of how we got together. The way she seemed totally into me. It’s taken me a while to figure out I fell for it, and process how I felt because I did. And I still believe there are a lot of good things about Savannah, particularly her talent and ambition. It isn’t easy to make a go of it in her business. And she didn’t just make a go of it. She’s a star on the LA scene, she’s won awards and has been written up in magazines. And even if her behavior had an ulterior motive, we had good times. But she did everything just right in the beginning. She made me think I was the most important thing in her life. So when I wasn’t, it was a blow. And I didn’t realize until much later that all her behavior in the beginning was to set me up so I’d be hobbled by my feelings for her, which would allow her to get away with however she wanted to behave. Her shock that I wasn’t sticking to the program was another signal to what was going on.”
“Love bombing,” I said.
“Yes, that,” he agreed. “Then gaslighting, manipulative language and denial.”
“I obviously don’t know her, but she kinda seems like she thinks the world revolves around her.”
“That’s what narcissists do.”
So, he knew she was a narcissist too.
I said nothing.
“Jessie,” he said softly. “I don’t want every conversation we have to include her, but I do want you to know I understand how she’s operating. It isn’t lost on me. So I also want you to know I’m gonna handle it.”
“I didn’t think you wouldn’t.”
“If you were me, wouldn’t you want to assure me?”
I totally would.
I slid closer to him and put my hand on his chest. “I get it, Turner. I’m not worried about her.”