Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
My jaw drops. Seriously? I had no idea it would be that much. “Fuck,” I say.
Even Jake’s eyebrows nearly fly off his forehead. “That means...”
“That means two million dollars, Jake, give or take. That’s around four hundred grand for each of us. But not if you go lurking around Larson’s property. He’ll catch you.”
“I’m not a moron,” Jake says. “I won’t get caught.”
“It’s the light of day, man,” Seb argues. “Larson’s drugs have worn off by now. You’ll ruin it for all of us if you go there.”
I draw in a breath. “Seb is right, Jake. And you know it.”
Jake starts to speak, but—
Crash!
The loud noise comes from inside Seb’s house. From his mother’s room. Her window is open.
“Christ,” Seb mutters. “I need to go see what she broke. It sounds like glass, and if it is, she’ll walk on it and cut herself.”
“Go ahead,” I say. “I got this.”
“You sure?”
I nod.
Seb leans toward me. “Keep him on a fucking leash,” he murmurs and then walks into his house through the back door.
Jake kicks a rock on the concrete patio. His hands are shoved in his pockets, and his jaw is rigid.
I close the short distance between us. “Come on. Let’s go find her.”
“She’s not at my place, and she’s not at her house.” Jake shakes his head. “There’s only one other place she could be.”
“Jake, there are about a hundred other places she could be.”
“At this hour? It’s morning, Riv. And she hasn’t been feeling very good. She gets sick.”
“Maybe she went over to Doc Potter’s.”
Jake sighs. “You and I both know where she went, River. Something must have happened to her.”
“She’ll turn up, Jake. You need to chill. If this is going to work, we need to stay under the radar for the next few days. If Larson realizes he was robbed, the cops will be everywhere. If he doesn’t, we still need to lie low. Let time pass.”
I look Jake up and down from his mass of unruly blond hair to his work boots.
Something is off.
Right around his ankle. His jeans aren’t hanging right.
My heart plummets to my stomach. “Jake, what the fuck is that?” I point to his ankle.
“I think you already know,” he says, his voice robotic. “I’m going after Marnie, River. And I’m going now.”
EPISODE 164
A HUGE MISTAKE
Sebastian
Twenty Years Earlier...
The crash turns out to be a cheap wine carafe. It’s shattered all over the scratched-up hardwood in her bedroom, and my mother is down on her hands and knees trying to pick up the pieces.
“Ouch!” she exclaims as a trickle of blood oozes out of her palm.
“Jeez.” I kneel and help her to her feet. “You okay?”
“Fine,” she says, alcohol thick on her breath.
I lead her to the bed. She flops down onto the comforter with a sigh that seems to carry the weight of the world. Left alone with the mess on the floor, I crouch down again and gather the splintered shards of glass.
A small pool of wine is seeping into the worn spaces between the floorboards. The heavy smell of cheap wine mingles with the ever-present scent of stale alcohol and smoke. I reach for a discarded shirt.
My mother's raspy breaths have slipped into the rhythm of sleep. I leave her and take the glass-studded shirt to the kitchen where I throw it in the trash.
That cash in my backpack would pay for rehab, but I push the thought away.
She’d drink again. She always does. I’m not wasting the cash.
In a way, I love my mom. I don’t want to see her hurt. But in the same way, I hate her with a purple passion. She doesn’t even know who my father is. One of three men, she told me once. I didn’t ask for their names. Don’t want to know. They’re clearly big-ass losers. I don’t need another loser parent in my life.
Hell, no.
I’m fucking rich!
We can’t spend the dough, of course. We have to keep it all on the down-low until we turn eighteen. I may splurge on a new pair of boots, though. \The ones I have pinch my toes something awful. Mom usually gets my shoes at the thrift store. Sometimes Riv gives me an old pair. He has feet the size of boats, so he’s always outgrowing his boots before they’re worn out, even working on a ranch.
I check back in on Mom. She’s still snoozing. I should sop up the wine, but I just leave it. Not that it’ll matter. Something else will replace it sooner or later anyway. I can’t keep cleaning up her messes.
I should have gone with Riv and Jake. I hope Riv sees that Jake keeps his head. Going back to Larson’s would be a mistake.
A huge-ass mistake.
Present Day...
Alex and Brett are talking about something, but I only hear white noise.
I took care of my mom that day. Cleaned up the broken glass and got her back to bed.