Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 131455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
My voice starts to wobble. Despite that, I continue since I need to get the words out. I need to let go of some of the weight dragging me down. “I feel like a terrible friend. I feel like an awful, ungrateful daughter. No matter what I do, somebody is always going to be unhappy. Is it too much to ask for everybody to get along and be happy?”
That sounds so immature. It's impossible for everyone to be happy, except this goes beyond that. “I don't know what to do, Mommy,” I choke out just before the tears start to fall. Hot, stinging tears that roll down my cheeks and drip off my chin land like heavy raindrops on the grass. “I just don't know what to do. I have to keep the baby safe—that's my biggest concern, but after that... I'm lost. I don't even know how to be a mom or if I'll even be a good one.” I sigh, “Did you ever feel that way?”
Her light gray headstone offers no answer, and neither does the singing of birds in the trees above. I'm alone. There are no answers. Just the wind and this heavy gray headstone in front of me.
It seems like all I can do is kneel here and water the grass with my tears, praying for answers to my questions. Answers that will never come.
CALLUM
I know that what I'm hearing isn't the alert beeping on my phone. There's only one reason for that alert to go off the way it did when I tested the software of the app, now flashing a notification across my screen. I know Bianca is not stupid enough to do something irrational, or at least I hope not.
Yet there's no ignoring the notification. Vehicle in motion.
I'm alone in the office while Romero digs deeper into the Ken situation, leaving me no one to growl at in frustration and disbelief while I open the app to see what the fuck is happening. There must be a bug in the app. Probably a malfunction or something because there was no way she would leave the house without bothering to tell me.
The blue dot moving across the map confirms my biggest fear. She's on the move, and she left without letting me know. No, that's not true–checking my messages, I see she sent a text.
Bianca: I'm going for a drive and will be back soon. Nathan is coming with me. Don't worry. I just need some air.
Because there's no air out by the pool or elsewhere on the property? Damn it, she should know better than this. After everything she's been through, she's going to drive around for no reason? And why the hell didn't Nathan tell me?
I'm out of the chair and on the way outside before there's time to think. This is not a situation where thinking is a luxury I can afford. I need to find her now. A call to her phone gets me her voicemail, which leads to me slamming the car door closed before sending gravel flying in my wake as I start the engine and fly down the driveway.
The dot is still moving. She's a few miles away. Where could she go in the early afternoon? What was so important she couldn't think twice before putting herself and our baby in danger?
I'm less than a mile from her when she comes to a stop… in the cemetery.
Some of the burning pain in my chest subsides, though not all of it. She went to the cemetery. “How am I supposed to protect someone who refuses to be protected?” I growl, hitting the gas when the light turns green. I follow the route to where my insolent, stubborn little bird decided she had to be today.
The lack of other visitors is a plus. There are no other cars besides mine and the familiar Corolla parked up ahead. I slow down to avoid being spotted right away. If she's in a jumpy mood, she might decide to run, and there's not much I feel less like doing than weaving through headstones to catch her.
Nathan looks like he swallowed his tongue when he spots me from his position beside her car. No doubt he remembers that broken nose–it hasn't been too long since I broke it. We'll have a talk later about reporting to me rather than making me chase Bianca around. This could have been avoided if he'd communicated with me. For now, it's enough to find out why she had to come here so suddenly.
There she is.
My heart thunders in my chest. She is kneeling on the ground, wearing a yellow sweater that makes her stand out against the blue sky and greenery. Might as well paint a target on her back and blow a whistle to attract the attention of anyone looking to hurt me by hurting her.