Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
She slurred her mother’s name through the thick cotton in her mouth, the sound muted and ineffective. The image of a gag sent a jolt of fear through her and brought her through the mist.
Her eyes cracked open, and she blinked at the woman staring back. Seraphina. Cami’s gaze darted around as she attempted to orient herself. Scenery streaked past the tinted car window, and Seraphina sat in a plush leather seat just across from her. They were in a moving limo.
How? What?
Memory trickled in. This woman had been waiting for her. Cami had started to call Rex and then someone had come from behind . . .
She tried in vain to lift her head from where it rested on the seat back, but her muscles didn’t respond. “What did you give me?” she said, slurring.
“A muscle relaxant,” Seraphina explained. “I’m sorry to have drugged you. And tied your hands. I know they did that to you too. I read and watched everything about the crime you suffered. Unfortunately, I’m not strong enough to subdue you, and so I required narcotics. Oh, and a morally gray employee with a substantial amount of debt and a good reason to accept some under-the-table cash.” She inclined her head backward toward the outline of the limo driver’s head behind the tinted partition.
Cami looked down, and just as Seraphina had said, her hands were bound by zip ties. And when she cast her gaze toward the floor, she saw that zip ties constrained her ankles as well. Her breath stalled, and though she tried desperately to move her body within the confines of the seat belt, her muscles remained inactive, and her frenzied attempts did nothing but make her woozier.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To Hollis.”
A cascade of fear moved through her uncomfortably, but far too slowly. Her body couldn’t process her emotions, much less fight back. “Why?”
Seraphina glanced out the window and then back at Cami. “I can’t tell you everything, but we have a bit of a drive, so I’ll tell you what you need to know.”
She attempted again to struggle against the zip ties, but she was too weak and ineffective. All she could do was listen.
Seraphina removed a photo from the purse next to her and held it out for Cami to see. It was a photograph of a family—the mom a pretty redhead with a regal neck, the father a broad-shouldered man with a crooked smile, and between them, a little girl with glasses, short blond hair, and a gap-toothed grin. “That’s me,” Seraphina said, pointing to the child. “My awkward stage lasted longer than I’d have liked, but I did eventually emerge.” She shrugged and smiled. “As you and I are both aware, if I hadn’t, Hollis would never have looked at me twice.”
The beautiful, grown-up version of that once-awkward child leaned forward and tapped the woman with the red hair. “That was my mother, Glory. She was a classical violinist.” A sad smile flitted across her mouth. “God, she played so beautifully. It lit up her whole face. It brought her entire being to life. Have you ever seen a person glow like that? She was just beginning to gain notoriety. It was only a matter of time, and she’d have been a star.” She paused, her gaze moving from where it’d drifted, back to Cami. “She ordered the hit on your family.”
All the air left Cami’s lungs, and the additional lightheadedness caused her to see spots. “What?” The word was whispery and small and as vaporous as she felt. Boneless. Floating.
That was my mother, Glory. She ordered the hit on your family.
“To understand why, you have to first know what happened to us.” She nodded to the photo that she had set on the table. “He broke in through a back window, the man who terrorized our family. He was looking for money, or drugs, and he tied us up and ransacked our house. My mother attempted to fight back, and he broke her hand. Smashed the bones in those talented fingers with the heel of his boot. He stepped on that precious hand, Cami. He ground it under his shoe like it was nothing more than worthless trash. She never played again. My father peed himself.” Her face contorted momentarily, and she shook her head. “Sometimes I think that’s the real reason he ended up leaving, not my mother’s drinking. He couldn’t bear to know that we’d seen a grown man piss himself in fear.”
The fuzzy dots that had threatened to steal her consciousness again dissipated, but the shock remained. “Your, your mother, where is she?” She knew now, finally, after so many years of grief and torment, who was responsible for the murders of her mother and her sister. And yet she still couldn’t fully connect to her emotions. This barely seemed real, and she was still fighting to stay alert.