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)
Seraphina leaned forward again, and though she looked exhausted from closer up, there was very suddenly the spark of something in her eyes that hadn’t been there a moment before. “We’re here, Cami. And I’m sorry for what’s about to happen next, but I’m also not sorry at all.”
Chapter Fifty-Three
Rex’s phone dinged with the numbers he’d asked Erik to pull. He responded quickly and then paced in front of his truck as he dialed the first contact Erik had provided and listened to it ring. Seraphina’s voicemail came on, as he’d suspected it would.
He hung up and dialed the second number.
“Hello?”
“Hollis?” It sounded like Hollis was in a restaurant or at an event, with chatter and the clink of glassware or dishes in the background.
“Yes.” He sounded perturbed. “Who’s calling?”
“This is Rex Lowe. Do you remember me? We went to school together.”
“No. This is a private number. How did you get—”
“Shut up, Hollis. I’m in a hurry here, and you’re going to answer some questions because if you don’t, I’m going to call every news station in Virginia tomorrow with the untold story of the girlfriend you abandoned and the son you denied.”
There was a short pause. “Who did you say this is?”
“Rex Lowe.”
He let out a contemptuous chuckle, and then his voice got lower as though he’d covered the phone slightly to muffle his own voice. “Oh, I do remember you actually. Nerdy weirdo with a thing for my girlfriend, right?”
The insult elicited nothing. It was true enough, and it didn’t bother him at all. Especially coming from Hollis. “However,” Rex went on, ignoring the useless put-down, “answer my questions, and you can get right back to whatever you’re doing, and you’ll never be bothered with any of this again.”
“I’m at a cocktail event right now. I have a rally starting in fifteen minutes. My car is waiting out front so I’ll have to—”
“I meant what I said, Hollis.”
There was another longer pause, and then he heard Hollis speak to someone as he excused himself. He waited and when Hollis spoke next, it was in hushed tones, and wherever he’d gone—a lobby or a corridor maybe—it was quieter. “Are you blackmailing me?”
“I’m in a hurry. I need this information now. Do you know where Cami is?”
“Cami? Why the hell would I know where Cami is? Do you know who I am? Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?”
“What about your fiancée? I need to find her.”
“My fiancée is away tonight. And what she’s doing is none of your goddamn business. Now, listen, asshole, next time I’m at my estate in Aspen Cove, I’m going to look you up and—”
“You still own your estate here?” Holy shit. Rex had climbed in his truck and was turning the key before Hollis spoke. My estate, he’d said. “That’s all I need. I hope you lose your election.”
“Hold the fuck on. You don’t get to threaten me and then hang up.” His voice lowered, and it sounded like he was speaking through gritted teeth. “If you ever use this number again, you’re not going to like what happens. You have no idea the fury my family can bring down upon a nobody like you. No idea. I’m going to tell you something now, and hear this clearly: After tonight, if you or Cami Cortlandt or that little fucking brat try to accuse me of being his father, I will bury all of you, do you hear me? That goddamned whore is a liar who tried to pass the kid off as mine and is still mad that I shot her down. I will sue you all into oblivion. I will go scorched earth, and if you think I care about the fact that a kid is involved, you haven’t met the cutthroat side of Hollis Barclay. I’m about to be a congressman, and I will wield every bit of that power to take you all down—”
Rex hung up. Perhaps he could have handled that a bit better. Just hearing Hollis’s pompous voice made him see red. But he’d given him a lead and so calling him had been worthwhile.
His lungs continued to feel squeezed and not because of Hollis. Because he needed to find Cami, and he needed to find her now.
Hollis’s fiancée was “away” tonight, and if it was Seraphina who’d asked to meet with Cami, Cami wouldn’t have known her history. She might have walked straight into a trap.
Rex swung his truck around and raced to Hollis’s estate, the one he’d been at only once before, his heart beating swiftly. He made it in less than ten minutes, a flush of adrenaline streaking through his system when he saw Cami’s car.
Rex jumped out and ran to her vehicle, holding his breath as he looked inside. It was empty, though, and around him, all was still and silent. He walked toward the back of the house, feeling another minor head rush when he saw a phone lying on the ground. Cami’s. He recognized it by the case.