Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 41105 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 206(@200wpm)___ 164(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41105 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 206(@200wpm)___ 164(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
“My dad wants to talk to you.” Adele holds out her cell phone before I can consider my next move. “He says it’s important.”
Taking it from her, I clear my throat. “Yes?”
“There’s been a slight change of plans.” His deep voice comes over the line, turning me on with ease. “I need you to handle one more pickup before you head toward the jet.”
“Oh?” I say. “Do you have a secret son who I need to wait for?”
“I only have one child, Autumn.” There’s a smile in his voice. “And I don’t recall you ever asking if I had kids.”
“You never asked me either.”
“Because I already knew that you didn’t.”
Right. I roll my eyes. “What’s this other pickup?”
“It’s two things,” he says. “One is a set of custom pegs from the lost and found. It should be with an agent, under my last name.”
“And the second?”
“It’s throat-related.”
“I’m not swallowing anything for you.”
“Not until you’re in my bed, you mean,” he says. “Adeline would like a berry smoothie from Orange Julius. She’ll beg for a large one, but buy her a small one. Get yourself one, too. You sound like you’re on edge again.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.” He pauses, and Adele clasps my left hand. “She’ll show you how to get to the plane, and that’ll be it for your job today.”
“Wait a minute, Ryder.”
“Yes?”
“We need to talk in private once I get back.”
“I’m sure we do,” he says. “I’ll see you in five hours…”
End of Episode 1
Layers of Protection
EPISODE 2
Ryder
“Your daughter is the most disrespectful student who has ever attended our academy, Mr. Rochester.” Miss Temple, the headmistress of Adeline’s school, storms into the café where we always agree to meet.
For some strange reason, she finds it necessary to book a direct flight from London whenever Adeline heads home instead of picking up a phone.
She typically arrives an hour before my private jet lands, armed with a new set of infractions and insults. She’s a literal ‘layover’ conversation I have to endure, and each second tests my patience.
I can’t believe the school has the nerve to bill me for this shit…
“She has no regard for my authority.” She takes a seat. “If it weren’t for the fact that you’ve already paid her tuition for the next couple of years—”
“While generously donating two libraries and a brand-new auditorium,” I interrupt.
“Yes, that too.” She rolls her eyes. “If it weren’t for those things, I’d tell you that she’s better off attending another school.”
“Well, since you can’t tell me that, what would you like to say instead?”
“Um, can I get either of you some, uh…” A server suddenly steps in front of our table, her fingers trembling against the notepad. “Coffee? Tea?”
“I’ll have hot tea in a glass cup, with milk and two shots of vanilla,” Miss Temple says. “Mr. Rochester will take his usual blend of coffee that matches his soul, I’m sure.”
“You remembered,” I say, turning to the server. “I’ll take a small black coffee in a paper cup, to-go.”
“Yes, sir.” She rushes away without another word.
“Like I was saying—” Miss Temple clears her throat. “Adeline only follows the rules when she feels like it, and she hardly ever feels like it. What do you think that means?”
Like father, like daughter. “It means she’s a seven-year-old child.”
“She turns eight next month.”
“Don’t expect an invitation to her birthday party.”
“I’d rather receive a change in her behavior.” She leans closer, narrowing her eyes. “Issues aside, I think she’s one of the most talented violinists in the world, and if she were to become more disciplined over the years, I think she’d etch her way into the history books as the best of all time.”
I say nothing.
“But if she continues being defiant during the symphony rehearsals, skipping class with the maestros because she ‘knows this stuff already,’ and flying home on a whim, she’ll never live up to her full potential.”
“Anything else I need to know?”
“Just the usual.” Her expression softens. “She slipped out of her dormitory minutes after the nightly headcount. Security didn’t catch on to her absence until she made it to the airport.”
“What did her note say this time?”
“Read it yourself.” She pulls a sheet of paper from her purse, sliding it across the table as the server returns.
Dear Whoever Finds This,
I HATE this school, and I loathe everything about every single one of you.
Especially Miss Temple.
I’m not learning anything new & I can outperform you all in my sleep.
IN. MY. SLEEP.
Drop dead and cry in your graves.
I’m flying home to my dad.
Thanks for nothing.
Adeline
P.S. My dad hates all of you, too.
He told me so.
Jesus, Adeline…
These words aren’t as cruel as her last few letters, but her insistence on running away and frequently flying home is putting things in serious jeopardy.
Only a few people in my life are aware of her existence, and I’ve done my best to keep it that way since she can’t live with me in Seattle full-time.