Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80829 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80829 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
I should be able to find the bridge again. I just had to follow the trail of bodies and make it there before the poison got me.
I picked Bear up. She felt so heavy, impossibly heavy.
I spun around and trudged back the way we came.
6
The guild SUV came to a quiet stop in front of a two-story house. Elias didn’t know much about architecture, but he’d spent enough time in Chicago to recognize the style. It was a remodeled Chicago bungalow. Brenda’s parents lived in one, and Brenda and he had looked into buying one before…
A cold hand reached into his chest. He held still for a moment, waiting for the feeling to pass. He had no idea if his former in-laws were still alive. For the first year after the funerals, he’d tried to call once a month, until his father-in-law finally asked him to stop. He said it was too painful.
Elias studied the house, trying to anchor himself to the present. The original bungalows were on the smaller side, with a footprint around eight hundred square feet, a full basement, and an attic space on top. They were iconic to Chicago. People often expanded them with second story additions, and some of the popped-top bungalows looked disjointed as if a tornado had picked up half of a completely different home and deposited it atop the original brick or stucco frame.
This one didn’t. Whoever remodeled it set the addition back, away from the street, leaving the original façade intact. The house was brick, with the original front room, a trademark row of large windows, and a small porch under the gabled roof with stairs leading to the street level. The second story matched the first – same gently sloping roof, same dormered windows and matching shingles. A garden bed ran along the front wall, offering lavender and white flowers. More flowers bloomed in the box by the windows. To the left, some sort of small decorative tree spread branches with dark red leaves. Adaline Moore loved her house.
Had. Had loved.
“I still don’t think this is wise,” Leo said from the driver seat.
Twenty-eight people died in the breach. Fourteen members of the assault crew, nine miners, four escorts, and Adaline Moore. Twelve of the deceased left behind minor children. Of all of them, only Adaline Moore’s kids had no immediate family to take care of them.
The media devoured any news related to the guilds and gates, and the death of a prominent DeBRA would set off fireworks. At some point the DDC would issue a press release announcing it. Once that news broke, the rival guilds would go into a feeding frenzy of outrage, and Adaline’s children would become the center of a news cycle. They would be overwhelmed, used, wrung dry for the sake of a cheap emotional punch, and then abandoned to their grief. If they were lucky, the country would forget they existed. If they were unlucky, someone would take note of two vulnerable orphans with a million-dollar life insurance payout. He had seen this tragedy play out before.
“I won’t allow Adaline’s children to be fed to the media circus,” Elias said. “They are safer at the Guild HQ. I don’t need some asshole showing up at their door, sticking a microphone into their faces, and asking how they feel about their mother dying.”
“Adaline Moore would have made provisions,” Leo said.
“I’m sure she did. Until we know what they are, we will take care of the kids.”
“This will be seen as Cold Chaos controlling access to the children because we have something to hide. We are trying to minimize the media’s attention. They love conspiracies, and other guilds will spin it in the worst way possible. I worry this will have a Streisand effect. Instead of keeping the story small, we will only make it bigger.”
“That’s fine. If they want to paint us as villains, let them. We will survive. We are the third largest guild in the country.”
Leo sighed quietly.
“I called Felicia,” Elias told him.
Felicia Terrell was a powerhouse attorney, and she specialized in guild-related litigation. He spoke to her as soon as he got off the plane. She called him a marshmallow and promised to show up first thing in the morning. The children would be well protected from everyone, including Cold Chaos.
“Still…”
“Leo. This is the least we can do.”
Leo sighed again.
Elias opened the door and stepped out. The narrow walkway leading to the steps needed to be pressure-washed. He walked up the steps and knocked on the door.
The Ring camera came to life. Elias looked into it. “Hello, I’m…”
The door swung open, revealing a boy. He was about twelve, thin, with glasses and short light brown hair. “Elias McFeron,” the boy said. “From the commercials.”
“Yes,” Elias said.
Behind the boy, a teenage girl stepped out into the open. She looked like a younger version of Adaline: same large eyes, same auburn hair, same wary look. He never met Adaline Moore, but he had seen a couple of interviews and photographs. Adaline didn’t just look at people. She watched them, actively observing, and her daughter was doing that exact thing to him now. He felt himself being evaluated.