Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 79253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“I’m so happy for you.”
She grins. “You feel the same way for Dr. O’Rourke, don’t you?”
I widen my eyes. “Oh… I mean… I definitely like him, if that’s what you mean.”
She laughs out loud. “It’s not just like. It’s not as if he’s your chum.”
“But it’s too soon,” I sputter. “I’m sure that in some time I’ll know for sure.”
She shakes her head. “You know for sure now. I can see it in your eyes. The way you look at him when he enters the room.” She grabs my hand. “When I was in that hotel, it forced everything in my life into perspective. My whole life, I tried to keep everything neat and pretty. Straight lines, never bending. But there really isn’t such a thing as a straight line, is there? Our planet is round. So even the most level street isn’t actually a straight line, though it may feel that way to us. It curves with the shape of the earth.”
I swallow. “I never thought about it that way.”
“I had a lot of time to ponder life’s deepest thoughts in that bloody hotel,” Alissa says. “There are no guarantees. The world is a confusing place, filled with both great good and great evil. Things don’t make sense…until they do.” She gazes into my eyes. “You and Harrison… Maddox and I… Through all the nonsense the four of us have been through, the love we have for one another has been our only source of stability.”
I brush a tear from my cheek. “My God, Alissa. I think you’re right.”
She chuckles. “I know I’m right. But I didn’t mean to get all philosophical on you. You were telling me about the clubs.”
I blink. “Right. Yes. So after Noir, we went to MINOS. Same thing, the guy who runs the club, Zeb, told us he’d never heard back from the waitstaff who left once their contracts were up. And he also told us about this woman, Dishari, who got into a public argument with Rouge. A few days later, a venomous snake escapes from the zoo and bites her, killing her in her sleep.”
She gasps.
“Then we went to Second Star. Again, a waitress named Tina vanished into thin air. Same with the Jade Sanctum. Aus Waverly—the guy who runs it—told us he had a friend named Timothy Mann who was working at the club and disappeared one day.”
She crosses her arms, shivering. “This is clearly a lot bigger than Maddox and I initially thought. We thought we were dealing with two needless deaths. But if Rouge has been killing off people in her clubs since she started taking over…”
“Exactly. It could run into the hundreds. Rouge started taking the reins from my father when she turned eighteen. That was over two decades ago. Our father died right after I returned to Chicago, which was when she officially became the head of all our family’s enterprises, but she could have been organizing this organ harvesting deal for the better part of two decades.” A chill runs through me.
Alissa’s face twists. “It’s difficult to think about all those poor people.” She scratches her chin. “You know, Maddox didn’t just find red diamonds in that safe in Rouge’s office. There was also a manifest. When we were there, we saw the last two names were May and Svetlana, the last two women to disappear. I bet that manifest lists every single person they’ve done away with. Not just at Aces, but everywhere else, too.”
I widen my eyes. “So if we get hold of that manifest…”
“That in tandem with the cooler of organs you found might just be enough to put Rouge away. She’s got power and influence, but no one can fight the court of public opinion once all the evidence has been revealed to the world.”
“I agree. The chief of police is in her pocket, but even he won’t be able to look the other way at this.” I frown. “Speaking of which, why do you suppose you and Maddox weren’t killed and harvested as well? Obviously, I’m glad you weren’t, but still…”
“I’ve thought that over as well. Maddox comes from a long line of politically powerful people. I think Rouge wanted to keep him around, break him in the Caterpillar Hotel, and then use his influence to add to her power.”
“Then why keep you around?”
“I would have been leverage. He’d have to do as she said or she’d have me killed.”
I swallow. “Thank God it didn’t come to that.”
She frowns. “The only thing that doesn’t gel with that theory is the fact that Rouge left us for dead. Maddox was already passed out when you arrived. Harrison himself said he wasn’t sure he would make it.” Her lip trembles, but she steadies it.
I shrug. “Honestly, I have no idea how Rouge’s mind works.”