Page 77 of White Hole

George turned and put his hand on the small of my back, leading me out the door. I hadn’t wanted to blow up at her. The entire visit got out of hand. My control slipped the minute she opened her mouth.

“I’m sorry, George.” As he placed me in the truck, he kissed my cheek.

“Why?”

“That didn’t go how I planned at all.”

George shrugged and walked around the truck to get inside. “Meh. It went how it should have gone. I feel great. I’m free.”

A white flash caught my eyes and both of us looked up to the balcony of the second floor of the apartments. His mother stood in her long, fuzzy robe, gripping the metal railing, staring down at us. She lifted a hand in a slow wave goodbye. George started the truck and drove away.

* * *

By the weekend, we hadn’t had much time to plan our outfits for the Cardell’s annual holiday party. Only the rich and famous in town were invited to the event of the year, but being friends with Marissa and Xavier had its benefits. George tapped repeatedly on my bedroom door while I finished putting in my faux diamond drop earrings. My dress was a pale mint color made of silk. It had full sleeves with a deep-V neckline that reached toward a peplum waist, ending in a watery fabric skirt that grazed the floor. The color accentuated my dark brown hair nicely.

“Holy fuck, princess. You look even better than at Halloween. We got time.” George pointed to my bed. “Get back in there.”

I slapped his hand down. “No, we don’t. Let’s go. We’re going to be late.” Although seeing him in his tuxedo made me wet between my thighs. His cologne made me reconsider how important it would be to arrive on time or not. “Come on. Maybe we can find a moment away from the crowd.”

The party was like none I had been to before. No expenses were spared. The Cardells had even turned their backyard pool into an ice-skating rink.

As soon as we walked into the large white tent set up on the grounds at the back of their mansion, I scanned the room and found her. Gianna. It was like she was waiting for us to enter. She left the side of a tall man to come over and greet us.

“Well, hello, lovers.”

George placed his hand over mine, which was resting in the crook of his elbow. “Gianna. I see you came with your employer.” George nodded in the direction of the man she presented with.

“Oh, yes. I want to introduce your girlfriend to him. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Actually, I do,” George said, but Gianna grasped my arm and tugged.

“Gianna, please. Please, don’t do this.” George was trying to keep his voice down, but there was a desperation there that made my stomach tie in a knot.

Gianna’s long, red velvet gown got trapped under my heel as she hurried us towards her date. I almost tripped and when I did, I caught a glance of my boyfriend. George seemed stuck to the floor where we entered, clearly in a panic, head turning side to side to glance around for help.

Pulling me up with her, her date slowly turned his gaze upon us. His eyes were like steel in their intensity. Immediately, my back tingled with a sudden sense of danger. I was trapped and wanted to return to the safety of my George.

“George, darling. I want you to meet someone very important in your son’s life… Kinsley Whittemore, this is George Turner,senior, the chief of Northview police.” She let my arm go and smugly smiled as if waiting for a play to begin.

“Thechiefof police? Turner? Wait… George is yourson?” I couldn’t even tell if I spoke the words aloud or if they were just in my head. My face scrunched up, heart pounding rapidly in my throat.

“Gianna, what are you doing?” Chief Turner’s brow furrowed at his ex-wife. “Uh, nice to meet you, sweetheart. Please excuse me.” He turned his back, shutting me out of the circle of men he was conversing with. One was Mayor Grant. Unable to contain myself, I tapped the chief of police on the shoulder.

“Excuse me.” He didn’t move. Gianna laughed. “Excuse me!” I shoved and pushed my way into the circle of men standing there. “Do you know me? Do you recognize me?” My anger flared, and I lost any ability to think rationally. My boyfriend was there and pulled me away.

“Please, princess—”

“George, get her out of here,” his father said sternly.

“No! You know, don’t you?” I pointed at George’s father. “And you!” I pointed at the mayor. “Your son tried tokillme! Did you know?” I lost it. I started laughing, along with Gianna, hysterically. “Oh, my god. Youallknow. You’reallin on this.” Twisting out of George’s grip, I pointed at another man in the circle. “Who are you? Do you know? Are you in on this conspiracy, too?”

“Sins. Come on. Now.” George forcefully moved me away from the circle. “I’m sorry, my girlfriend’s a little drunk.”

“I’m not drunk!” But it was too late, we were halfway toward the exit. I’d had enough of his pushing and dug in my heels to stop our momentum. Spinning around, I put my finger in his face. “GeorgeTurner, chief of Northview police’sson. You fucking bastard!” I didn’t care who heard me. “Youknew! You’ve known all along. Did you help them to cover it up? What other crimes have you helped to cover up,Turner?” I spoke loudly so everyone around us could hear.

“I-I was trying to protect you,” George said softly, as if he could get me to lower my voice. He glanced around at all the people watching. We were on the dance floor near the middle of the room. It was a big production, and I didn’t care. My rage was fueling my performance.

“Wait, wait. Theblackmail—it was formyhit-and-run? For what Barrett Grant did to me?!”

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