Page 33 of Escape From Me

I smirked as I backed away.

“Let the games begin,” I whispered under my breath just loud enough I knew the man I wanted to hear would.

Now to go play and find my brothers who would be hiding somewhere in plain sight.

I headed closer to where the line of limos was. Eeny, meenie, miney, mo, which car would each fuck stick use? Certainly the senator would have a large limo. Then there were several town cars. A sports car. Would the good judge drive himself? Doubtful. But while I had some time to kill I pulled my phone out, looking over files downloaded to a server I controlled. I’dalready spent enough time hacking into the records while Daisy slept that it made today’s homework much easier.

Rich people did things strangely.

But the odds that I could find whose driver was whose? This was a fun challenge I intended to win.

FOURTEEN

daisy

I triedto breathe as I watched his shoes back away before looking up and seeing him still watching me.

Maybe I’d been wrong.

But he was in a gang. Gang’s were the enemy.

“How did Uncle Eric die?” I asked, still not turning to my father.

“His injuries from that violent gang attack.”

That was it. All I got. Injuries from an attack, except that didn’t sound right.

“Didn’t the cop who delivered the message say he was attacked in a building downtown and they hadn’t caught the man? It was one man and no one said gang?”

My father straightened his back and pulled at each of his suit-coat sleeves like they weren’t sitting exactly where they should be.

“Your uncle was dedicated to the cause. Don’t you worry your pretty little head over things that don’t concern you. Just look pretty and smile.”

I bit my tongue and only stopped when I tasted blood.

I tried to look over my shoulder, hoping that maybe he was still watching.

Maybe he was the enemy to my father, but he’d never spoken to me like I was nothing. He’d never done anything I hadn’t asked.

He’d protected me.

“Daisy, remove that look from your face. He left you, just like he should have. Now, come. We have to give a speech. You are expected in the front row playing the grieving niece.”

Everything felt heavy. Each step took everything in me. Why did I follow a man that had never, not once, seen me as a person.

Why did I tell Zeid to leave?

My father was already pulling me along like I was nothing. I questioned everything in my father’s firm and painful grasp as I looked for Zeid again. How had he already gone? The look on his face as he’d backed away? Frightening. Like the crazy had been hiding since I met him and he was ready to let it out.

My mind hadn’t stopped running since they’d said they ran a gang. I was certain now, knowing how much information Zeid seemed to have, that they weren’t just one of the small little gangs in the city. If my father only knew.

Memories raced through my mind.

The knife made more sense. The gun too.

I tried to shake off my father. My arm throbbed where he gripped me.

“Useless. You had one job. Keep your legs and mouth shut and do as I asked. The judge is strategic for me; you will marry him.”

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