Page 156 of Playing the Game
Looking at it now, I see what everyone’s been saying all along. This place is tiny and not more than a step above a three-star hotel. I laugh out loud at the realization.
Tom just stares at me like I’ve lost my mind. I don’t care. It’s too funny to go unnoticed.
My phone rings, so I pull it out of my pocket. Hunter’s name shines on the screen.
“Hi, Hunter.”
“Hi, Dorothy. I’m calling to let you know I’m on my way down. The car is meeting us in the back parking lot.”
I walk to the window and peer down at the street. “Did you not get my note?”
“No. What note?”
“I had to leave, so I left you a note on Jami’s door. I’m at my loft. My landlord?—”
“Is your bodyguard with you?” Hunter’s voice booms through the phone.
“Of course. Why?” My heart rate shoots through the roof for reasons I’m not clear of.
“Stay in his sights, and whatever you do, don’t leave.”
“Okay, but why do you sound so upset?”
Right as I ask the question, two large men kick through the door and pummel Tom to the floor. I scream and try to grasp what’s happening. My body trembles as I hold my phone for dear life.
Hunter yells for me at the top of his lungs. “Dorothy! What is happening?”
The two guys take turns beating Tom. Blood splatters all over the clean white walls as he grunts with each blow he takes.
Something moves in the corner of my eye.
“Dorothy! Answer me,” Hunter yells.
My blood drains from my limbs when Isabella steps toward me with a gun pointed right at my heart. Another woman stands at her side with a gleam in her bright green eyes that could cut a diamond.
She focuses on me. “Dorothy Fisher, you have caused more than enough trouble. It’s time I take you out once and for all.”
My gaze bounces from Isabella to the other woman. I’m frozen with my hands cupped around my phone where it’s being held at my chest. Hunter’s still screaming into the line.
Isabella jerks the gun toward me. “Hang up.”
Every cell in my body tells me the second I do, I lose my lifeline. I wrap my fingers around it tighter.
“I said hang up. We have some business to attend to.” Isabella steps toward me as the two guys restrain Tom up in a hogtie.
Oh shit, I’m going to die today.
Please make it quick.
“Drop the phone, Dori!” Isabella screams at the top of her lungs.
I jerk, and my phone flips out of my hand and crashes to the floor. Isabella digs her boot heel into it, cracking it into pieces that scatter along the floor.
The two guys get up and hurry to my side. Each man takes one of my arms.
“Do you really think one man could save you?” Isabella snarls.
“I…didn’t… No.” My legs go numb, and I sway. One of the guys yanks me back to awareness so I don’t pass out.
Isabella gets a foot before me. “Dori, I’d like you to meet Joan Venturi, Hunter’s mother.”
My eyes slide to her as my breath stills.
The woman with bright green eyes joins Isabella. “Dorothy Fisher. You’re quite the problem child.”
My mind goes blank. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
Joan’s evil smile grows. “It means it’s time to meet your maker.”
The End…For Now
