Page 112 of Flame
He takes an unfamiliar phone out of his pocket, then hits a few buttons. It begins to ring. Finally, a voice speaks.
“Yes?” the person on the other end says.Who is he talking to? Why does he have another phone?
So he can’t be found?
I struggle to breathe.
“Rory, I’m here with our daughter. Say hi, sweetheart.”
“Mom?” I ask, my voice cracking.
“Bianca, are you okay?”
“Mom? What’s happening?”
Dad glowers my way. “I’ll tell you what’s fucking happening. You spoiled brat kids and your worthless mother—”
“Hey!” I say, starting to stand.
He points the gun at me again. So I sit.
“You’ve taken everything away from me,” he says. “You took my life, my home, my money, my job.My dignity.”
“No, you took your own dignity. You can’t blame that on anyone but yourself.”
He laughs angrily. “You think you’re so damn cute, don’t you? Well, how cute will you be if your mom’s head gets blown off today?”
“What?”
Mom whimpers.
My stomach drops, panic shooting through me.Who has my mother?
“Yeah. You had to stick your nose where it didn’t belong and fuck up my deal with the Downings.” His voice rises. “Then you had to run your ass down here and marry that son of a bitch Carmichael just to twist the knife a little more.”
My teeth chatter from the adrenaline coursing through me at sonic-level speed.
“I didn’t want it to be this way, Bianca. I really didn’t.”
He moseys my way with a swagger that doesn’t compute.
“I tried to warn you, but you didn’t listen,” he says, standing over me. “You should’ve listened to the email.”
“I didn’t get an email from you.”
“Yes, you did.”
What’s he talking about?
“Here’s what you’re going to do. You are going to transfer a large sum of money to the Downings, and then you’re going to transfer another amount to an offshore account so I can start a new life away from you all,” he says, regripping the gun. “And if you don’t, your mom will go night-night.”
Tears cloud my vision. “Why are you doing this, Dad?”
His chest puffs up. “Because I worked my whole fucking life for you and your fucking brothers and that whore.”
“Don’t talk about her like that.”
He grins angrily. “Ihave the gun. Remember?” He shows it to me in case I’ve forgotten. “Once upon a time, I had to borrow money to purchase our first franchise. Do you remember?”
