hinted that one of the Bennetts had something to do with Brooke’s disappearance, they would feel the full force of the Bennetts’ power.
It had happened before.
A reporter produced a full-hour show about the Bennett family, and she was fired the day it aired. There was no word about where she went. There were pictures of her later on blogs, but all with her shielding her face and hiding from the camera.
I never heard a peep about that reporter after that, and she never worked as a journalist again—I knew that much because a Google search of her name brought up nothing, not even from the channel that fired her.
“You going to work tomorrow?” Blade asked.
Shit. I jumped where I’d been sitting at my desk.
He leaned against my doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest. Today he wore a black tuxedo vest, still no shirt, and his dreadlocks were pulled back in a loose ponytail.
“Um…” I groaned. I’d had the last five days off for what the nursing home thought was a family vacation.
“You might want to get a spray tan, since, you know.” He smiled.
Since they all thought I’d been in Florida visiting a grandma who didn’t exist.
He was right. I had a tan from being outside and doing what yard work I could between our “errand” and my time watching the news, but it wasn’t a Florida tan.
I sighed. “I should go now. It’s my turn to cook tonight.”
His eyes got big. “Spaghetti? Please spaghetti?”
Blade enjoyed the gluten-free vegetable meatball spaghetti with zucchini noodles I made, and so did I. We worked to keep our bodies in the best shape for work reasons, but Carol wasn’t the same.
Carol was wild, adventurous, and a bit quirky.
She loved junk food and every new fad. Eggwhite Chips were the latest in a bunch of new creations she’d brought home. Her stomach was a block of cement. Put anything in it, and she’d crush it and ask for seconds. On the other hand, Blade’s stomach rebelled against processed food. I wasn’t as exciting; I just didn’t like it.
I only liked a few things: bread, some form of protein, and anything the world naturally kicked up. I usually filled up on berries or things I grew in the garden. So no, I I had not consumed the Eggwhite Chips the other night.
“Oh, and hey…” His voice dropped to his serious tone.
“Yeah?” I straightened up.
“I got a call this morning.” His eyes bore into mine. “You need to get off work this weekend. We have a pick up in the States.”
My mouth dried.
I nodded. “I’m on because I was off last weekend, but it won’t be a problem. I’ll take a holiday.”
Holidays were good bargaining chips, at least for me—for us. Normal people wanted their holidays off. They wanted to spend time with friends and family, but not us. It was the time immediately after a holiday or right before a holiday that we needed off.
People tended to have emergencies at those times, but not usually on the actual day.
He nodded as one of his alarms started beeping, and he headed for the living room to check it out.
I had to stop what was going on in my head.
I had to focus again.
Brooke Bennett was no longer my roommate. She wasn’t my best friend anymore. That had ended thirteen years ago. A lot of other crap had gone down in my life, changing the direction of everything.
I was no longer Bruce Bello’s daughter.
When my mom had died, so had his daughter. My death just took a different turn and a lot longer.
This was my life now.
I lived outside of Calgary, and yes, I was hiding. With Blade and Carol. We were doing a lot more than just hiding, though. And in light of that, I had things to do to help set up our next trip—or “errand” as Carol liked to call them—and one part of that was getting a spray tan.
I picked up my wallet and keys, and I headed for the door. Moments later I was pulling out of the driveway in our rusty ’72 Chevy truck.
• • •
“Back again, Raven?”
Raven. Not Riley.
I made a mental note to remind Carol and Blade to use my cover name. We’d all slipped over the last nine months, starting to use our real names around the house. To them I was Riley. Carol had never learned my last name, though I knew Blade knew, but keeping these secrets was a point stressed during our training.