“You find anything?”
“I did the digging as you requested, it’s taken a while, but I think I found something.”
“Does it involve the aunt?”
“There’re rumors she hires a few low-life scum to take care of the problems she doesn’t want to deal with from time to time. She believes she has the funds to buy their silence, but I hold something greater—their loyalty. The few around here who are familiar with her have admitted to helping make people disappear. Aura’s name didn’t come up, but I wouldn’t put it past her, especially with the price Aura’s head would’ve fetched from her family if they were to find out when she was first taken.”
“One word of her potential worth as heiress to the family’s botanical empire, and every cockroach with a bill to pay would’ve been crawling out of their holes from across the country to get a piece of her. Not only is her aunt a slimy snake, but she’s also an intelligent one, which makes her all the more dangerous. It has to be her… I can feel it in my bones. She’s the only person who’d benefit from her niece disappearing without a trace or a name, for that matter.”
“My thoughts exactly. She needs to be thoroughly questioned. What will you do?”
“It’ll have to wait. I can’t talk about it right now. Aura is surrounded by the rest of her family, so I have to believe they’re capable of keeping her safe as an adult.”
“And if they aren’t? If she’s hurt under their watch?”
“There’s only one true killer in town, and it’s me. They’ll learn as much the hard way, should they push me.”
“It will be their funerals, brother. I’ve got your back, always.”
“Appreciate it and for you passing along the information.”
“No problem. I’ll hit you up if I hear anything else.”
“Sounds good. Later.” I hang up and tuck my phone away.
As I’m stepping toward the bathroom, Aura’s aunt enters the foyer. I quickly duck around the nearest corner, so she misses me. I’m close enough to hear anything going on and also peek around for a visual if needed.
“I told you she was back!” she vehemently whispers toward the man. I’ve never seen him before, but he could be part of the staff. “I thought it was a phony, but one look at her, and there’s not a doubt in my mind she’s my brother’s child. You have to do something. We’ll get nothing if she’s alive. I told you when she was a baby, and you promised to deal with it. All this time I believed she was dead, so imagine my surprise when I discovered that was never the case! I swear I’m surrounded by incompetent idiots.”
His hands go up, attempting to calm the snarling terror of a woman. “I took care of it and gave her away to a skin trader. It wasn’t only her but also three other little bitches. He was selling them all off to some high-scale bidder. How was I supposed to know your niece would show up unharmed?”
“This isn’t good. This can’t be happening. She has to disappear again, and this time for good.”
“What are you saying?” he asks, and she replies bluntly.
“Kill her.”
My hands begin to shake, so I curl them into fists. Now’s not the time to go out half-cocked and declare them guilty. Of course, they are, I just heard them talking, but I need a plan first. Rich people don’t just go down without some sort of a fight. Usually, it’s the opposite, and they twist the trouble around to bring the turmoil to you tenfold.
My heart’s thundering in my chest so loudly it’s hard to hear anything at all for a beat. I breathe deeply, attempting to still my thoughts and slow my pulse. I’ve done this too many times to count, lay and wait for my chance to pounce. Lord, will I ever with these two? I only need the perfect chance to come along.
Pulling my phone out again, I hit the record feature. I’m sure it’s too far away to pick up their voices, but it’s still a shot I don’t plan to waste.
“Grab her tonight. We don’t have any time to waste,” Diana orders, and the guy dips his head in submission, ready to do her dirty work.
“If there’s an opportunity to grab her, I will,” he promises. Little does he know I won’t ever allow it to come to fruition. I’ll get her to safety as soon as they end this secretive meeting of theirs.
“Make one if you have to, I don’t care. Just get it taken care of. This is all your fault. We’d never be in this mess if you’d killed her already.”
“I said I’ll handle it.”
“You better,” she hisses, sounding more serpent than human. It wouldn’t surprise me if she was some vile creature from hell, come to steal the joy from others.
Evil psychotic bitch.
I’m too focused on the pair that I don’t pay my phone any attention. My hand grows sweaty with my nerves and anger, so the cell falls from my grip. I lunge forward, attempting to catch the small rectangle before it lands, but it’s no use. It clamors to the ground with a ‘thwack’ sound, and with it, I glance toward the couple only to realize my hiding spot has been exposed.
The guy rushes at me unexpectedly, hitting my stomach full force. We fall to the floor, him having the upper hand from catching me off guard. I’ve been doing this for far too long, though, and quickly recover enough to climb on top and rain fists below. I bust his face up, blood going everywhere. Once I start, I don’t anticipate stopping with this guy. I was willing to formulate a plan to catch the two in the act of messing with Aura, but I’ll take killing him with my bare hands as an option as well.
“You, stupid boy, you never know when to keep your nose out of other people’s business.” I hear beside me before shocks overtake my body. I can feel where the metal prongs from her taser are latched on to me, but the unit is far too strong for me to fight it completely. All I can do is freeze my muscles up and jolt around on the floor while she pumps enough amps in me to fry my brain and reflexes until tomorrow. Drool spills from my mouth like a weak punk as I continue to shake, then a sharp crack to the back of my head has everything fading to complete blackness around me.
I’m fucked.
Chapter Ten
AURA
Hunter left without me. The thought hits me repeatedly while I stand staring off into space, uncertain of what I should be doing. I can’t believe he’s gone without even a backward glance.
I’ve said hello to so many people and thanked them for coming that it’s turned into an automatic response at this point. If I’ve hurt their feelings or upset them otherwise, I can’t bring myself to care. I don’t know any of them, even if a few do state they knew me as a child. I was a toddler when I went missing, so surely, they can’t expect me to remember any of them. I struggled just thinking of my parents at times on the island, I even cried occasionally because I felt like they were fading from my memory.
“How are you holding up, my sweet girl?” my father asks as he moves to stand beside me.
What would he say if I told him I’m a bit heartbroken, confused, and tired? Mix those three, and I’m the trifecta of an emotional woman searching for where things went wrong when they’ve merely just begun. “I’m fine,” I reply instead, feeling anything but the sort.