Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 29349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 117(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 117(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
My spine straightens at the mention of it, at the use of the slur. They used her sexuality to rile the family, and for what? “You bastard.”
“I didn’t say it bothered me, but you can bet your bottom dollar it upset Volos.”
“You made sure it came out in interview.” I’m putting it all together, imagining how frightened that girl was, how she would have known it would get back to her father. “You fucking piece of shit. What did that achieve, huh? You know she died, right?”
“Good riddance. Don’t kid yourself that this girl would have been anything except another scumbag. But I didn’t kill her, Agent Divine. Her family did that. They kicked her out, made her live on the streets. She wound up dead six months after the interview, I can hardly be blamed for that.”
I’m seething. So that’s what happened? He made sure the truth came out and it led to that poor girl’s death. And what about Apollo? What about how much it must have hurt him to lose his twin sister like that?
“I’m hanging up now. Don’t call me again because I quit,” I tell him. I want to go to Apollo. I want to hold him, I want to tell him I know and let him share that pain.
But before I can end the call, Jackson shouts into the phone.
“Yeah? Well, you’d better hear some truths of your own before you make that decision, sweetheart.” He laughs. “Oh, you’re going to find out what sort of a monster you’re throwing your lot in with.”
“I don’t care. I know what he’s done, I—”
“Don’t think you know this. Number one. Yesterday, a man went missing from a fucking hospital ward. Three hours later, his corpse washes up on the shore of the river, and he’s been through some kind of hell. Broken fingers. Bones smashed with a heavy instrument, probably a baseball bat. Teeth missing, pulled out one by one while the guy was still alive. Balls cut off with something blunt.”
I shake my head, clearing it of the image. “So what? Bad things happen every day—”
“This guy, he had only one ear. Ring any bells?”
I draw a quick breath. Pete. No, it doesn’t make any sense. Apollo let him go. He wouldn’t…
Or would he?
“Of course, we can’t prove it was Volos,” Jackson goes on. “That was always the problem, wasn’t it? That’s why you were sent in there in the first place. But I think you know it was him. Right? I mean, you know exactly who I’m talking about.”
“Wait, how do you… You know, don’t you? You had someone watching me and they did nothing when that guy was going to…” I think back to that night. How afraid I was. And Jackson knew and did nothing? We’re supposed to be the good guys, and the only person who bothered to come to my aid was one of the bad guys? “You fucking—”
“Oh, fuck you, Cassandra. Our guy couldn’t see anything, not properly, and if I’d sent him in it would have blown your cover. I made a decision for the good of the operation, a lesson you could learn. Anyway, that’s number one. Number two is, your new best friend has a dossier on you. He knows exactly who you are, Cassandra. That’s why I needed to speak to you urgently. Looking out for my number one agent, though you don’t seem too pleased about it. You need to grab the evidence and get out of there, right now. You bring it to me, we’ll see how generous I’m feeling. Otherwise, you’re on your—”
I end the call, a shiver running down my spine. Very carefully, I turn on the stair toward the sound I just heard. The tiniest creak. My heart is thundering as I look up to the landing.
And right into the eyes of Apollo Volos.
“How long?” I ask him, wondering how quickly I could get to the door right now.
But even if I did, he has guards on the gate. Would they just let me through? Not if he called and told them not to.
Fuck. Think, Cassandra. There has to be a way out of this.
“Long enough to hear that motherfucker hung you out to dry—”
“Not how long have you been standing there, how long have you known who I am?”
“Oh. That.”
Apollo is dressed in boxers and nothing else. His wide, heavy torso is fully on display, the way it was when we…
Such power. Such strength. He could have killed me then if he wanted to but he didn’t. That means something, right? He must have already known who I was but he did nothing I didn’t ask for, nothing I didn’t want just as much as he did.
“Two weeks,” he says. “My son, Camilo, he brought me a file. What did Jackson say to you?”