4. Rage would have been better
RAGE WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER
The doctor was intimately close to her when my eyes opened, his mouth inches away from her ear, and her face morphed into anger the longer he kept talking.
I rubbed my eyes, watching silently. Dozing off for fifteen minutes and waking up to this prick whispering in my wife’s ear was the last thing I wanted.
This doctor was the one everyone whispered about: the doll maker.
Dr. Avery was no ordinary man; he was a cold, heartless bastard.
I’d heard that what he did to women made me look like a teddy bear in comparison.
I studied the man as he bent over my Summer.
Tall, muscular build, black hair neatly styled in a professional manner, the man couldn’t have been less aggressive looking.
His charming appearance was an act; he was a monster like the rest of us.
He paused his whispers as if sensing my awakened state and stared at me. A moment later Summer’s eyes latched onto mine. Hateful glares that stabbed my soul. I cleared my throat and stood, stretching.
“I’m going to go call Jasper, see if he’s heard anything.” I grabbed my jacket and headed for the door.
They watched as I made my way across the room; when I came close to the bed, Summer flinched backwards. She still didn’t trust me. Sighing, I turned away and walked out the door.
“Jasper,” I spoke into the phone. A lit cigarette between my fingers as I pinched my nose in regret.
“Nothing yet boss. Out of the country we think. How’s Ms. Will— Um the Missus?
” Everyone knew Summer as Mia Williams; that wouldn’t change anytime soon.
I just had to hope she didn’t get a dick up her cunt and divorce me.
I’d never been the jealous type, and yet that damn doctor’s whispers in her ear set my head ablaze.
The nicotine should have pushed the headache away, but as I dragged an inhale and blew it out, there was nothing helping the unwanted emotion from subsiding.
Hesitation crept into me as I processed Midas’s absence. He didn’t have Gabriella.
“Fine.” I grunted. “Any word about the lawyer?”
“Obsidian has him in lockdown, nothing we can do about it right now. They’ve withdrawn from Riven for the most part, camped around New York.”
“Fuck.” I muttered. “Okay, and the shipment? Please tell me the fucking shipment is still on schedule.”
“Yes sir. Still on time.”
“Thank fuck. Okay I need you to do me a favor, and if you tell a soul…” I trailed off, letting the rest of the threat land harder.
“Yes sir. Of course.”
“Look into Midas’s Poker Games, follow the girls, it’ll lead you to the money trails.”
There wasn’t another way to do this, and truth be told, I had no idea if it would work, worse case scenario, I'd never see Summer again. Midas might have skipped town, but his money-makers were still here.
“Remember, don’t utter a single word. Especially to my wife.”
“Yes sir.”
I flicked the cigarette as the line died.
“What an interesting conversation.” Dr. Avery’s voice cut through the wind.
“Jesus fucking christ, say something next time.”
“No. Private conversations shouldn’t be held on the streets in broad daylight, any old fool may hear, your plan is flawed anyways. I doubt you’ll be able to recover the girl in time.”
“The fuck did you just say?” I pinned him against the brick, seething into his eyes.
“Simple terms for the brute, alright. You will fail. She will die. Six years old. Minimal intake. Temperature drop. You don’t have time. ” There wasn’t malice in his voice, only certainty.
“Go fuck yourself,” I shoved him off, heading back to Summer. The fuck did he know about starving children. The fuck did any of them know about survival.