Novels by Kemi hope

Kirrily "Rindy" povThe Man From the FilesThe zipper of the leather duffel bag caught against my fingers as I pulled it shut. The sound seemed far too loud in the quiet nursery.I took a slow breath, but it didn't help.My chest was still tight.On the changing table, my three year old son, Toby, pushed his wooden train along the edge, making little noises as he played. He had no idea that his mother was trying not to fall apart.Melbourne.I kept telling myself it was only a temporary trip.I needed to secure the offshore account my sister had left behind before everything collapsed. If I could get the money and the documents connected to it, maybe Toby and I could finally disappear somewhere,the Reyes cartel couldn't find us.I had to leave today.Staying in Byron Bay suddenly felt too dangerous."Mama?"I looked up.Toby was staring at me with his bright hazel eyes."Train go choo choo?"A small smile pulled at my lips."Yeah, baby. The train goes choo-choo."I crossed the room and knelt besid

THE DISTANCE I KEPTBanjo”Jaxson’s” povI had spent four years learning how to watch a woman without letting her know I was watching.Tonight, that distance felt like doing something wrong.The video from space moved unsteadily across the monitors in front of me, turning Byron Bay into a collection of cold images and moving shadows. Streets. Houses. Vehicles. Beachfront properties. Roads disappeared into darkness.And then I saw her.Kirrily.Even from thousands of feet above the ground, I knew the way she moved.She stepped out of a small building near the edge of town, pulled her jacket tighter around herself, and looked over her shoulder.My fingers stopped above the keyboard.She did that when she was nervous.Three years ago, she used to take a quick look over her shoulder twice.Now she has done it four times.Something had changed.I leaned closer to the screen.“Come on,” I whispered.Kirrily stood below a streetlight, her face was too small to make out clearly. A vehicle passed behind her

THE LION'S DEN Banjo "Jaxson" Lawson pov​Forty floors above the gray, rough swirling waters of Port Phillip Bay, the silence in the executive boardroom was heavy enough to crush a smaller man.​I sat at the head of a very heavy black hard rock conference table, my suit jacket unbuttoned, leaning back in the leather chair. Outside the floor to ceiling glass panels, rain lashed against the skyscraper, fading the Melbourne skyline into a sea of dirty looking charcoal and steel.​Across the table sat six men in tailor made three piece suits board members, institutional shareholders, men who thought power was measured in stock options and quarterly dividend returns. They were sweating under their expensive silk ties, their eyes darting nervously toward me, then toward the legal briefs resting in front of them.​"The board requires an immediate statement, Banjo," spoke up Arthur Sterling, the senior shareholder, his knuckles white as he tapped a fountain pen against his folder. "There are

THE PRICE OF SILENCE Kirrily "Rindy" Cross POV​Rain poured over the southern coast and dragged the sky down with it, turning the blue horizon into a darkened,sad looking.​I stood in the narrow doorway of my cottage, watching Toby splash in a slight shallow pool near the garden fence. He had his little red raincoat zipped up to his chin, his yellow rubber boots trampling into the muddy water with pure, unbothered joy. Every splash was loud, innocent, and bright against the oppressive silence of the crags.​I gripped the wooden doorframe, the damp wood digging into my palm.​Inside my coat pocket, the burned phone felt heavy, like a heavy weight pressed against my chest. Tahlia's warning echoed through my ear. “if you don't come, you will never know what happened to your sister”.​I had a large piece of heavy metal down my chest. closed my eyes and leaned my head against the door.​Stay, my instinct screamed at me. Stay in this quiet corner of Byron Bay. Lock the iron deadbol

THE SIREN'S CALL​Kirrily "Rindy" Cross pov​My heart didn't just beat, it slammed against my ribs like an iron fist trying to break through bone."Toby"​The scream tore out of my throat, raw and ragged as. I jumped over the window sill into the freezing ocean rain. The wet grass made smooth beneath my bare feet, almost sending me spreading out into the mud, but extreme fear gave me not normal balance.​The tall figure on the grass turned slowly. The flashing light of the red security light cut through the dark, catching the sharp outline of a jaw, broad shoulders wrapped in a rain-soaked leather vest, and the heavy skull, a symbol decorated with thread across his chest.​Before I could hurl myself at him, the man held up a massive, gloved hand.​"Easy, lass," a deep, rough voice called out not the cold gravel of Banjo Lawson, but a gruffer, older tone. "Your boy sounds asleep. Watched him crawl right out the window chasing a bloody frog in the dark."​I froze three paces away, my chest

SIGNALS IN THE DARK​ Kirrily "Rindy" Cross pov​Night in Byron Bay didn't fall softly; it collapsed like a dark, wet blanket over the cliffs. Outside the cottage, the wind had picked up, making a long,loud sound through the trees with long leaves and shaking the loose timber frames of the bedroom window.​Inside, the only sound was the steady, pattern rise and fall of Toby’s breathing.​I sat on the edge of his low mattress, one hand resting gently over his small chest, feeling the warmth of his body through his soft, warm pajamas. He turned in his sleep, his little fist holding tightly his worn very soft kangaroo, a faint sigh escaping his lips.​He’s safe. He’s right here. I repeated the words, trying to slow the desperate strong repeated sound in my chest.​An hour had passed since the gravel had made a cracking sound outside an hour in total, struggling to breathe silence. When I had gathered a little bit of courage, grabbed the fire stirring rod from the hearth, and looked closely