Semua Bab Save Him: Bab 1 - Bab 10

[Three Months Earlier...] 'Money or Fame?' 'Fame!' It was the same set of questions. Same two friends. Todd and Ben. The rules were still the same too. Two choices. Pick an answer. No wasting time. The only difference was they were now fifteen minutes away from their destination. The bus driver had just informed them of their ETA, pretty much the same way a pilot gives a weather update before making a descent. She wouldn't have ordered the ham and cheese sandwich if she knew how close they were. She wasn't hungry anymore. 'Batman or Superman?' Of course, now and then, they switched things up a bit and threw in a random question or two. It was the only way to pass the time without slitting each other's throats. Eight hours in a stiflingly hot bus was enough to turn anyone into a mass murderer. To stay sane, she'd spent her eight hours on the game between the two friends across the aisle and the serial killer paperback she'd picked up on a whim at the bus station. A hundred pages

Saints was already buzzing with the usual Monday afternoon rowdiness when they arrived. The place was packed, and not just from their colleagues. The bar was a crowd-puller every day—except Sundays because it was closed—attracting an impressive number of patrons from the big five banks and several tech startups in the Central Business District. Natalie clutched Emily's hand, squeezing through the mass of sweaty but smartly-dressed drunken bodies as they made their way to a miraculously free corner booth near the restrooms. "What do you want to drink?" Emily yelled over the blaring music, a catchy tune from last summer but still played to death on all the radio stations. "I'll have a margarita!" Natalie shouted back. Emily said something about hopping over to the bar to get their drinks. Natalie waved her off and checked her emails but quickly closed them when she saw too many zeros in the quote from Amber. There was no way she could afford that on her salary. To her relief, Lennie

The dreaded phone call turned into one of their ugliest fights when Levi informed his parents he had nothing new to report."What do you mean you didn't find her? What the hell were you doing for the last three months? No doubt fucking random whores in shady hotels. You were always irresponsible. You only had one job, Levi—to find your sister!" Charles Leviticus Van Holt Senior went berserk on him, accusing him of all sorts of crazy things, including being the most incompetent son in the world.Levi couldn't say he was surprised. Colleen was always the favourite child. A true daddy's little girl who could do no wrong in their father's eyes.She was the impulsive and reckless one of the two of them. But for some inexplicable reason, her disappearances always fell squarely on Levi's shoulders.Cynthia Strauss, his mom, tried to defend him, but Leviticus quickly shot her down, not giving her a chance to get a word in edgewise. Nobody could talk any sense into him when he was in one of his

Plagued by worry for her brother and tempted by Emily's offer, sleep didn't come easy for Natalie that night.She wriggled about in her bed for a while, trying to get into a comfortable position before giving up any illusions she had about getting a peaceful night's rest.She sat up, turned on the light on her nightstand, and reached for her phone, her heart bleeding a little at the massive crack on the screen. She still had eighteen months of payments left on the contract, and now with Jamie's medical expenses, it would be a while before she could get it fixed.The group chat with all her friends back home was dead. Nothing new in Sparrow Beach. No salacious gossip or groundbreaking scandals.Disappointed, Natalie scrolled through the Hot Connexions App.Only one of the eight 'connexion' suggestions was her type. Swiping left on her screen, she turned down the seven and focused all her attention on Lucas Southey.Not his real name, of course.They never used their real names.But he t

When the clock struck 5:00 PM the day after Natalie met with Aunty Viv, she was thrilled to finally lock her work laptop away in her cabinet.She'd had a mother of a day with too many reverts on her reports and didn't plan to work overtime tonight. She'd given Chassis enough of her time already."Atta girl!" Emily nodded her approval. She never worked overtime.She dropped Natalie off at a boutique in Rock Castle for the start of her three-day program.As Natalie tried on the outfits Aunty Viv had picked, she wondered if all escort agencies offered training or only those catering to a wealthy clientele.The clothes were stylish and elegant. Nothing like the slutty dresses Natalie had imagined she would have to wear. But the price tag on each outfit was enough to send her into a mini-crisis and the nearest Medi Clinic for heart failure."I can't afford this!" she told the store clerk when she saw the invoice."Don't worry; Vivienne took care of it.""Thank you!" Natalie nodded as she re