Semua Bab A Crazy Night with My Ex's Uncle: Bab 91 - Bab 100

AVAThe moment we stepped out of the hotel, I remembered I still had a wireless microphone clipped to the lining of my jacket.“Hold on,” I said, touching Alexander’s arm. “I still have the mic on me. I should return it to the tech team before we leave.”Alexander nodded, glancing at his watch. “No problem. Want me to come with you?”“It’ll just take a minute,” I assured him and he nodded again, leaning against a marble column.I retraced my steps back to the event space. Most attendees had moved to the demonstration stations or were networking over champagne and canapés.Spotting the audio technician near the stage, I made my way over and returned the microphone, thanking her for her work on the presentation. She assured me everything had gone perfectly from a technical standpoint.With that final responsibility discharged, I turned to rejoin Alexander.That was when someone bumped hard into me…hard enough to knock me slightly off balance. I felt a jolt shoot through my shoulder.“I’

AVA“I think that’s it,” I said to Bruno, who had parked our rental car a discreet distance from a house that looked to be in the same address as what we were looking for.Bruno surveyed the property with eyes from afar.“There aren’t many neighbors, the closest house looks to be about half a mile down the road.”I continued to stare at the building, remembering the cold fear in Heidy’s voice that I heard back then and now that the house looked to be in isolation it made my skin prickle with unease.I got out of the car, and Bruno was about to as well.“I'd like you to come with me, but maybe hang back a bit? I don't want to seem threatening right away,” I said, still holding the door handle.Bruno nodded as his body unfolded from the driver's seat.“I’ll stay two steps behind you.”We headed for the house. There were vehicles in sight by there was a detached garage to the side with its doors closed. The curtains were drawn across all the front windows, giving no hint of life inside.

“Cover your ears,” Bruno instructed herHe then took out his shot.Heidy pressed her palms against her ears as best she could with the limited mobility of the chains. Bruno aimed at the link of chain furthest from Heidy’s body. I stepped back.And then he took a shot through the chains at her ankles as well. Each crack of the gun made me jump, but thankfully the chain broke and he tucked the gun away and helped Heidy to her feet.“Can you walk?” he asked.Heidy tried to stand on her own but swayed weakly. Her legs were obviously weak from being restrained for a while.“I don’t know,” she admitted, her voice small.Bruno supported her weight against his side and helped bed. When we got out of the basement, I was shocked to see Heidy’s parents zip-tied to dining chairs in the living room. They glared at us and protested behind the kitchen towels Bruno had used to gag them.Bruno saw my surprised expression.“They weren’t cooperating, he said.”I urged us towards the door. “Come on. Let'

AVAI sat beside Heidy’s hospital bed, watching the steady rise and fall of her chest as she slept fitfully. I was particularly staring at the darkened bruise on her jaw and her right arm which was now properly set in a cast.The doctor confirmed there was a clean break of her radius, along with dehydration and some minor contusions.“She’ll recover physically and the rest will take time,” the doctor had said.What he didn’t know, and what none of us had known until Heidy finally broke down and told us everything in the police station was far worse than we’d imagined.These parents were trying to force their adult daughter into an arranged marriage. They planned to sell their own daughter as a surrogate to a wealthy man from their church…a man in his sixties who lost his wife and wanted an heir “from pure stock,” as her father, John, had so disgustingly put it.When I listened to Heidy recount the horror to the detective, it made my stomach tighten. She described how they first approa

BLAKEIt was my fourth, or maybe fifth drink of the night, but who the hell was counting anymore? Not me, and certainly not Jake and Damon, who were still going strong at the corner table laughing louder with every round of shots they took.“One more,” I said to the bartender with the blue hair who’d been eyeing me for the past hour.She wiped her hands on a rag tucked into her waistband. “You sure about that? Seems like you’ve had a rough night already.”I forced a smile “Just celebrating good news.”She didn’t look convinced but poured another shot anyway and slid it to me.I stared at the drink almost absentmindedly.Good news. Was that what one calls finding out the woman you spent eight years loving was marrying someone else?I tossed back the shot and dropped some cash on the counter before standing up. I pretended the room wasn’t tilting slightly.“I’m heading out,” I told Jake.He squinted at me through the haze of alcohol.“Already? The night’s still young.”“Some of us have