Page 72 of Hide From Me

“She wasn’t murdered. She threw herself out in traffic.”

Static filled my ears, and I was sure I’d heard him wrong.

“What? No. No, she loved me.”

He looked bored.

“Yes, well. Rich people do stupid things.”

Rich people?

“Now I know you have the wrong person. We couldn’t even afford the name brand Ramen noodles. There was one placewhere we slept in the bathtub because of the shootings that happened at all hours of the day. Rich? I don’t think so.”

The lighting up here played tricks on me. The windows in the unfinished area let in some of the rising sunlight, but the plastic and scaffolding cast odd shadows. I swear something moved, but when I looked back, it didn’t seem like anything was there. The area behind us, the part that looked done, was just dark.

“What is this place?”

He walked slowly towards me. It was unnerving.

“This is your namesake. Your mother lied to you. Your aunt obviously never tried to tell you who you were, but she did send your family a very flavorful letter. You for your inheritance.”

What the actual fuck?

“If I were so rich, why did I have to get scholarships for school? I had to look at apartments that had rats in them.”

I watched his steps, trying to find sense in anything he was saying. He put one foot in front of the other. Heel, toe, heel, toe. He walked oddly.

“I figured you would have a lot of questions. Your mother kept you from the money. She was a very sick woman.”

Sick woman?

“My mom was sad, but she wasn’t sick. And wouldn’t my aunt have been a problem too? Why were both of them poor? Why did my mom never even mention this aunt until someone from child services placed me with her?”

This wasn’t adding up. The room was spinning, but as I pulled in a deep breath, it steadied. I was hyperventilating, and I needed to stop.

“Yes, well, money does terrible thing to people. Doesn’t it?”

“I’m sorry, what?”

He stood right in front of me now and I hadn’t even realized how close he was.

“I was hired to find the heiress to the Whitehall fortune. I’ll admit, it was a dead end because your mother went to extremes to hide you. No one even knew she had a daughter. This is wonderful news.”

I blinked several times.

“It is?”

He smiled, and I didn’t like the look of it. Some people had wonderful, happy smiles. Others had a smile that said you could trust them. Cas? His was dark, but behind it was a man who hungered for something. This guy? He was devoid of a soul.

“Well, it is for me. You see, the elder Whitehall has defaulted on paying me. I was promised a large sum for finding his daughter. Not your aunt, she was written off for whatever reason, but your mother?”

His hand slipped from where it had been behind his back. It was empty, but when he came towards me to push my hair behind my ear, I wrinkled my nose at the idea of him touching me.

“But my mother what?”

I took a step back.

“It appears your mother was not, and therefore, you are her heir. So here’s my business proposal. I help you get this money.”

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