Page 14 of The Devil's Heir
"Well, I figured you may want to know her movements, and I was able to track her up until she signed the papers to quit school."
"What the fuck do you mean, she quit school? She was a great student!" I say, my anger rising by the second.
"I don't know, Sir," my lawyer states. "The only reason she gave them was that she was moving."
"I'm going to need that address," I inform him and start my car.
"Um, well, that's the thing, Sir. There is no new address."
"What do you mean no new address? She has to be living somewhere!"
"It seems as though Liliana Sumner has fallen off the face of the earth, Sir. I can't find her anywhere."
I don't hear anything more of what he says as I slam my fist down on the center counsel between my seats and yell every swear word known to mankind. She cannot hide from me! I will find my little pauper and thenfind a way to keep her; fuck Carmen and what she says about my pauper! Carmen won't live forever, at least not if I can help it.
NINE
Liliana
"What do you mean, it's only worth three hundred dollars? I can tell you right now that this bracelet was probably at least four figures!" I tell the third and last pawn shop owner.
"I'll give you four hundred tops for it," the slimy owner states, looking bored.
There isn't much I can do about it; this shop is willing to pay the most, but I try again, "How about six hundred?"
Looking annoyed now because he's trying to watch a horse race on the old static television that sits in the corner of the counter, he gives me his last offer: "Five hundred. Now, either take it or get the hell out of here!"
"Okay, I'll take it." I hand him the bracelet and the box, and he gives me five crisp one-hundred-dollar bills.
I can't leave the foul-smelling shop any faster than I already am. The whole place has a haze of smoke from the owner's cigar; he must chain smoke daily...sheesh. Tucking the money away in my duffel bag, along with the rest of my savings, I head for the bus station. Even if I can only afford to move a few towns over, I'd still be better off than staying here.
Rushwood is a large city, and I know someone could probably get lost in it, but I can't take the chance. Something is telling me to run far away from this place, so that's exactly what I will do.
Not wanting to waste any money on cab fare has me walking through the seedier parts of town. Nobody dares come here because this is where the homeless live, and of course, everyone is scared of the homeless. Theyfear that whatever these people have that makes them poor will rub off on them, so they stay far away. This would be the perfect place to hide, but it's good that I'm getting out of here altogether.
I'm only about a block from the bus station when something or someone bumps into me, "Hey, watch where you're going!" An angry male voice growls at me.
I swing around, about to give him a piece of my mind, but stop immediately. I can't believe it. "Heath?"
"Liliana, is that really you?"
"Oh, my God!" I throw myself at my old foster brother from three years ago.
Heath Richards would have aged out two years ago but ran away from our abusive foster home. It's why I was removed from it and put with the Mallards, but Heath got the brunt of it because he was the oldest. He was also the only one I would ever consider a friend.
"What are you doing in these parts, Lily?" he asks, looking concerned for me.
I miss hearing his nickname for me, which makes me smile now. "I'm heading for the bus station. I need to get out of town."
He chuckles. "Why? Are you wanted by the law?"
I scoff. "I wish! No, I'm wanted by someone worse—Jarek Falcon."
"What the fuck does that prick want with you?"
"I don't know, and I don't want to stay and find out."
"How about you come back to my place and crash there for the night? We can catch up, and then you can tell me all about the Falcon dick."
