Page 77 of Preying Heart
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Another day passes and my burner phone rings. I can’t believe it. Who would be calling me? I scramble to answer it in case it’s news about Heath and Lucy. Or my brother calling me back.
“Hello? Is everything okay?”
“Well, well, Remi, my dear, it’s so lovely to hear your voice.”
It’s Gavin.
I freeze. My teeth chatter, and my hand tightens into a claw gripping the phone. I can’t breathe.
“What’s wrong, darling? Are you surprised I found you?”
I force myself to speak. It does no good for me to chicken out.
“Where’s Slade? What have you done to him?”
“So accusatory, my dear,” he says. “I’ve been worried about you. Kidnapped by your own brother. Tell me, he took your money, didn’t he?”
“Let me talk to him. Where is he?”
“He’s in big trouble.”
“Back in jail?”
“Worse. You don’t know much about your brother, do you? I took chances on him due to my concern for you, but your brother’s a bad man.”
“He makes mistakes, but he doesn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
“I’m afraid this time he’s in way over his head.”
I know I shouldn’t speak to Gavin. He could be lying through his teeth. Shouldn’t I already know he lies more than he speaks the truth? But what has Slade done? Or what is Gavin framing him for?
“What has he done?” I ask in a flat, disinterested voice to hide my pounding heart.
“Sex trafficking.”
“What? No way. I don’t believe you. Where is he? Has he been arrested?”
“I can’t go into details over the phone.”
I wasn’t born yesterday. Gavin is obviously using my brother to get to me. I wouldn’t even be speaking to him if I hadn’t connected with Slade on the burner phone.
“I want to speak to him. Otherwise, I’ll conclude you stole his phone and started calling back everyone who called him just to see if I was one of them.”
“Here I am, making a courtesy call, and you’re accusing me. Typical.” He puts on his aggrieved tone. “Listen, I don’t much care what happens to Slade, but he’ll never survive prison—not when he’s caught raping a child.”
“He what?”
The line goes dead, and I hit redial.
The phone rings and rings. It cuts to voicemail.
No! Gavin can’t drop a bombshell like that and let it go.
There’s no way Slade did what he’s being accused of. My brother’s a con man and a gambler. He’s always into making a quick buck. But he’s not a sex offender.
I try again, but Gavin isn’t picking up.
