Page 87 of All Your Hate
I don't like that she went out of her way to break my rules of staying put, but I can hardly be mad at her for wanting to get her hair done.
Message me when you're done. I'll come pick you up and pay then
Don't go anywhere else without telling me
A few minutes pass and I don’t hear anything more from her.
What are you getting done?
You’ll see
Show me
??I’m not going to disappear, you don’t need to text me every few minutes
Did she just use the skull and crossbones emoji for me? That's kinda cute.
I send her an emoji of a snake and an eye, telling her I’m keeping an eye on her.
There’s radio silence after that. Maybe I am being a bit overbearing, but anything could happen to her out here. Plus it’s making my skin feel tight being away from her.
“There’s another motel we could try—”
“Motel?” The word draws me back into whatever conversation I’ve been missing. Wynter mentioned being taken to what she thought might have been a motel.
“Yes, Noah,” my father says from his seat at the opposite side of the table.
“Until our stocks settle, I don’t think it’s wise to invest in anything.” A younger member of the team says, I think he’s called Brad or maybe it’s Chad. He's one of those types. The alpha male that eats protein powder for every meal and thinks a wife is only good for procreation. Well, I assume he does since I’m pretty sure he’s got five kids already and he’s barely pushing mid-twenties.
“What motel?” I repeat.
“Noah, if you were listening rather than sitting on your phone you’d know, and Brad,”knew it,“this is exactly why I suggest buying another motel. It’s the cheapest investment we can make right now.”
“What about the money from the investor? Are we just sitting on that? With the amount he’s given us we could easily start moving into other states again,” Francis says.
“That money is tied up at the moment, but as soon as we’re able to we’ll put it to good use.”
“What plans does he actually have for this company?” I ask. No one invests that much in anything without wanting something for themselves.
My father swallows loudly. “I can assure you he wants to see the business succeed.”
“I want a private meeting with him.”
“He’s a busy man, Noah. Now, back to the actual agenda. This motel doesn’t have the same qualities as Lakeview did, but as you know we had to sell that to help balance out our—”
“We still have Lakeview.” I recognize the name from the paperwork Janine sent me. My father’s signature is on the contract, but we’re not using it for anything.
“I wouldn’t get too excited about it, you can’t even see the Lake from there. I’ve been there a few times myself and believe me you wouldn’t want to stay the night,” Brad chuckles dryly.
Ignoring him I keep pressing my father. “There’s no paperwork saying you sold it. Why?”
My father’s silent for a moment before saying, “It must be filed incorrectly. I got rid of it months ago.” There’s something in his tone that tells me he’s lying. But why? He’s never been the type to keep secrets.
I’m restless for the rest of the meeting. I don’t hear anything more from Wynter, but she’s still at the salon. I keep having visions of turning up there and finding a pool of blood with only the tracker lying in it.
My father’s first to leave the room and he’s gone before I can talk to him. As everyone else leaves I call Brad over.
“You actually want to speak to me? I’ve worked here for five years and now you give me the time of day?”