Psycho Billionaire

Chapter Thirteen

Kiara

One Hour Ago

I couldn"t believe I was going through with this. I"d taken a huge risk, I was riding in one of Lucas"s car with his assistant, Dale. He was an angry looking thug, red hair, piercing green eyes with a jagged scar running from his cheek and disappearing down his neck. He seemed like he could handle fighting a dozen men easily, and that made me feel a little less concerned about Jasper coming after me.

Dale could handle Jasper. Than I thought, Jasper was a psychopath and a calculative one at that, he would kill Dale without batting an eye.

"You need to go faster." I urged him.

"What are you so worried about?" Dale asked.

"If Jasper finds me, you have no idea what he can do." I hugged myself, leaning more into the soft leather seat. "He will probably kill you and torture me within an inch of death." A shudder ran down my body.

"I"ve known him for the past six years, so I know I"m playing with fire." He wrapped his fingers around mine. "You need to be strong."

"I have to first stop at my mom"s for a minute, I need to talk to her."

It took about an hour to reach the trailer park where my mom lived. The time was just after eleven am and that meant mom gone to bed. I hated to wake her up but this was urgent. I couldn"t stay here because it was the first place that Jasper would look for me.

I told Dale to wait in the car and tiptoed towards my home. Didn"t want to wake up the neighbors who had probably heard rumors about me. I didn"t want to complicate things.

I knocked on the door once. "Mom, it"s me Kiara."

There was no response.

I knocked once more and called out to her. When I knocked the third time, I heard the sound of footsteps and the door swung open.

I stared at a middle aged man with a receding hairline and a protruding belly staring at me in confusion.

Who was this man? Had my mom moved on already?

I wondered if I"d knocked on the wrong house. Had three months with Jasper rusted my memory?

The man leered at me, his eyes scanning from bottom and resting on my face. I knew what he was thinking. What was a well-groomed girl in expensive clothing doing in this part of the town?

"May I help you?" he asked.

"I"m looking for my mother, Julie Reeves. Is she here?"

"Julie Reeves?" The man scratched his head. "She doesn"t live here."

"Then where is she? Do you know where my mother is?" I was going to start brawling in tears.

Had things really changed so much while I was away?

The man nodded slowly. "I"m not sure, she used to rent this place before me, but I heard the neighbors say that she moved to Sunny Heights."

This wasn"t possible. Sunny Heights was the richest part of this town. How could my mother afford to live in Sunny Heights when she couldn"t even afford to pay the rents of this place. I used to work at a restaurant and help pay the bills.

"Okay. Thank you." I said and started walking towards the car when I halted and walked back to him. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure."

"If a man shows up asking you if I was here, just say I had and tell him that I mentioned leaving for Carmel."

The man nodded. I thanked him and walked back to the car in a daze. If Jasper showed up here assuming that I"d be here, then he would be misguided to drive two hours into another town.

I slid into the car waiting for me. "Where to?" Dale asked.

"Sunny Heights."

****

To look for my mother without a proper address was like looking for a grain in the ocean, so I called Casey, the owner of our previous home, and asked her if she knew about the new address that my mom had moved to. Fortunately, Casey knew about it because apparently she had helped mom during the move. I was thankful she didn"t inquire where I"d been for the past three months.

"Are you sure you brought me to the right place, Dale?" I asked, looking at the piece of paper and back at the house.

Dale chuckled. "You sure your mom didn"t find a genie in the past few months while you were gone?"

I"d started to wonder the same. Maybe Mickey Mouse was a real person too.

My mother"s new house was beautiful and nothing that I"d imagined would be. A brown bricked modern two story house with a white picket fence. Trimmed lawn and all. This s**t was posh. Had my mother remarried to some rich bastard?

Dale parked the car in the shadows like I told him to; didn"t want to take any risks.

I rang the bell and waited. I rang once again and I saw the curtains move and close. The door opened finally and my hands flew to my mouth as I suppressed a loud sob that was about to erupt from within.

My mother stood at the doorway, dressed in a silky maroon robe. Her black hair dyed blonde, and the tired bags that used to be under her eyes had vanished. She looked so much younger and better, like a posh lady that went to Sunday brunch with her friends and drove expensive cars and did charity for fun.

Her eyes swam with tears, I wrapped her in a hug and cried my eyes out on her shoulder. She then closed the door and led me inside. The living area was impressive with furniture that matched with the drapes. A flat screen mounted against the wall.

Mom smiled at me. "Would you like some tea, my dear?"

I shook my head. "I"m good." I had to leave soon; Jasper would probably be here looking for me. "Mom, I need to talk to you."

We settled on the couch, mom took my hand in hers. My tears started spilling out. I had questions about her moving to this place, I wanted to ask her where she got the money from or if she had moved in with a wealthy man, but first I needed to get everything off my chest and fast. If I"d found mom"s address so easily, I knew Jasper would too, and I didn"t want to think what would happen then.

"I was kidnapped." I confessed.

Mom appeared to be shocked by my revelation.

I continued, "His name is Jasper Lockhart and he is a wealthy business tycoon, owner of Lockhart Industries." I blew my nose in a tissue. "He is also a sick bastard who likes to play stupid mind games." Some more crying, "He knows about dad"s death, and he is blackmailing me and using that piece of information to his advantage. He has connections, mom. He will come looking for me, so I can"t stay here much longer."

Mom nodded, her expressions impassive. I think this was all a little too much for her to handle, or she thought I"d gone bonkers and cooking up stories. "You seem hungry, honey, I made macaroni and cheese. Would you like some?"

"Yes, of course." It"d been a while since I had mom"s food. I was craving for it.

She walked into the kitchen and stuffed a plate full of macaroni and cheese into the microwave oven for heating. A few minutes later I was devouring the food.

"So, how did you move in here?" I asked her.

She shrugged. The thin lines on her forehead creased. "Your grandfather left us a small fortune in his will."

I barked out a laugh, "I wouldn"t call this small, Mom. Did grandpa win some kind of a lottery before he died?"

My grandfather used to live on a farm before. To think grandpa would leave tons of money in his will seemed unlikely, considering the fact that he barely made much out of the farming and spent most of his time watching television and boozing on beer. Something was not right. My mother was definitely hiding something.

Before I could say another word, the doorbell rang and there was a brief knock at the door. My heart sped up. "It could be Jasper. If it"s him, please don"t tell him I"m here, okay? I need somewhere to hide."

Another loud pounding.

Mom quickly told me to go into the bedroom and hide in the walk-in closet. I rushed into the master bedroom and slipped into the walk-in closet and hid myself behind the hanged clothes that were lined up.

A minute later I heard the sound of retreating footsteps. The closet was dark, but there was a small gap in the corner of the door where I could peep out and see what was going on.

I heard the bedroom door creak open and a voice that said, "Where is she?"

My heart was pounding so hard, I thought it would leap out of my chest. It was Jasper"s voice. I could recognize that deep voice even in my sleep; the voice that gave me goosebumps, the voice that stole away my good night"s sleep.

"She isn"t here." I heard mom say.

Jasper looked around the room and I prayed that he would keep away from the closet. If he spotted me, I was finished. I knew for a fact that he wouldn"t just kill me, he would torture me and make sure that I begged for death.

If I was caught, it would be game over.