CHAPTER SIX

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[PRISON VISIT, THE PLAN, AND TOXIN]

Today was the day.

In fact, Mari was sitting in the prison waiting room with Natasha.

Well, Natasha was at the counter trying to sway the receptionist guard into letting her and Mari visit Louis.

See, the problem was that they weren't on the list.

And Mari Zollas was dead, of course. See Mari, in the waiting room, had shifted into a young girl with fire red hair who resembled Natasha.

The girl's name started with an S.

Sophie, that's it.

Sophie sat beside a man who was weeping and across from a girl Mari's age with blue hair.

Sophie kept her head down while Natasha did one of her many things: get her way. Natasha pulled every string: throwing money, showing cleavage, and promising not to say anything.

Hell, she'd act as Louis's wife if she needed to.

The guard gave way and pointed the way for Natasha and the little girl.

The two red heads made their way down a cement hallway to a room divided completely by plexiglass. At least three inches thick.

Like the prisoners were replaced by lions...

Natasha sat in the first stall, with Sophie in her lap. A number of guards stood in every corner. Within minutes, Louis appeared and sat on the other side.

He took up the phone as Natasha did.

"How are you?" Natasha asked.

"It's prison. How do you think I am?" he bit at her.

"Okay... Well, I wanted to talk to you about some things."

"So talk," he said roughly.

Sophie looked at the man before her. Suddenly, he seemed like he wasn't a brother, a man, a human. Suddenly, he seemed like a lion, and a very tired lion.

A lion who wasn't good at being a lion.

"First, I'd like to tell you that Nina is in our care. Both she and your mother consented to us training her and helping her to grow for a short time. Second," she lower her voice, "Mari is in our care. At this moment, she's right here."

Then to normal volume, "Sophie, do you want to say hi?"

The girl took the phone, and said plainly, "Hi Louis."

He looked from the little girl to Natasha.

Mari was flat with her face and voice, treating him like the tired lion he was.

toxin | parker | book twoOù les histoires vivent. Découvrez maintenant