Earthbound : A gripping crime thriller full of twists and supernatural suspense Fynn Perry (if you liked this book TXT) đ
- Author: Fynn Perry
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âWe need to find somewhere safe for you to stay. Somewhere that El Gordito and his men canât find you. I canât be certain any more that he wonât see you as a loose end and come after you.â
Lazlo shrugged off their apparent lack of emotion at this devastating news and continued. âI could get you into a safe house, off the record, but it would mean trusting a few other people in order to deactivate the alarms and cameras and to take you completely off-grid.â
Jennifer looked at John, who was standing behind Lazlo and shaking his head.
âItâs too dangerous,â John said to her. âSantiago will find out somehow. We canât trust anyone, not even Lazlo. I have somewhere for you both to stay. Just tell him you already have a safe place.â
Jennifer gave John a look meaning Are you sure?
âYes!â John pressed.
âWe have a place. We donât want anyone to know about it,â she said awkwardly, glancing at David, whose look said he had no idea what she was talking about.
Lazlo picked up on her fatherâs confusion. âI need to get some papers from another room. Itâll give you two time to agree where youâll be staying,â he said as he got up and left them alone.
âWhat are you talking about, Jen?â David asked immediately. Lazlo was out of the room.
âThatâs what I was about to ask John. Dad, wait, a second.â
She turned and looked at John expectantly.
âMy father bought a second apartment in the building where we live in Brooklyn Heights,â John enthused. âHe was trying to rent it, but his asking price was too high, then he got a ridiculous offer from an overseas buyer who put down a large deposit to hold it for two months until the guy comes to New York to finalize the deal. So now itâs off-market, empty, and fully furnished with still a month to go. You can stock it up with food and hide out there. Itâs comfortable.â
Jennifer repeated Johnâs words to David. He looked at her for a moment and then gestured like there was no other choice. âThank you, thatâs extremely generous,â he finally said, not knowing where in the room to direct the words.
A few moments passed, and Lazlo returned. âAll done and agreed?â he said, smiling. âHow will I contact you, to know that you are OK?â
âTell him youâll get a burner phone and call him every week,â John advised.
Jennifer confirmed to the detective that she would call and that she had Lazloâs number.
Twenty-Two
While David and Jennifer were parking Davidâs car out of sight in a long-term, multi-story parking deck near the apartment building in Brooklyn Heights, John had gone to his fatherâs penthouse apartment on the twelfth floor to get the keys to the rental. Being able to pass through doors and walls hadnât lost its novelty or usefulness. His superpowers, however, didnât extend to an ability to make solid objects like keys pass through the door with him, and he found himself having to exit the apartment by opening the door and passing through it with the keys like a mortal.
As he walked up to the door of number twelve, three floors below his fatherâs apartment, he saw Jennifer and David already waiting with the wheeled suitcases they had packed back at their house.
David watched the keys and card approach, as if under their own steam, in a gentle backward and forward swaying motion. They stopped swaying and moved forward in an upward arc and dropped into Jenniferâs outstretched open hand. âI really canât get used to this,â he muttered.
Jennifer opened the door to the apartment, expecting to see something special. As they had approached, driving along Piedmont Street, John had pointed out the building. It was a sleek, modern condo sitting among immaculately maintained and architecturally rich pre-war buildings and manicured greenery. Extending out from the main entrance was a long Manhattan-style canopy in a cool gray, with the name âKingston Residencesâ printed on either side of it. At the end of this, dressed in full uniform, was, according to John, one of the nicest, most charming people he had ever metââJake the doorman.
âWow, this is swanky!â said Jennifer as she walked through the apartmentâs foyer and headed between sleek furniture in the living room toward the balcony and the view of the Brooklyn and Verrazano bridges. âAnd your father has a bigger place in this same building?â
âAbout twice the size, with a view on the harbor from a terrace.â
âWhy the hell are you going to my school? You could go to any of the best schools in Brooklyn or Lower Manhattan!â
âMy dad never went to a private school back home, and neither did I. We both decided nothing would change when we came to New York,â John said and added, âIâll leave you to walk around and get used to it, but thereâs one important feature you should know aboutâŠthereâs a safe room.â
âLike in the movie Panic Room with Jodie Foster?â
âNot exactlyâsafe rooms look a bit different now.â
âWhere is it?â Jennifer responded with some trepidation as she imagined hiding in a windowless cell, scared out of her wits.
âFollow me.â John led Jennifer and David through the master bedroom and into a huge walk-in closet. It was spacious and lined with doors, two large padded chairs and a footstool. At the far end was a doorway to the master, en-suite bathroom. They glimpsed marble finishes and a freestanding bath.
John stopped in the middle of the closet.
âSo, is the panicâI mean safe room, behind one of these doors?â Jennifer asked.
âNo.â
âSo where is it?â
âYouâre standing in it.â
âYouâre kidding.â
âThe walls have Kevlar and steel plate in their construction, and so does the door between the bedroom and the closet. There are no windows, and thereâs a separate ventilation system. Try closing the door to the bedroom.â
Jennifer looked for the door. It took her a moment. It was hidden in a recess in the wood paneling of the wall. It swung
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