The Chase by Amber Riel (books to read for self improvement TXT) 📖

staying here with me for a little while…. You have nothing to worry about.”

          Imhotep quickly turned his attention back toward me as if he was making sure I was telling him the truth.  Once his attention was back on Sam, his mouth opened in what appeared to be a smile on the dog’s face as his tongue fell out of his mouth and a few rows of pointed teeth and his canines were visible.

          “You’re a big boy, aren’t you?” Sam asked as she smiled at the dog.

          Ruff.

 

 

          Carmen walked into the house carrying bags of groceries with Lainie trailing behind her with smaller bags a few hours later.  “Did you two have fun shopping?” I asked as Sam and I walked into the room.  Sam followed behind me.

          “Yea, I got a new pair of sandals with the Disney Princesses on them,” Lainie answered and she had to show Sam and I her new pair of shoes.

          “Cool,” I spoke with a nod as I looked at the little girl sandals.  “Did you get anything else?”

          “Yea, Auntie Carmen brought me a couple of new outfits too.”

          I nodded again, adding a smile.  “That’s awesome.”

          “I’m going to go try on my outfits.”  Lainie quickly hurried up the stairs and we listened as the door closed behind her.  With all the excitement, she had kind of slammed the door, not meaning to.  “Sorry!” we head her call.

          All three of us adults laughed.

          “So what did you two do while we were gone?” Carmen asked with a raised eyebrow.

          “I watched a movie and then we just pretty much talked after that,” Sam replied.

          Carmen nodded as her eyes moved from Sam to me.  “What about?”

          “Just getting to know each other,” I answered, “apologizing for our behavior toward each other…. That’s about all.”

          Carmen waited for one of us to tell her that something had happened.  I knew her too well.  It was the questions that she wasn’t asking that worried me.

          “What?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

          “Did anything else happen that you two aren’t telling me about?”

          Sam bit her bottom lip.

          “No,” I quickly replied.  “Do you think something might have happened?”

          “I don’t know…. Maybe I mean anything can happen….” A smile kind of grew on my sister’s face.  “You two really didn’t do anything else that I should know about?”

          “Are you implying something?”

          “No I’m just saying….”

          I shook my head.  “Nothing happened…. Why are you so nosey all of the time?”

          The smile on Carmen’s mouth grew.  “I like being nosey…. Besides it’s boring when there’s nothing interesting to talk about.”

          “Okay.  I’m going to go take a shower,” I told the two girls as I headed up the stairs, leaving them alone.  I was done answering questions.

                                                          *****

          I felt kind of bad for leaving Sam alone with Carmen, knowing she was defenseless but I needed a shower.  I turned on the water and let it heat up as I looked into the mirror.  I couldn’t take my eyes off of my reflection.  I hadn’t shaved in the past couple of days but to my surprise there wasn’t any evidence.  That’s good for now.

 

 

          I walked out of the bathroom, feeling fresh and clean after the shower.  He walked into my room and picked up my mobile phone and checked the messages.  No one had called so I took that as a good sign.  I sighed as I sat on my bed for a few minutes and looked around the room.  It was boring with nothing else to do.

          “Uncle Louis?” Lainie’s little voice asked.

          I looked over and smiled at the child while she stood in the doorway.  “Yes?”

          “I’m bored,” she sighed.  “Can I sit with you?”

          My smile grew and I nodded.  “It’s boring in here too just so you know.”

          She walked over and jumped onto the bed, sitting next to me.  “Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?” she asked.

          I kind of laughed.  “Men don’t have to wear shirts,” I replied.

          She laughed and shook her head.  The next thing I knew her little arms were wrapped around my waist and she rested her head on my side.  She sighed.  “I miss my mummy and daddy.”

          “I know and I’m sure they miss you too.”

          She looked up at me.  “Do you think that my Auntie Samantha is cute?”

          The question caught me off guard while I just stared at the child, confused.  “Um…. I uh…. Um…. Why don’t you go pick out a movie?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

          I could tell by Lainie’s expression that she wasn’t having that.  “Answer the question, Uncle Louis.”

          “Now that’s kind of demanding, don’t you think, little girl?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

          “You’re not answering my question, Uncle Louis,” she kind of sang.

          I couldn’t help but laugh.  “You know what I think?  I think you’re being nosy.”  I grabbed the child and began tickling her sides.

          “Uncle Louis,” she laughed, “stop…. Stop it.”

          “Stop what?  I’m not doing anything.”

          The four year old laughed nonstop while I continued to tickle her.

          “This is what you get for trying to be nosy,” I told her.

          Imhotep hurried into the room and began barking at me to leave the child alone.

          “What?  You want a piece of me too?” I asked the over grown puppy.

          The dog playful growled out me till I finally released Lainie.  Once Lainie was free and out of the way, dog jumped on my bed and went to attack but I moved out of the way.

          “Imhotep, stop,” I told the dog.

          He quickly obeyed while he sat on my bed, eyeing me.

          “Good boy.  Look I just had a bath today as a matter of fact not too long ago and I would like it if you’d leave me alone, seeing that you must likely haven’t been bathed for days.”

          The dog stared at me with his beady black eyes then barked.

          I tried to keep a straight face while had a stare down with the mutt.  “I’m telling you, Imhotep, you are not like the character from the movie.”

          He tilted his head as if he were trying to figure out what I meant.

          “He can’t understand you, Uncle Louis,” Lainie laughed while she fell backwards on my bed.

          “Of course he can; watch.  Imhotep, I want you to give Lainie a big wet kiss.”

          The dog looked down at Lainie then sure enough released his tone and licked the side of Lainie’s face, making her laugh even harder.

          “I told ya,” I replied with a laugh.  I turned toward my dresser and opened it and then grabbed a grey tank top.  “You see, Lainie, I’m a dog whisperer.”

          “A dog whistler?  What is that?”

          I laughed and shook my head.  “A dog whisperer,” I corrected.  “I can communicate with a dog.  Watch…. Imhotep, leave the room.”

          Imhotep sat up then quickly jumped off of the bed and ran out of the room.

          “See?” I asked the child.  I held my tank top in my hands.  “Look, I’m going to head downstairs and hang out with Auntie Samantha and Auntie Carmen okay?”

           Lainie nodded and climbed down from the bed.  She walked over to me and looked up at me.  “Before you go to hang out with them, can you put a movie in for me please?” she asked.

          I nodded and followed Lainie out of my room and into the room that she and Sam were sharing.  “Okay what movie?”

          “Tangled.”

          “Okay.”

 

 

          I worked my way into the kitchen while I placed the tank top on which matched my pants.  My hair was kind of damp from the shower but not extremely wet.  I locked eyes with Sam and kind of smiled at her, quickly before my sister had noticed the exchanged.

          “Thanks for not wanting to help with the groceries, bro,” Carmen spoke while she glanced over at me.

          “Sorry but after a couple of nights without showering it was about time.  You know I hate going so long without cleaning myself up.  My five o’clock shadow would have been growing soon and I wanted to stop that from happening.”

          “Of course…. Of course…. Or is there another reason for that?” she asked.  “More like another person actually?”

          I sighed and stared at Carmen, knowing her thought process was running the cords in her mind.  “No assumptions…. There’s nothing going on.”  My eyes locked with Sam’s again, this time kind letting her have some kind of reassurance.

          I noticed while she kind of smiled.

          Riiing…. Riiing…. Riiing…. My mobile phone began ringing and I had to pull it out of my pocket and hit talk.  I quickly placed the phone to my ear.  “Hello?”

          “Louis,” George’s voice came on over the phone, his tone gave off some kind of alert which let me know that whatever he had to say was important.

          “This is….”

          “The mansion’s on fire.”

          “What?”

“Someone set the mansion on fire,” he repeated.  “You need to get over here fast.”

“But---”

“Louis, I have a bad feeling about this.  You need to come now.”

“I’ll be on my way.”  I quickly hit the end button on the phone and slide the phone back into my pocket.

          “What was that about?” Carmen asked, concerned.

          “Are Ron and Annie okay?” Sam asked, whispering but panicked.

          “They’re fine,” I told Sam, trying to reassure her.

          “Then what’s wrong?  Who were you just talking to?”

          “My boss…. Someone set the mansion on fire.”

          Sam’s mouth dropped.

          “That’s horrible,” Carmen responded.  “Ron worked so hard for that place…. Who would do such a terrible thing?”

          “I’m assuming the people who broke in…. Carmen, I have to go…. Keep an eye on Lainie and Sam---”

          “I want to go with you,” Sam interrupted.

          “It’s too dangerous and I don’t have time to argue.”

          “But I want to go…. I want to see if I can find out any new information….”

          “It’s information that doesn’t concern you,” I told her, worried about what could happen to her if I had brought her.

          “Please let me go with you?” she begged.

          I sighed.  I didn’t have time.  “Fine but we need to leave as soon as possible.”

          She nodded, letting me know she understood.

 

 

 

 

When Things Change

          I cranked the car while Sam was working with the seatbelt.  Once I knew she was buckled up, I worked my way out of the driveway and then stepped on the pebble and let the car speed through the street.  “There’s no way that we’re going to make to the mansion before it’s completely burnt down,” Sam spoke with uncertainty in her voice.

          “Yes we are,” I answered, watching the road.

          “How?  It took us a couple of days to get here there’s no possible---”

          “I know some shortcuts that’ll get us to the mansion about less than an hour…. Besides it’s a big house, there’s no way it’s going to be completely damaged by the flames before we arrive…. Believe me I know what I’m doing.”

          “Why didn’t we take the shortcuts to here then?”

          “Because I knew there was a good chance that we