The Stepford Florist
Page 5
“Fuck!”
“Exactly. But they’re all going down in a big way. Your exposé skills are on point. Without the proof of where they were getting the embryonic stem cells from, the cops would’ve just yawned and walked away.”
Jasmine sighs.
“Can’t I credit you in some way, in the story? It’s gonna to be huge. You deserve the props.”
Jasmine sits up. “That’s the last thing I want. It’s imperative that you say it came from an anonymous source.”
Keke laughs. “You drive a hard bargain! That means I’ll have to take all the credit for myself.”
“I’m being serious, Keke. There’s an important new job opening that’s come up for immediate fulfillment and one of my men is being stalked for the position. I’ve been trying to get into this corp since we started. We can’t do anything to compromise the anonymity of Alba. Do you understand?”
Keke stops smiling. “Of course. I’d never want to do that.”
“Besides, you deserve the story. You’re the one who tipped me off in the first place.”
“It was a just a locker-room rumour.”
“Well,” says Jasmine. “You keep telling me your locker-room gossip and I’ll keep offering you first scoop. Deal?”
“Deal.”
“Well, actually, I did hear something the other day. It seemed crazy, so I brushed it off, but then I heard it again from a completely different source, and—”
“Tell me!”
“No.”
“What? What about our deal?”
“I’ll tell you everything once you’re well enough to leave the hospital.”
“I can’t wait that long!”
“Sorry. But I know you. You’d rip that IV out of your arm and go chasing these guys down if I told you now. You need to get better first.”
“I feel fine!”
“You don’t get it. The doctor’s not even sure you’re going to keep your toes.”
“Rubbish,” says Jasmine.
Keke pulls the crisp hospital sheet away from Jasmine’s feet, revealing stiff, marbled toes.
“And I happen to be very fond of your toes,” says Keke. “So get better, and then we’ll talk.”
Jasmine leans back again and sighs. “Okay.”
“Also, I need you out of here so that I can stop looking after your cat.”
“What are you talking about? You don’t even have to feed him. The machine does that.”
“I know. But he makes me nervous.”
“Chairman Miaow makes you nervous.”
“You know I’m not good at keeping things alive.”
* * *
“That reminds me,” says Jasmine. “What about the dead bodies?”
Keke does a double-take. “The what-what?”
“The frozen bodies. There were, like, two dozen corpses in that chamber with me.”
Keke frowns. “There were no bodies, alive or dead. As soon as Barnaby realized how deep the shit was, she was off in her private Volanter. The rest of the staff scarpered, too. When I got there it was a fucking ghost town. The cops didn’t find anyone, either.”
“I know what I saw.”
“Hallucinations are pretty normal for someone who was in your condition. You were hypothermic … I don’t blame you for seeing dead people. It was pretty bad. The doc said you would have died if I hadn’t shared my body heat with you.”
“Now … that sounds interesting.”
“Don’t get any ideas, but I had to take your clothes off because they were wet.”
“That’s what she said.”
Keke laughs. “It gets kinkier than that.”
“I’m listening.”
“I had to strap you to my back so that you wouldn’t fall off.”
“Fall off what?”
“The bike!”
“You strapped me onto your bike.”
“It’s the only way I could get you here fast enough. Lunch hour traffic in ChinaCity/Sandton. The struggle is real.”
“You strapped me to your bike. Naked. Through rush hour traffic.”
“What? We made headline news! Loads of taxi drivers hooted and waved us straight through.”
Keke laughs at her own joke. “Oh, relax. I’m only kidding about the news part. And the naked part. I put my leather jacket over you.”
“That was kind.”
“Yes, well, I do like to take care of my sources.” Keke puts a hand on Jasmine’s knee.
“You can joke all you like. Those frozen bodies were real.”
“Okay,” says Keke, grabbing her helmet off the side table and inflating it. “I’ll investigate.”
“I think it must have had something to do with their Immortality Program. But who were the people? Volunteers? Victims? An inquisitive mind wants to know.”
“You’ll know as soon as I do.”
“You’re leaving? You didn’t even bring me Get Better Soon snacks.”
“I’ll be back soon.”
“Booty call?”
“DNA date.”
Keke is the only person Jasmine knows who dates specifically to gather work contacts.
“Politician? CEO? Scientist?”
“Even better. He’s a hacker with little regard for the law. And if he’s as good as everyone says he is, then … let’s just say he’ll come in very handy.”
“Then go forth and conquer,” Jasmine closes her eyes, feels the beginning of sleep pulling at her consciousness. “And when you get back, I want to know everything.”
What’s Next?
Imagine discovering your murdered parents were really your abductors.
Then you find out you're on the hit list, too.
A troubled woman approaches Kirsten with a warning and a wafer key and is later found dead. Was she just another victim of the Suicide Contagion, or is there something more sinister at play? The key leads Kirsten and Keke on a chase to the Doomsday Seed Vault and a hit list of seven people … and her barcode is on it.
Edgy and original, Why You Were Taken is a dark dystopian thriller with a high-tech twist you won’t see coming. Perfect for fans of Mr. Robot and Margaret Atwood on speed.
Ready for your new page-turning addiction?
Grab the first book in the futuristic thriller series
When Tomorrow Calls now.
Would you sacrifice your son to save your daughter?
* * *
How We Found You
Book 2 in the When Tomorrow Calls Series
* * *
There’s something different about Kate’s four-year-old son. He wasn’t created the old fashioned way. Now a violent cult wants him dead and Kate will do anything to protect him – until they take her daughter.
* * *
Start reading ‘How We Found You’ now.
Book 3 in the When Tomorrow Calls Series
In tomorrow's world where the edges blur between addictive virtual reality and real life, would you hurt your daughter if it was the only way to set her free?
* * *
Click here to start reading ‘What Have We Done’.
Also by JT Lawrence
FICTION
WHEN TOMORROW CALLS
• SERIES •
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1. Why You Were Taken (2015)
2. How We Found You (May 2017)
3. What Have We Done (October 2017)
The Memory of Water (2011)
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Sticky Fingers (2016)
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Grey Magic (2016)
NON-FICTION
The Underachieving Ovary (2016)
About the Author
JT Lawrence is an Amazon bestselling author,
playwright & bookdealer. She lives in Parkhurst, Johannesburg, in a house with a red front door.
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p; janita@pulpbooks.co.za
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Warning: You may be sent pictures of guinea pigs wearing glasses (and the occasional freebie).
The Stepford Florist is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
2017 ebook edition
1st Edition
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Copyright © 2017 JT LAWRENCE
JT Lawrence has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic without written permission from the author.
All rights reserved.
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Published in South Africa by Fire Finch Press,
an imprint of Pulp Books.
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www.jt-lawrence.com
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