Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Mallory quickly looked at me, and I motioned for her to get behind the kitchen island. Billy was to my right, MaryAnne to my left, and poor Agent Hollows was on the floor. I was pretty sure he had a vest on, though, but it looked like he hit his head on the chair on the way down. So he was out cold.
One quick look told me Billy had a gun tucked behind his back. Jonathon kept sweeping his eyes around the room, so we all had our hands up.
“That’s far enough, Chad. I’m not going to hurt her, she’s not my type. And besides, you’re my best friend, dude. Do you honestly think I’d hurt you?”
Chad stood facing Jonathon with Krista standing behind him. She had a few tears flowing down her cheek.
“Why didn’t you just run?” Mallory asked. “Why come back for me?”
He laughed and I saw Mallory stiffen.
“Have you looked in the mirror, Mallory? I’ll get a pretty nice price for you.”
She slowly shook her head. “How could you? What did you do with Emily?”
Jonathon’s eyes went to me. An evil grin appeared on his face. He spoke to Mallory, but kept his eyes trained on me. “Taking Emily was a spur of the moment kind of thing. I saw her getting gas and I pulled in. Said hi to her, and she acted like she didn’t want to have anything to do with me. She didn’t like me for some reason, and that pissed me off. So, I followed her, pulled her over like I was going to give her a ticket. She was furious with me and got out of her car. And I just decided I was going to take her. It was easy, one punch and she was out cold.”
“You son of–”
“Don’t,” Billy whispered.
“We had fun, me and Emily. I couldn’t bring myself to sell her, though, and I couldn’t let her go. She’d run straight to you and tell you all the terrible things I did to her. So I did what I had to do.”
Rage shook my entire body. Then I saw Randy. He had somehow snuck into the house and was standing around a corner. Mallory turned her head slightly and saw him as well.
Jonathon turned back to Mallory and said, “Don’t think about running. I’ve lost everything because of you, and you’re going to help me get it back.”
I tapped my foot and Billy moved closer to me. I wasn’t sure how in the hell he knew what I was going to do, but he did. He turned slightly, giving me better access to his gun. I needed to get Jonathon’s attention off of Mallory to give Randy time to grab her.
“You killed her?” I said suddenly.
Jonathon looked back at me, confused. “What?”
“You killed Emily.”
“No shit, dumbass.”
“Well, payback is a bitch,” I said as I yelled, “Now!”
Between me grabbing Billy’s gun and Jonathon seeing Randy grab Mallory, he was confused for a split second. It was long enough for me to aim and shoot him. The sounds of a woman screaming filled the air as I watched Jonathon’s shocked face as he fell to the floor. MaryAnne quickly made her way to Agent Hollows as Billy and I got Jonathon. The front door flew open, and we were suddenly surrounded by FBI agents and police officers. Once they had control of Jonathon, I rushed out the back door and outside to see Randy was holding onto Mallory, who had her face buried in his chest.
“Mallory.”
She turned and ran so fast, she nearly knocked me over when she jumped into my arms. I held her tightly as she cried.
“Shh, it’s okay. It’s over now. It’s all over now. You’re safe, baby, like I promised.”
##
It felt like it took forever for the authorities to allow us to leave Billy’s house and return to our place. I wasn’t sure who had driven my truck back to the ranch, but I was thankful. Chad and Krista had gone to the house and gotten their things and headed back to their place in town. I couldn’t blame them. Chad was concerned about Krista, and I knew he said they felt safer being all together, but I wished they had gone back home and never stayed. She wouldn’t have gone through all that stress.
The drive back to our house was silent. I wanted to ask Mallory if she was okay, but I knew it would be a stupid question. Instead, I held her hand and waited for her to speak.
I parked and we walked hand in hand up the steps and into the house. Mallory dropped to her knees and hugged Piper when she saw her. Then she started to cry again. I bent down and picked her up and carried her to the sofa.
“I was so scared, Liam. When he pointed the gun at you, I thought for sure he was going to kill you. They way he looked at you with such hate.”