Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
That man I’d become began to morph me into a person I never had been before.
Then, I had burst into her house, and she was there. Staring at me like I had lost my mind. The rush of pure fucking relief that hit me was fierce. If I hadn’t still been riding the tails of danger, I would have fallen to my knees—they had gone so damn weak. She had been talking, demanding answers, mouthing off at me, and alive. She was alive.
Straightening, I composed myself before she walked back in here, wearing the baggiest shit I could find her. If we were going to be locked up in here together until that fucker was found, then I needed to do something to lessen the temptation.
Stepping over to the sliding barn door that shut off the computer system and satellite connection we kept locked way in here, along with the main cyber infiltration equipment, I slid it open and connected the secure phone line to the main house, which was where Thatcher and King were meeting with the others. My father being one of them.
I picked it up and waited. They would hear the beeping alarm in the office and answer me. It was set up for when I had to work out here while they did the dirty work. Rarely had we used the safe house for keeping someone alive. This was a first. At least for me.
“Car exploded,” Thatcher said when he answered.
“I want him dead,” I replied, gripping the phone as rage pounded in my veins.
“That’s a given. We all do. Finding the bastard is the priority.”
All their families had been threatened. Not just mine. Whoever this man was, he was begging us to find him and end his life.
“Is there a lead?” I asked, needing to know we were close to ending this.
“Maybe. We got Oak’s phone. There is something of interest. I’ll be down later to explain and have you run a number.”
“Her phone?” I asked, not sure I understood how Oakley’s phone had anything to do with this.
Had he been tracking her? My chest clenched tightly, and my stomach felt sick at the thought that I’d sent her home a few nights ago at almost midnight to drive alone. He could have gotten her then. I was going to be ill.
“I gotta go. Boss is calling in. I’ll be down soon.”
He hung up, and I slowly placed the phone back in its cradle.
“So, there’s a massive hidden computer thingy in there. I was hoping for a private bedroom,” Oakley said.
I turned around to see her standing there with a gray sweat suit that she had rolled up at the ankles and wrists. She was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Didn’t matter what the hell I gave her to cover up her body.
What was on her damn phone? I wanted to ask her, but I refrained. She’d been through enough already today, and I had to tell her more shit that was going to be upsetting.
“Sit down,” I said, nodding my head to the sofa.
She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked one blonde eyebrow at me. “Uh, no. You don’t tell me what to do anymore. That part of this experience is over.”
Great, she was going to be sassy and difficult.
Fine. She could stand.
“Your car exploded. It’s gone. There was a bomb in it. The moment you cranked it, you would have been killed.” I stopped talking as her face paled. I shouldn’t have told her that way.
Her arms fell to her sides as she stared at me. “My … my car? Had a bomb? Why? Who did I make so angry?” Her words came out in a whisper.
“Can you sit down? Please,” I asked for my sake more than hers. She could pass out on me and hit her head, and I wasn’t sure I could take any more stress.
She nodded and walked over to the recliner and sat down stiffly.
“You didn’t do anything,” I told her. “You were targeted because of me. Just like Sarah and my mom and Porter were.”
Her head snapped up. “You said Sarah was okay!” Her color was back as she stared up at me with a wild look in her eyes.
“She is,” I assured her. “Oakley, if my daughter was hurt or in danger, would I be this calm?”
Her shoulders lifted and fell as she took a deep breath. “No, you wouldn’t. But, Wilder, what did you do? Who would go after us because of you? And why me?” She shrugged. “I mean, I am assuming someone came after people you care about to get to you, but I don’t fit into that category.
I started to correct her but decided with us being stuck down here, it was best she didn’t know how off she was about how I felt about her. Hell, I hadn’t known how deep those feelings went until I knew she was in danger. There was clearly no mental line I could draw to get my emotions in check with her.