Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 135958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
His eyes enlarged, just a fraction of an inch. “No. We were given confirmation that she approached your friend, not the other way around. He didn’t even know her, did he?”
I shrugged, my jaw hardening. “Does it matter? She’s dead. You killed her.”
“She got one of our guns—”
“Bullshit! I know you don’t make mistakes. She was allowed to grab that gun.” I shouldn’t have been yelling, but I was. Too much had happened over the last few days. “You wanted a reason to kill her, and she gave you one. Self-defense. Your only mess-up is that I saw it.”
I quieted.
He didn’t reply.
And then—fuck. “You meant me to see that, didn’t you?”
Of course he did. I closed my eyes, my head hanging forward. I felt a headache coming.
“You wanted me to see because if I hadn’t, I would assume it was a blatant murder. Blade would’ve said the same, but we both saw, and if need be, we’ll testify it was self-defense.”
Of course.
My God, of course.
Not a goddamn thing happened without Kai’s calculation behind it.
He was cold, ruthless, and not human. No one with humanity could plan all of this out to the umpteenth detail.
“Did you have cameras in the woods?” My voice was dull, bleak. It made me cringe, just hearing myself.
“Yes.”
Honesty. That was one good trait he had. Maybe the only one.
“Of course, you fucking bastard.”
There was no fight in me anymore. Those words left me on a surrendering sigh, and I turned toward the window. We were moving fast. The trees rocketed past us. Here I was, locked in this vehicle. I was warm, but moments ago, I’d thought I was running for my life.
What a fool I’d been.
“You thought if you let us go, Blade would call for help.” I already knew that was the plan. I was starting to catch on to his methods. Slowly. “You were going to trace the call and see if they led you to Brooke. Weren’t you?”
A pause.
I felt him watching me, but I refused to look at him. I refused even to search him out in the window’s reflection.
“Your friend said he knew where Brooke was,” he said. “He failed to bring her. He wouldn’t cooperate and answer our questions. We had two options: put him in a situation where he’d show his cards willingly or make him do so with force. I promised not to hurt your friend, so I chose this route. I would do it again.”
His phone buzzed. He took it out of his pocket and read the screen before replying and putting it back. “And you were wrong. While you were running, he did stop and make a call. We have a new target.”
“Who?” I turned to him.
He looked away this time. “We’ll find out.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
I’d been shut out.
We didn’t go back to the hotel, and I had no clue where they’d taken Blade. We drove up to another huge house, and they took me to my own wing. Yes. Wing. Again. It wasn’t the same house, but once I stepped out on another balcony, high above another death-defying fall, I recognized where we were: their Vancouver estate.
This was home for Brooke, the home she always used to talk about. I knew from those stories that there was an Olympic-sized pool, a tennis court, and a lazy river where she would go tubing with Tanner and their friends. There were more houses on this estate, and a garden that had its own maze.
Brooke loved this home.
She spoke about it with such fondness. She had also talked about her father’s study, though when she did there was no warmth in her voice. There was fear. He’d conducted his business in that room, which had its own entrance.
Sighing, I had to stop myself.
I was thinking back as if this were a common occurrence, as if Brooke had opened up to me about these memories. She hadn’t. These were small snippets I’d gathered from a comment here and there, spread out over an entire year.
She’d talked about the tennis court, about swimming, about the river. She’d mentioned her father’s study. One time she mentioned seeing a man enter through the side door.
But I’d listened and absorbed everything, because that was the kind of girl I was. It was the same now.
It was day three of me being in this house.
My wing had its own kitchenette, and a coffee machine too. I could pick up the phone and ask for any food I wanted. I was in the lap of luxury, but it wasn’t mine.
This had been Brooke’s life.
There was a small-theater-sized screen in the living room, and a sectional couch that had a bed in the middle so it was one giant square.
I couldn’t imagine this life.
Mine had not been like this. There’d been wealth, yes, but everything was overshadowed by my parents, by my father. I’d slept in the hallway most nights, a blanket with me and nothing else. I’d had to sneak back to my room each morning.