Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 112762 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112762 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Callie shot me a look.
Trust me.
She nodded and turned back to Nathan. “Okay.”
“Okay, what?” He shook her again.
“Okay, Daddy,” she choked out.
“Damn right.” He grabbed her arm and dragged her past me toward the BMW. “You wait in there.” Once she was inside the car, he turned to me, gun pointed in my face. “Cell.”
Tugging it out of my jeans pocket, I handed it over, but my gaze was on my daughter.
I didn’t need to ask to know who she’d call, and I just hoped he’d get to her in record time.
“I’ll be okay,” I promised her.
She cried quietly again as Nathan handed her the cell. “Don’t call anyone until five minutes is up.”
Callie nodded, but I knew as soon as Nathan and I drove away, she’d make her call.
“Lock the car, baby girl,” I instructed as soon as Nathan closed the door on her.
She immediately hit the button on the driver’s door, and I heard the BMW lock her in, safe. From him.
Nathan gestured with his gun. “Get in my car.”
It was like severing some integral connection inside me to walk away from Callie and get in his vehicle. But I’d do it. I’d do anything to get this crazy bastard away from her.
With one hand still holding the gun, Nathan drove us away from the bluff and toward Inverness.
I had no intention of letting him get too far. Just far enough away from Callie.
Eyeing the gun, I listened as he spewed his bile at me. “I know it was you who told that bastard where I trade. Everything I did for you, and you stab me in the back like that?”
“Everything you did?” I asked numbly.
“You fucking shot me! I could have put you away for doing that!”
“And put yourself away for your troubles.”
“Shut up! Shut the fuck up, you dumb bitch!” He waved the gun at me, the car veering across the road before he pulled it back under control.
“You think because that fucker has money that you’re protected? You think a cunt I own—I OWN—can run from me? No! No fucking way! I’m gonna show you what it is to betray me, bitch.” He shoved the gun into my temple, spittle dripping down his chin, his cheeks flushed with rage. Blue eyes filled with madness. I flinched as he dug the gun into my head. “First, I’m gonna fuck you into the next century and remind you who owns you. Then I’m gonna watch the light go out in your eyes, all the while you know that I’m not gonna stop until Callie’s home with her daddy, where she’s supposed to be.”
A cold understanding crawled through me.
This would never end for Callie.
“How do you expect to get away with killing me?” I asked calmly.
My tone seemed to gentle him.
Nathan lowered the gun to his lap. “You’re not the only one with connections.”
Heart racing harder as I noted the empty road in front of us, I braced myself for two seconds, and then I lunged for the wheel. Nathan yelled as I twisted it toward the other side of the road and he dropped the gun, trying to grapple for the wheel.
But I held tight until we crashed down the embankment, heading for a tree. I let go, forcing myself back in my seat seconds before impact.
If it hurt, slamming against the dashboard, I didn’t know at the moment. I could feel the burn of my seat belt cutting into my neck, and my ears rang.
Dazed, I checked myself for injuries before urgency kicked in. I gasped as I looked to Nathan.
He was out cold. His forehead rested on the wheel, blood trickling down the side of his temple. The airbag hadn’t deployed.
The gun. The gun!
I unhooked my seat belt as quietly as possible and leaned over to see the gun had fallen at Nathan’s feet. Blood rushed so loudly in my ears, I could barely hear a thing over it. Praying he didn’t wake, I squeezed my arm into the gap between the dashboard and Nathan’s leg.
My fingertips touched the cool metal just as I heard him groan.
Oh my God. Oh my God.
Sucking in a frightened whimper, I pushed harder into the gap and my fingers curled around the gun. As I pulled it up, my eyes went to Nathan, and he was staring right back at me.
I cried out, falling against the passenger door as he started to come to. Scrambling for the door handle, I pushed it open and he said my name in a hoarse yell.
Falling out of the car, gun still in hand, I crawled away, desperately clambering to my feet as the sound of the driver’s side door opened.
In my panic, I did something stupid.
Instead of running for the road, I ran into the woods.
“SLOANE!” Nathan yelled.
Bracken and leaves crunched under my feet as I ran back the way we came. My ribs throbbed with the movement, and I could feel a pulsing pain in my shins where they’d hit the dash on impact. Ignoring it, I ran as fast as I could.