Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
They’d walked out in the open down the block in broad daylight and the warning voice in his head had screamed for him to tackle Gabriel to the ground, that a sniper was just waiting to take them both out.
His urge to hold Gabriel, to make him laugh was almost as strong as his urge to fuck him until they were both sweaty and breathless. This was troubling and taking his head out of the game.
Gabriel was right—not that he was in any hurry to admit that to the man. Their luck was absolute shit on this job. They had to catch this asshole and find out how he kept getting ahead of them.
Reaching fresh cover under a massive maple tree, Justin hunkered down and looked over the two-story house. All the main lights were out, but from his view in the backyard, it looked as if there was a night-light or possibly the work light over the stove left on. Probably an old habit from the days of when his wife would return home late from work or when one of them would need to make a late-night bottle for their daughter.
Justin scrubbed a hand over his head and forced his thoughts away from Kristen’s and Kevin’s disrupted lives. At just after midnight, the house appeared to be locked up tight. Some of the surrounding neighbors still had lights on, but for the most part, the residents of this quiet subdivision were in bed for the night. That worked for them. The fewer eyes watching out the windows, the better.
The air was thick and humid, leaving Justin’s black clothes sticking to his frame already. The same hush that had settled over the neighborhood that afternoon had hung around through the night. No dogs barking. No cars moving. Just a heavy silence, as if something were waiting for the action to start. And they were prepared to wait all night if they had to. No one was going to harm Devon or his daughter tonight or any night if they had anything to say about it.
Nearly an hour ticked by when Justin glanced over at Gabriel’s position at the side of the house in time to see him motioning toward the person casually jogging down the sidewalk. The only problem was that this person was dressed in dark clothes when other local runners were at least smart enough to pull on something reflective or light in color.
As the tall, slender runner reached the front yard, it became clear he was holding a bottle of sorts in his right hand. Taking the first step into the yard, there was a soft snick and a little teardrop of fire appeared from a lighter. The flame was raised closer to the bottle. It didn’t take any more for Justin to realize the bastard was about to light a Molotov cocktail and toss it through a window.
Pushing to his feet, Justin saw Gabriel raise his gun toward the arsonist. The suppressor screwed onto the front muffled the single shot significantly, but it did nothing for the sound of shattering glass or the cursing of the surprised man. The lighter disappeared, and the bastard failed to burst into flames as Justin had hoped. It didn’t matter. Justin was already charging toward his target as a second-floor light flicked on.
Leaping onto the man as he started to turn, Justin tackled him to the hard ground. The fresh scent of dirt and grass surrounded them. As Justin grappled to get in position on top of the man, the assailant’s knee came up and slammed into the wound in Justin’s side. Air rushed out of him between clenched teeth and his hands loosened against his will.
Hard fingers dug deep into his arms, biting flesh before he was shoved off his target. The bastard rolled until he was on his feet. Gabriel shouted for him to stop, but the man kept going down the street. It was on the tip of Justin’s tongue to shout at Gabriel to shoot the fucker, but they couldn’t. Someone had to be watching out their window now.
With a snarl, Gabriel ran after the Joneses’ would-be attacker, and Justin followed close behind. They might have been hesitant to shoot the guy, but all bets were off if the guy reached a car and tried to run them over. Justin would happily put two in the asshole’s forehead, and he didn’t care who was watching.
The same idea must have occurred to Gabriel, because they ran after the man until they saw him pull up his pace as he approached a parked dark sedan. Gabriel stopped and raised his gun. With an exhaled breath, he squeezed the trigger. In the streetlight, they could see the bullet tear through the meaty section of the man’s calf. As that foot came down, he cried out and hit the pavement hard.