Total pages in book: 211
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
Open my eyes and see with them. As if there’s something staring me in the face that I’m ignoring. I flip the card over and my eyes go wide. There’s another code on the back, another message. He obviously meant for me to have it, but why not just tell me what it means? Why not just tell me what I need to open my eyes and see?
Chapter eighty-six
Harper
Idon’t move. I sit there in the SUV, the heater cranked, the soft leather hugging my body, all signaling warmth and comfort, but the card in my hands sends a chill down my spine. No matter what the message on the back of the card means, it spells danger. Again a number and letter sequence, and I stare at the combination and will my mind to find an answer there. The first clue was given to Eric at my house. Now this one was given directly to me. Even I, who am not a savant, can see myself as the common denominator. And that man, the FBI consultant, or whoever he was, told me to open my eyes, as if the answer to some big question is right in front of me. As if I should understand the message. Frustrated, I’m impatient for Eric to return to the vehicle.
I open the door to my right and shove the card into my jacket pocket, aware that we are likely being watched and I don’t want anyone to know that I’ve already discovered the message on the card. The minute I step outside, I find Eric standing a few feet away, not with Savage as I expect, but with Blake, who I didn’t even know was here, but the two of them together are exactly the pair I need right now.
Blake to hack the code with a computer.
Eric to hack the code with his mind.
The instant I step onto the curb, the attention of both men shifts to me, their attention sharp, disapproving. They want to shove me back in the SUV. Eric even sways my direction, but I hold up a hand and start walking toward them.
“The card the man gave me,” I say without preamble as I join them. “I grabbed it from your pocket, Eric. There’s another message on the back. The same kind of message we received back in Denver. Just numbers and letters. I don’t want to show it to you here and risk someone knowing that we’ve seen the message. It seems like it buys us time to figure it out before they expect some sort of action.”
They, I think.
Who are they?
We need to find out.
“Good decision,” Blake approves. “Is there a chance that he’s actually an informant or friend?”
“The man grabbed her and threatened her,” Eric snaps, and apparently just the idea requires that his hand slide around my waist as he pulls me to him. “He’s an enemy. The end.”
“I guess that means he wasn’t FBI?” I ask.
“You guessed right,” Blake confirms. “No one at the FBI knows him.”
“And on that note,” Eric says. “I’m taking her back to the vehicle. I don’t want her out in the open until we figure out what the hell is going on.”
He doesn’t wait for Blake’s approval. He starts to turn. “I need a copy of the message,” Blake calls out. Eric doesn’t stop moving. He simply lifts an agreeable hand and leads me back to the vehicle, his actions protective, possessive. He places me between him and the SUV and then opens the door, his body once again sheltering mine, but I fear for him, not me. That’s just it. I’m not scared and maybe that’s some mental coping mechanism, a way to block out my warehouse attack. Mia wasn’t wrong. Eventually, I’m certain I’ll have to face that trauma, but that time isn’t now.
I settle into the soft leather of the backseat again and this time when Eric enters, we aren’t left alone. Savage claims the driver’s seat. “Home?” he asks over his shoulder.
“Yes,” Eric replies. “The sooner the better.”
Savage places us in motion. “Where’s the card?” Eric asks, but before I can respond his cellphone buzzes with a text.
He snakes it from his pocket, eyes the screen as another message pings, and then glances at me. “Adam had to get a doctor in to calm your mother down. She’s worried about my father. They gave her Xanax and she’s sleeping.”
It’s then that I step back and realize the hell my mother must be going through. “She lost my father,” I say, my hand settling on my knotted belly, “and I’ve forgotten that to her, this is her worst nightmare. She’s preparing to lose the man who became her second partner in life. I’ve forgotten how much your father means to her.” I look at Eric. “She needs me and I’ve let the poison of this family allow me to forget that.”