Total pages in book: 12
Estimated words: 11137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 56(@200wpm)___ 45(@250wpm)___ 37(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 11137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 56(@200wpm)___ 45(@250wpm)___ 37(@300wpm)
As soon as I stepped outside, I stumbled. I grasped the wall next to me, gagged, and retched. As soon as I was back upright, a hand wrapped around my throat from behind and a rag was stuffed under my nose. I screamed, but it was too late.
Between whatever drug I’d drank and the chloroform, I was out.
Miles
“No!” I roared, rushing forward, but by the time I got out of my truck and was running across the parking lot to her, she was already stuffed in a van with no plates and heading up the road.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I shouted, rushing back to my truck. My heart was hammering in my chest, adrenaline pumping through my veins.
Not her. God, fuck, please, not her.
I jumped in, racing after them, calling Quinn on my phone. “Where are you?!” I barked when he answered.
“Behind the bar—”
“They took her!” I yelled, cutting him off. “They fucking took her, Quinn!”
“Fuck!” he shouted. “I knew this wasn’t a fucking good idea!”
Tears burned in my eyes. Somehow, I knew I wouldn’t be able to save her. Goddammit, Damien had never let anything like this happen to her. The one time it had, he’d been there before they fucking ever harmed her, and he hadn’t even been anywhere near her when it happened.
I was there. I was supposed to fucking protect her. But fuck, I’d just thought she was throwing up. Nothing more. The bartender was supposed to let me know if she got into any kind of trouble.
When the van hit the interstate, I lost them. Traffic was crazy, and I couldn’t get over when they did.
My hands were shaking so badly that I had to pull over. And I roared out my fear and pain, tears rushing down my face. I prayed to any fucking deity that would fucking listen to me to just keep her safe. I needed her safe.
“I’m so sorry, Hayley,” I whispered. “Fucking hell, baby girl, I’m so goddamn sorry.”
I should have stood against her. I shouldn’t have let her talk me into this. I should have been fucking stronger. But she’d been so adamant, so worried about those girls, and it had crumbled my resolve.
My phone rang on the seat beside me. “What?” I grumbled when I answered.
“I lost them,” Quinn quietly told me.
I swallowed vomit. “I did, too,” I whispered. I drew in a deep breath. “What now?”
Quinn was quiet for a moment. “Right now, we get William and Isabelle somewhere safe. And then, we fight like hell to get Hayley back. Because, Miles, if they find out she’s connected to you or connected to the FBI, she’s dead. You know that, right?”
I nodded. “I know.”
I hung up the phone, tossed it into the passenger seat, and headed back home. When I got there, an agent in a black SUV was waiting out front for me. “We’re here to get William and Isabelle somewhere safe,” he told me. “Quinn called us.”
I nodded and opened the door, nodding once at the two men I’d left behind with them. Worry filtered into their gazes when they saw Hayley wasn’t with me, but they left nonetheless, not saying a word. I drew in a deep breath and went to pack a bag for William.
By the time I was done packing, Quinn was already here with a bag packed for Isabelle. He handed her over to the agent, and he got her strapped into his car. I hugged William tightly to me, burying my face in his sweet-smelling hair.
“I’m going to find your mom, kiddo,” I whispered.
Then, I pressed a kiss to the top of his head and handed him over.
5
Hayley
Three days.
Three days had never felt so agonizingly long in my fucking life.
I was locked in a dirty room that only had a tiny window up at the very top to let me know when it was daylight and when it was dark.
Twenty other girls were in the room with me. We were shoulder to shoulder against the walls. We weren’t fed, and we were only given one cup of water, which we all had to share. Every time that cup of water came into the room, one of the girls tested it to see if it was drugged. And if she was okay after a while, only then did we drink it.
But besides the man that always brought the cup of water, we never saw anyone else.
I was both thankful for it and fearful of it. When someone didn’t come for a while, it usually meant they were biding their time, letting us sit in fear.
And fuck, there was so much fear in this room that it practically fucking reeked of it.
The door suddenly opened, blinding light filtering into the room. Two men stepped in. The first one was tall and burly, his muscles bulging. His head was bald, and tattoos swirled all over his scalp and face. The second guy was smaller and skinnier, and he was carrying a camera.