Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
One after another.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Frantic, I searched, ripping through everything I could find.
There was a small box at the back of the top shelf that I couldn’t reach, and I used a hanger to drag it free. It toppled off the shelf and onto the floor, and the lid came free when it hit.
The contents spilled out, and for one fleeting second, I froze.
Then I dropped to my knees.
My heart severed down the middle.
Tears poured, so thick that it was difficult to see. But I knew what was strewn out in front of me. A little one-piece outfit. Yellow with a giraffe embroidered on the front. The tiny white Vans.
I choked and gasped as lightheadedness swept through me.
My soul screamed and my spirit wept.
Then I picked up the tiny stuffed dog, woven of blue yarn, and I pressed it to my nose. I inhaled deeply as if it could fill the cavern carved out in the middle of me from the years of loss.
I held onto the puppy as I floundered to my feet and stumbled out of River’s room, my shaking hands on the walls to keep myself steady.
Tears kept falling and falling.
Terrified of believing.
The wounds inside me gaped, torn open wide, and I almost tripped over my feet as I raced downstairs and back out the garage door. Raven’s car was still idling where I’d left it, and I jumped in and peeled out as I shoved it into reverse. The rear tires slid as I careened up the drive and out onto the street.
I kept trying to sweep the tears out of my eyes as I drove.
Tried to focus.
To see.
To breathe.
I swerved through traffic, driving manic and reckless. But I couldn’t wait one second longer. I whipped into an open spot on the street, and I bolted out of the car and ran for River’s shop. Without slowing, I tore open the door and staggered inside.
River spun around from where he’d been standing at the display case. Venom curled into his expression, ready to snap into action when he saw the state I was in. Ready to go on a rampage because he’d instantly thought I’d been harmed in some way.
Only he blanched when he saw the stuffed animal I had gripped in my hand, and a different sort of severity blistered across his face and ticked through the muscles of his body.
“Charleigh?”
My name was caution.
Reluctance.
My throat was nearly closed off, but somehow, I managed to force out the garbled words as I gripped at the stuffed puppy as if it could be an anchor.
“Tell me Nolan isn’t actually your son. Tell me he’s mine.”
FIFTY-FOUR
RIVER
FIVE YEARS AGO
“Are you sure we should take this job?” Theo paced the bedroom where River shoved a couple changes of clothes into a duffle bag.
Agitation seeped from Theo in black waves, his aggression snagged on the cloud of disquiet that covered the air.
“Think it’s a little late to be questioning that,” River rumbled as he dragged the zipper shut.
Theo scuffed a palm over his face. “This fucker is a billionaire. We’ve never gone up against someone this powerful. And Cash is getting ready to strip him of a few of those zeroes. Pretty sure he’s not going to take too kindly to that.”
It was the rich monsters who supported them. Cash was all too quick to hack his way into their assets and divert them to untraceable accounts. They used that money to set up their clients with their new lives.
“This guy isn’t going to just sit aside and act like his wife and kid didn’t just go missing…plus the millions from his accounts,” Theo continued.
Unease clamped in River’s chest. “We already accepted this job. There’s no turning back now.”
And it wasn’t like he’d leave some woman and her kid stranded. Not when her father had contacted him and asked him to get his daughter and grandson to safety.
His part in this was going to be easy. The father would be delivering his daughter and grandson to him, he was going to drive along the Northern border all the way to Washington, then cut down through Washington and head south to California. Her parents were going to meet them there where the crew would then proceed to get them all new identities.
He was flying to New York where he’d rent a car, then he’d drive to the meeting point this side of the Massachusetts border. He’d drive them back to LA where they could protect them until they felt it was safe to start new lives for them elsewhere. Keep them secreted because there was no question that the rich bastard was going to be looking for them.
“Have a bad feeling, man,” Theo said, grabbing River by the arm as he started to stride from the room.
River paused and looked at his friend. “Took an oath to protect, whatever that looks like.”