Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 72308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
I improvised as best I could. “These ropes are so tight… I can’t breathe.” I made the same gasp again to add credibility to my lie. “Could you loosen them just a bit? Please.”
He gave me a cold look before he returned to his position behind me.
Karl talked about business, something about a dead drop…whatever that was. But then the conversation changed. “I’m kinda busy right now, Bartholomew. Let’s meet tomorrow.”
My heart was racing.
“I don’t understand why this can’t wait until tomorrow.”
This was no coincidence.
“Alright,” Karl said. “Make it quick. Here’s the address…”
I knew they were coming. Cauldron, Grave, and Bartholomew. They were coming. Now I just had to sit there and wait…
A couple hours later, I heard Bartholomew’s voice. “Nice place, old man.”
Karl chuckled at the backhanded insult. “Old man? I could take you in a knife fight.”
“Just tell me when and where.”
Very weird banter…
“Before we discuss business, I need a drink.” Bartholomew’s footsteps came close to the hallway.
I did my best to act normal in front of the guards, but my breathing had picked up quite a bit.
“Ignore the woman in there,” Karl said after him.
“I will—as long as she’s not naked.” His footsteps grew louder and louder. Then he appeared, in his black leather jacket, his military-style boots, with his dark hair slicked back. He walked in like he owned the place and headed straight to the bar without looking at me.
It took all my strength not to scream.
He moved behind the bar and grabbed the bottle and the glass. As he poured the drink, he lifted his gaze and looked at me.
“Help me,” I mouthed.
Bartholomew looked down again, as if he hadn’t noticed. “Got any cigars?”
Neither of the men moved.
Bartholomew looked up again. “I’m talking to you two idiots.”
One of them walked away, moving into another room.
I knew Bartholomew was up to something. I’d seen him in action, seen the way he made things happen in the most subtle ways.
“Where do you keep the good stuff?” Bartholomew took a drink then poured it down the drain. “Donkey piss, that’s what this is.” He kneeled down behind the bar.
The other guard moved and joined him, unlocking one of the cabinets.
Bartholomew slammed his head onto the corner of the cabinet. It was a quiet thud, and then it was silent.
I gave a quiet gasp, a gasp no one seemed to hear.
Bartholomew quietly lowered the guard’s body to the floor, hidden behind the bar. Then he moved across the room to where the second guard had disappeared. I didn’t hear anything, and when Bartholomew returned, he returned alone. He pulled out a knife and sliced through the ropes.
“Thank—”
He held his finger to his lips, his eyes furious.
I felt the ropes go loose. I could finally take a full breath.
He pulled out a gun from the back of his jeans and handed it to me. In a whisper so quiet I barely heard him, he said, “Hide. Shit’s about to go down.”
I took the cold gun in my hands and gave a nod.
“You have two minutes.” He grabbed his drink and headed back to the room, and as if nothing had happened, he continued their conversation. “Did you hear about Roan? I’m not sure what I’m going to do now that distribution has been halted…”
I got free of the rope and crept to a different part of the apartment. I opened the first door I came across and saw that it was an empty guest room. I snuck inside and shut the door before I entered the closet. I shut that door, got comfortable on the floor, and waited.
The sound of gunfire exploded.
It was utterly silent one moment, and then it was hell the next. I was cocooned by two doors, but I still covered my ears and lay flat on the floor. I worried these walls wouldn’t be enough to stop the bullets that might hit me by mistake.
The gunfire continued. There would be moments of silence in between the noise, but then the shots would fire again. It seemed to stretch for an eternity, but in reality, it was probably less than two minutes.
Then it was quiet. And it stayed quiet.
I wanted to burst out of the closet and run for Cauldron, but I knew better than to blindly reveal myself.
Then I heard his voice. “Camille! It’s safe!”
I continued to lie at the bottom of the closet, breathing through the relief. For a moment, I’d thought I was going to end up on a gurney, paralyzed by drugs so my organs could be harvested. But Cauldron had come for me…and so did Grave.
“Camille!” Now it was Grave. “Come out!”
I left the closet and the bedroom and stepped into the hallway. When I rounded the corner, I found Cauldron in the room where I’d been tied up, the ropes at his feet. I saw him before he saw me, saw the anguish on his face even though all our enemies were dead. The cords in his neck were so tight they were about to snap. Then he turned my way, and when his eyes settled on me, he looked paralyzed. “Baby.”