Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 18810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 94(@200wpm)___ 75(@250wpm)___ 63(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 94(@200wpm)___ 75(@250wpm)___ 63(@300wpm)
God, I fucking miss her and I fucking hate that I can no longer smell her on me. It’s driving me crazy and I feel like I’m on edge.
I’m nervous, but I have to do more than listen and watch my surroundings. I have to play the part as well. As a well-bred female, Naomi asks the right questions and tailors her reactions to my responses to build up my ego. As I speak about my family’s businesses, government contracts, and my ascent to the high office, she listens intently, acts surprised when appropriate, and smiles through the entire conversation.
Even when I clumsily drop my fork and reach under the table to get it, then refuse the server’s offer of a new fork with a flourish of exaggerated machismo about not being afraid of street germs, she laughs in an annoying kind of way. Any other man would be thrilled with this kind of attention, and she probably deserves better. All I want is to get the fuck out of here and back to Sylvia. I need to get my eyes on her to cool the beast that is trying to escape inside me with the need to make sure she’s okay.
And then, when I least expect it, when I’m just nodding along to some boring story about her first horse, there’s a flash of dark brown, and Naomi’s extravagantly expensive handbag is snatched away.
Oh shit. Here we go.
I jump up so fast my chair clatters to the ground behind me. I run after Sylvia as fast as I can, but she’s got a head start.
“Brad, it’s okay. Just let her go! I can have the bag and everything in it replaced in five minutes!” Naomi calls after me, but I ignore her.
I keep running. What kind of a man would I be if I didn’t run after my date’s purse snatcher? As I round the corner after Sylvia, I can hear Naomi’s voice one last time. “It’s not worth all this!”
But that’s where she’s wrong. Sylvia’s worth all of this. She’s worth the busted nose, the headaches, and all the trouble she’s caused me since the moment we met. I’m not going to let her out of my sight ever again.
Chapter Thirteen
Sylvia
I run hard and lead Brad out to the docks, where it’s quiet on a Sunday morning. The sun is high behind the smoke-filled clouds.
Stopping behind an empty cargo container, I hide and go over the plan. As I hear Brad’s feet approach the water’s edge and pull Brad’s handgun out of the woman’s purse. I focus on my breathing, trying to calm my nerves. Then I turn around the corner of the container and reveal myself.
Hardly able to breathe, I point a gun at the chest of my one true love and hope for the best. He raises his hands in the air, and I squeeze the trigger.
The gun fires, and Brad collapses in a heap. It’s then I realize I missed his chest and shot him in the head. He rolls onto his side and drops off the edge of the dock into the water.
I open my mouth to scream, but no sound comes out. I want to die. I run to the water’s edge but I can’t see him in the murky, choppy sea. Not knowing how to swim, and having nobody to call for help, I stand there in a shocked panic.
Finally I snap out of it. I have to get out of here. That’s what Brad would want. He wouldn’t want me to get caught and hanged for the murder of a high-ranking government official. He would want me to keep fighting. Even if I had accidentally shot him in the head.
I drop the gun and the bag, then run like hell.
The closed circuit cameras at the docks will tell the story. Brad died a hero trying to go after a common thief. If there wasn’t a feed from the cameras, they would find his gun and her handbag. They would find that a bullet had been fired, and they could deduce what had happened. Either way, he was gone and had died in the line of duty.
As for me, I would have to go into hiding. Hopefully the Insurgence valued me enough to help with hiding me until the government investigation.
It’s a stupid idea, but I run straight to my apartment. I want to collect my things. I don’t have much, but my possessions are valuable to me. I thoughtlessly check my mailbox on the way to the stairs. There’s a note with instructions. They’d seen the killing already. The Insurgence is moving fast and they’re going to help me. That’s a small comfort, but it’s better than nothing. I’ll wait until I’m in hiding before I fall apart. Right this moment I can’t think about what I just did and how I’ve lost Brad forever.