Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 94546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
“Why the fuck is he naked?” he asks while assisting me in pulling a belligerent Jack off Silas. Even with it being two against one, it takes everything we have to keep him off Silas. “You didn’t…” he gives me a look as if to say, ‘fuck him’ before muttering, “… right?”
“No.” It was close, but I save that snippet of stupidity for another occasion. “We showered to get warm.” The heavenly reminder of our shower doesn’t keep my hopes high for long. A police siren just went off. It sounds as if it was right outside.
I do the same hand and knee scuffle I did to get to Jack, but this time, I head for the window that peers down at the street. “Fuck…” I half scream, half murmur after glancing past the dusty roller blind. “There’s a patrol car outside. Someone must have called in a disturbance.”
My mind races a million miles an hour when I sling my eyes back to the near massacre. Silas’s face is barely recognizable, and neither is Jack’s. It is hardened with too much rage to represent the cool, calm, and collected businessman he usually portrays.
A glimmer of clarity shines through the carnage. “Take him to Jess’s apartment.”
Caleb looks up at me as if I am insane. “What?”
“Just do it, Caleb.” I snag up the towel that slipped off Jack’s hip and toss it to Caleb. “He can’t be here when they arrive. If he is, they’ll put him away.”
“Maybe that’s a good place for him to be right now.” When I shot him a how-dare-you look, he holds his hands out in front of him. “I know I’m not one to talk. I just—” His reply is cut short by officers in the foyer demanding residents to remain in their homes.
“Hurry,” I beg when their footsteps grow louder. Jess is only one floor below us. He could make it to safety if Caleb hurries.
Caleb must reach the same conclusion as me. After curling his arm around Jack’s limp body, he stands to his feet, tugs him into his side, covers him the best he can with the towel, then gingerly makes his way to the stairs.
I watch them disappear onto Jess’s floor before shifting my focus to Silas. He’s breathing. The ripple in the blood pooling at the corner of his mouth exposes this, not to mention the slow rise and fall of his chest, but I still check him for a pulse, aware the spasm of a deceased body can be deceiving.
I swear my grandfather’s thighs twitched for hours after my father cut him down from the office at the back of his church.
I’ve only just placed my fingers on Silas’s neck when the cocking of a gun’s hammer freezes both my hand and my heart. “Ma’am, I’m going to need you to step away from the gentleman.”
“I was just c-checking him for a pulse,” I stammer out, my voice not as strong as I’m aiming for.
A young officer with blond hair and green eyes peers at the blood splatter I mentioned earlier on Silas’s bottom lip before he lowers his gun and speaks into the radio clipped to his shoulder. “Operator, we have a possible 10-52. Send medics.” He waits for the operator to advise an ETA before crouching down in front of Silas and me. After checking his pulse and rolling him onto his side so he doesn’t choke on his tongue, he asks, “How long ago did you find him like this?”
“Ahh…” I hate lying, but since this is one lie that may help somebody, I run with it. “Around five minutes ago. I was in the shower and heard a bang.”
My story is even more believable when I remember I’m wearing nothing but a thin towel.
“Can I get changed?” I thank my lucky stars that he’s a rookie officer. He takes pity on my almost undressed state instead of worrying about any evidence being destroyed before the forensic team is brought in. “I won’t be a minute.”
I race into my apartment before he can change his mind. It takes me a good thirty to forty seconds to work out why I can’t find my cell phone. I left it at Jack’s recently purchased penthouse.
After tossing open my laptop, I sign into the Facebook messenger app and veer toward Jess’s name. I’m in the process of typing out a message when one pops up.
Jess: Jack is gone.
As my heart rages against my chest, I type a string of words.
Me: Where? And why did Caleb let him leave?
I begin to wonder if Jess’s fingers can move at the speed of light when her reply pops up not long after mine is delivered.
Jess: Jack didn’t give him much choice. He wants to turn himself in.
What?
Leaving Jess hanging, I race back out to the hallway. The officer peers at me in surprise when he notices I’m still in a towel, but it has nothing on the shockwaves that pelt through me when I notice Jack cautiously approaching the officer from behind. He’s wearing a pair of Caleb’s sweatpants and a shirt, but his face is still full of torment and his hands are bloody.