Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Atlas was snorting. “That would be a big, fat no. She’s decided that every Carter, and friend of Carter, is persona non grata.”
“Why?” I asked, worried now.
“Because Atlas tried to ship her off to a safe house out of state, and Sage decided that she’s not running scared anymore,” Auden chirped. “He got himself in the doghouse, and she won’t talk to any of us anymore.”
Atlas gritted his teeth, looking angry as hell.
“You should really trust our instincts,” I found myself saying. “I won’t hide, either.”
Quaid grumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like ‘stubborn ass women.’
I smiled, and felt my eyes get heavy.
The pain was starting to make itself known, too.
“I hurt,” I found myself saying to no one in particular.
“The medication you’re on is safe for the baby, but it’s not the best stuff out there,” Quaid admitted as he smoothed my hair back from my face. “I’ll get the nurse.”
The next time I woke, I knew something was wrong based solely on the silence of the room.
There was whispering beyond the door, and I turned my face in that direction so I could see who was doing the whispering.
Turns out, Quaid and Tobin were having a very heavy whispered conversation about something, and it was looking quite intense.
“She’s running a fever,” Quaid disagreed.
I was?
“They said it wasn’t due to an infection, though. Listen, this is important. If we don’t find these men, it’s highly possible that we lose another woman. Do you want another woman to go through what Ellodie went through?” Tobin growled.
Quaid lifted his arms and sifted his fingers through his hair.
My father crossed his arms, blocking Tobin’s access to my room.
“Let him in,” I croaked.
They all turned around at once and noticed me awake.
Quaid came first, but my dad pretty much knocked him over in his haste to get to me.
I smiled as best as I could at my father, and leaned my face into his touch when he finally made it to me.
“Hey,” he said softly. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine,” I lied.
I felt like shit.
But I agreed with Tobin.
This needed to be handled, and we couldn’t just hide our heads in the sand and expect it to handle itself.
“You sure scared the hell out of me, baby girl,” he grumbled as he looked at me.
“I scared myself,” I agreed. “What’s going on?”
“Another girl was taken.”
My heart sank.
“Dr. Brewn was spotted with another man, both in scrubs, as they took a girl from the same apartment complex that you used to live in,” he explained.
Nausea started to rise in my throat as I said, “Who was it?”
“Some girl visiting a family member,” Quaid answered, coming to my other side and leaning his hip against my bed.
“What’s the plan, then?” I asked. “What do you need?”
“I was hoping to jog your brain when it came to two men in scrubs…” Tobin left that statement hanging.
“Two guys in scr…” I paused. “Wait.”
Tobin’s eyes went electric.
“There,” I frowned hard, then turned to Quaid. “That guy. The one I went out on a date with, then changed his tire on the side of the road.”
“What about him?” he asked.
“He was there,” I expounded. “He was there. I remember seeing him, and also remember Dr. Brewn referring to him as Darron.”
Tobin left the room, excitement in his every step.
My dad and Quaid stayed exactly where they were.
“Where’s Mom?” I asked.
“With the Carters, planning a wedding.”
I blinked. “What?”
Quaid chuckled. “Apparently, your mom is planning our wedding because ‘a child can’t be born out of wedlock’ and she expects us to get married in three months.”
I blinked. “I don’t mind getting married, but I have to be able to walk down the aisle, first.”
Quaid’s lips twisted up into a smirk as he said, “I haven’t asked you yet.”
I snorted. “You will.”
I know that I suck at texting back, but please don’t call me.
—Quaid to his brothers
QUAID
2 weeks later
I was in the middle of nowhere, Arkansas.
There were multiple reasons for this.
One, we needed to get the hell out of Dallas, because the nationwide manhunt for Dr. Darron Simpson and Dr. Brewn was driving me insane. I couldn’t stand sitting around waiting for the other shoe to drop.
When Harvey, Ellodie’s dad, called and asked for help with some harvesting, I’d taken a half a second to agree before I’d loaded Ellodie up and we headed toward her parents’ farm.
The second reason we were headed to Arkansas was because Ellodie literally didn’t know the definition of bed rest.
She was, by far, the worst patient I’d ever encountered.
Worse than Garrett, and that was saying something.
Despite having a revolving door of people to help, she’d refused any and all helping hands, and had shut down unless it came to her mother and me.
The second reason was that her father needed help with he fields, and I had mandatory leave until the psychos were found. I was told, and I quote, I couldn’t be trusted to handle things in a way befitting the Dallas Police Department, so take the time off or else.