Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 47176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
“He could’ve offered me twenty,” I snarl, “and I would’ve said no.”
She hangs up, and I peek over the rock again, trying to think of where the nearest car could be. If Peggy was telling the truth about the address where Kelly’s being held, maybe it’s there….
But who’s to say if that’s true?
Fuck.
I need a car – Peggy’s clearly taken mine – and I need to get back to Jennifer.
Junior knows I betrayed him.
Standing, I sweep my rifle back and forth over the forest, pausing when I see a car approaching, a large off-roader with tinted windows. My pulse is pounding, my protective impulses roaring at me to get to Jennifer, to save her.
I knew something was off about Peggy.
From now on, I listen to my instincts.
Always.
And right now, my instincts are telling me to get that car and make sure Jennifer’s safe.
I’ll have to worry about Kelly later.
The car comes to a stop, and a burly man steps from the passenger’s seat. It takes me a moment to recognize him as Lance, the man from the strip club. He’s wearing black leather gloves and holds a pistol.
Two more men, dressed all in black, walk to the rear door and pull out another man.
He has a bag over his head, his clothes crusted with dirt. His body is tall, lean, and almost starved.
And he’s got a tattoo on his forearm I can see when he gets closer.
A dagger.
He has a dagger tattooed on his forearm.
My little brother had a dagger on his forearm.
My mouth is dry as Lance approaches, aiming the gun at the rock.
“You fucked up, Jamie,” he says. “But Junior’s a good man. He’s giving you one last chance.”
Two men guide him – the man with the dagger tattoo – into the middle of the road.
They pull away his hood.
The man has a beard, thick and gnarled, a huge beard with flecks of gray in it. His hair is wild and brown-gray, scraggly down to his shoulders. His cheeks are sunken.
But his eyes, his mouth, it’s….
“Matt,” I whisper.
He looks at me with dead eyes, then nods.
“Hello, brother,” he says, his voice cracked, sounding half dead. “What a lovely surprise.”
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
Jennifer
“I won’t be long,” Patrick says, standing at the door to the living room.
I’m sitting on the couch, Lucifer in my lap and Benny at my feet. They’ve hardly touched their food bowls, maybe sensing Jamie’s in danger, that it could all come crumbling down before it even starts.
Just let Kelly be okay, I repeat in my mind, my mantra, a way to try and push away the lust and affection-driven thoughts.
“Do you want anything?” Patrick asks. “From the store?”
“Oh, no, thank you,” I reply, offering him a smile.
He turns as if to walk away and then pauses. “The guards are outside, but you should know there’s a safe room at the end of the garden. The code is four-four-seven-five-one-two-eight.”
He looks at me firmly.
“Jennifer, did you hear me?”
“Um, four-seven….”
“Four-four…”
He says it again, and this time I quickly put it in my phone.
“Okay,” I say, my belly warbling. “But everything’s going to be okay, right?”
“Of course.” Patrick turns away quickly. “If Peggy sets her sights on something, nothing can stop her.”
I try to let his words soothe me, thinking of the trust Jamie has in Peggy, and the way he talked about her last night.
The tattoo gives a stinging pulse as if telling me something’s wrong.
Pushing that thought away – it’s beyond silly – I focus on Lucifer’s soft whining instead.
“It’s okay, boy,” I whisper, stroking him behind the ear. “Jamie will be home soon.”
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
Jamie
“I told you I was telling the truth,” Junior says, beaming over the video call.
Lance holds the phone in his hand, aiming it at me. All I can think about is how much time we’re wasting, how Junior’s men could be moving in on Peggy’s house right now…and Jennifer doesn’t even know they’re coming.
My rifle is on the ground. It’s hard to stay armed when two men are pointing guns at my little brother’s head.
Matt’s hands are cuffed in front of him, not behind. And though he stares at me with bleakness in his eyes – I can tell some terrible stuff has happened to him, wherever he’s been – he looks sober. Sharp. The way he did sometimes before a mission.
Junior sits in an office, grinning at the camera.
“My dad ordered the hit, but we decided to teach Matt some manners first. It turns out he’s not a very easily taught fellow, Jamie. So we made a challenge of it. How long before we could break him?”
“You kept him a prisoner,” I whisper darkly. “For years. As a game.”
“Don’t get too mad at dear dead daddy,” Junior goes on. “He wanted to execute him. But I found him too much fun.”
“I’m sorry, Matt,” I say, ignoring Junior, looking directly at my brother. “I looked for you. I tried. But in this life….”