Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59950 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59950 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
He’s too smart not to.
“I hope so,” I say to Ciara as we both stare at the café.
“Just make sure you stay in the car, yeah? I’ll have my phone on call in my pocket, so you can hear the conversation on Jackson’s phone.”
I nod, holding up Jackson’s phone. Ciara dials it, and I answer, then she puts it in her pocket and gets out of the truck. I can hear her footsteps as she walks inside the café and then approaches the counter. That’s where she begins talking to Gerard’s sister. At first, it’s hard to hear, because of the hustle and bustle inside, but when his sister pulls her aside, it becomes clear.
“I know what your brother did,” Ciara is saying. “I know he murdered people and set my friend up. I have proof, and the club is going to bring him down. I am giving you the chance to help us, to see what he truly is.”
“You and your club need to leave me alone. I don’t want anything to do with this. My brother is innocent. If you keep coming around, I’ll contact the police.”
“Contact them, then. That’s no threat to us. I’m not in here trying to upset you, but your brother is killing people. He is taking lives. And he is getting away with it.”
“My brother is innocent, and if you and your little friends don’t leave, I’m going to file a report.”
“As I said, that is no threat to us. We are going to find your brother, and we are going to make him tell the truth. It’s up to you if you help us or not.”
“I’m not helping you,” she barks. “Now leave my café, right now.”
“Okay,” Ciara exhales. “Can’t say I didn’t try.”
The phone hangs up, and I have to assume that is the end of the conversation. I put the phone down and wait for her to return. I’m off in my own world, keeping low but looking out the window at the cars going by. The door opens, and I turn to ask Ciara how it went but it isn’t Ciara that gets in.
It’s Hound.
This isn’t how this is meant to go.
Not at all.
I open my mouth to speak, but he plunges a needle into my neck. It takes me a minute to register what’s happening and realize that this man is drugging me. The effects are almost immediate, and as he puts the truck into drive and speeds off, my face presses against the window, and through my blurred vision, I see Ciara running down the road.
After that, everything goes black.
When I wake, I’m not in the truck anymore. I’m lying on a cold concrete floor, and the sound of dripping water helps bring me around to reality. A moment or two passes as I try to get my foggy mind to remember what happened. As it slowly comes back to me, panic grips my chest.
Hound.
Hound has me.
Fear washes over my body as I try to push myself up off the floor, but my body won’t work. I can barely lift my head; I’m still feeling the effects of the drugs too heavily. A frustrated little cry leaves my lips, but it does nothing to get my body to work.
Hound has me.
I had a feeling, a bad feeling, that something would go wrong with this plan. I knew Hound would follow us, but none of us thought he would take the chance to take me then and there, not in the middle of a street. We had eyes on us, so why did nobody see him approach.
Did he hurt someone to get to me?
My mind is spinning, and as I heave and look around, I know that I’m somewhere I can’t escape from. A large concrete basement type room with only one small window that is so high I can’t possibly reach it. There is a door, a rusting steel door, and nothing else. There is literally nothing else in the room with me.
Just the cold floor I’m lying on.
The door rattling has my eyes turning in that direction to see it open. Hound steps in, a knife in his hand, and he looks down at me, a grin spreading across his face. “Well, look who’s awake. How are you feeling, Serenity?”
I try to squirm, to curse, to do anything, but nothing comes out.
He chuckles. “I wouldn’t bother trying to get up. The drugs I gave you will last hours, and when they start to run out, I’ll simply give you more.”
He walks over, kneeling in front of me, running his finger over the glistening blade of the knife. “Remember how scared you were of me when you were a little girl?”
I remember.
I’ll never forget it.
Hound, on more than one occasion, was given permission to punish me when I wasn’t doing what Hogan wanted.