Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Or maybe they made a run for it on foot.
Maybe wrecking the van was the sign they needed to abandon this mission and let Nora and Bear go. Maybe I’ll make this final turn and see my girl huddled under an awning in a loading bay, waiting for rescue.
Even as the thoughts race through my head, however, I know not to get my hopes up. Rex is too stubborn, and hell-bent on impressing his grandmother, to give up so easily. And Wimpy is too stupid.
I know this. Still, I’m surprised when I clear the side of the building and see a red semitruck without a load barreling toward the warehouse without any sign of slowing.
The rain is coming down too hard to see who’s behind the wheel, but I’d bet my pension it’s the Sweetwaters and Wimpy’s driving. Who else is dumb enough to floor it full speed at a building, risking debilitating whiplash or death in the name of gaining access to a warehouse full of toys?
I slam on my horn, alerting them to the fact that they’re not alone.
I’m hoping it might get them to turn the truck and make a run for it, but they don’t. Whoever’s driving slams on the brakes at the last minute, but it’s too late. The semi is going too fast to stop before impact.
I watch in horror as the man behind the wheel flies over the steering wheel and through the windshield. I’m no fan of the Sweetwaters, but I don’t want to watch a man die. I shove the SUV into park a few dozen feet from the crash and throw open my door. A beat later, I’m running toward the semi, which is emitting an impressive amount of smoke from the engine, especially considering how hard the rain is coming down.
I reach the passenger’s door just as Rex shoves it open, coughing hard as he clings to the seatbelt tight across his chest.
“Are you okay?” I ask, stepping up on the metal grate on the side of the truck.
“Fucking idiot. What the fuck was he thinking?” he wheezes between coughs. “I told him not to go so fast, but he didn’t listen. He never fucking listens.” Rex looks up, seeming to realize who I am for the first time. His shocked expression narrows with anger. “And it’s your fault. You sneaky shit. You were trying to steal our payday. As soon as this seatbelt stops biting me in half, I’m going to pound your face in.”
“Shouldn’t you be more worried about your cousin?” Shifting my gaze to where Wimpy lies unconscious, sprawled across the front of the truck, bleeding profusely from a cut on his forehead, I shake my head. “He might be dead, Rex. I can’t tell from here.”
Rex curses and strains to reach across his body. “Fuck, get me out. Get me out, so I can check on him! My shoulder’s too fucked to pop the belt.”
“I’ll check on him,” I say, deciding against freeing a man who wants to pound my face in. I close the door enough to swing around and climb out on top of the smoking hood.
Only then do I realize how hot the metal is.
It feels like there’s more than smoke under here.
It feels like the engine’s on fire…
Out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly see it, the hint of flames licking at the crumpled metal near the front of the semi. I’m not sure where the fuel tank is on one of these things, but there’s probably enough oil under the hood for the makings of a decent explosion.
“Matty, catch!”
I look up to see Nora standing in front of the truck, in the hole created in the side of the warehouse when the semi slammed into the structure and rebounded from impact. She’s holding a fire extinguisher and is soaking wet, but otherwise seems to be in one piece.
And I intend to keep her that way.
“Throw it fast and get away from the truck, Nora,” I shout. “There’s a fire.”
“That’s why you need this!” she says, winding up and throwing the extinguisher with all her might.
Unfortunately, upper body strength isn’t one of my girl’s many gifts. The cannister only goes a foot or two before it collides with the pavement, making Nora flinch and her hands fly up to cover her face.
But the extinguisher doesn’t explode. It only rolls across the ground.
Nora chases after it, bringing her precious head closer to the front of the truck.
My heart catapulting into my throat, I shout in a booming God-on-high-voice I’ve never heard come from my mouth in all my twenty-nine years, “Get away from the truck right now, Nora, I love you!”
Her head pops up, just visible above the steaming edge of the engine. “I love you, too. And you get away from the truck! I’m not getting away until you’re away. I’m a fucking hero, dammit, and I’m going to save you.”