Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 73043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
When I’d walked into the room on my own, the first thing I’d seen was Trace. He’d been sitting in a chair, much like I was, and his eyes were directed at the door. Waiting.
He had his hands tied behind his back which was then attached to the metal chair he was sitting in.
Much like I had now.
I tested the knot of the rope one more time and felt it tighten farther.
Fuck!
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
I looked at my friend, and if my hands were free, I’d punch him square in the face.
I shook my head. “Trace, I literally have no fucking clue what you’re carrying on about. I don’t have a ticking time bomb in my head. I’m fine.”
Trace shook his head. “The doctor…”
“It was the best thing I ever did,” Layton drawled as he entered the room.
“What was?” I asked, spitting out a mouth full of blood next to his feet where he came to a stop directly in front of me.
“Telling your friends and family that you had an inoperable aneurysm was a great job on my part,” Layton explained. “I told them that due to the recent head injury, that the aneurysm couldn’t be treated because you were too unstable. I also made sure that they knew any upsets could also trigger it. They were to treat you with kid gloves, and not tell you a goddamn thing.”
“You what?” Trace bellowed.
I looked at my friend and told him without words that he needed to chill the fuck out.
Trace’s shoulders tightened, his eyes narrowed, but he shut his mouth.
“Why?” I asked, turning back to Layton.
“Because it left you vulnerable, and it alienated them from you,” he answered. “Now you’re all alone and nobody is here to save you.”
It had.
I’d felt in the dark this entire time, and their refusal to tell me anything, even when I’d asked, had really brought back old feelings I’d rather have left buried.
Meaning just like the rest of them, Trace had known, too.
I clenched my jaw.
“It was your medical chart, you see.” Layton’s amused words made me want to punch him in the non-existent cunt.
The fucker.
“Elspeth begged me to look over your chart. ‘Daddy, please look over him. I want the best taking care of the man I plan to marry.’” He mimicked his daughter’s voice. “So, I did, for her. And you wanna know what I found?”
I closed my eyes as dawning understanding washed over me.
My sister was my point of emergency contact. The nurse on call had called her and asked for my medical history.
She’d likely given everything to her without a second thought.
Where I had been trying to keep myself under the radar, my sister had blown that cover sky high. Just by giving my medical history.
God. Fucking. Dammit.
Of all the chances.
Everything was starting to make sense.
The way that Janie lived life like she was going to lose me at any moment. The way she was capturing every single memory that she could.
Her request to have a baby.
Her promise that she would never, ever love another man.
Her desire to get married in Vegas.
Everything was all adding up, and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t put two and two together to get four until now.
“I see understanding is dawning.” Layton grinned. “Fucking sucks, doesn’t it, having all your hard work take a nose dive right in front of you.”
He walked to the wall at my back, and I could no longer see him.
I could see Trace, though, who was tied just like I was, only facing me.
And Trace’s face showed me that whatever Layton was doing back there, I wasn’t going to like.
“I spent years setting this final payout up. Hundreds of thousands of dollars hidden. It was going to be the perfect retirement gift from the US Army. Even though they didn’t exactly know that they were giving it to me. But still…this was going to be perfect. I had it all lined up. All my ducks in a row…then you happen along. Every single thing I had planned, you foiled. First it was the guns. Then it was the hack into my account. After that, it was the rerouting of not just my retirement, but all of my present wealth, too. And, on paper, it doesn’t look like I lost a goddamn thing. That’s where I was hoping your computer came in handy.”
Layton came back around and stopped in front of me, a scalpel in his hand.
“You’re going to use this computer and give it all back. If you give it back, I’ll consider allowing you to live.”
I hadn’t done a damn thing with any of his money.
None.
I’d tried.
Oh, how I’d tried.
But I hadn’t been able to get a fucking thing. It was all too random. There was no rhyme or reason to anything that Layton did.
I couldn’t get a handle on a single thing.