Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
More importantly, Tayla’s disappointment at my dismissing her played in my head. I’d seen the unknown caller and knew immediately it was my handler. It would only be natural for Tayla to want to know who I’d been speaking to. Too many lies stood between us. I didn’t want to tell her another one.
I rubbed my temples, unsure of what to do, when there was a knock at the door. Before going there, I opened a drawer in the kitchen, pulled out a Glock, Griff had left, and put my hand behind my back.
“Who is it?” I asked, inches to the right of the door. If someone dared to shoot through it, I didn’t want to be an easy target.
“Call for you,” a male voice said, trying to sound pleasant.
“This isn’t a fucking hotel,” I called back, as I kept glancing back toward the room Tayla was in just in case the loud conversation brought her my way.
“You want to take this call?”
The last thing my handler said plagued my mind. She’d been trying to warn me, or had she?
I reached with my left hand, unlocked the door, and flung it open at the same time. I aimed the 9mm with precision with my right. The angle wasn’t perfect, given that I was standing off to the side, but it was good enough.
The man on the other side only held out a phone. It was a cheap flip phone I snagged from his hand. So far, he hadn’t pulled a gun on me and I prayed that Tayla wouldn’t come out. I couldn’t look back without risking myself and her in the process.
“Hello,” I said into the phone, using my left hand, still aiming the gun at him with my right one.
“Shawn.” The voice made my blood curl. Though I knew I wasn’t free of the man, I hoped I was. I said nothing.
“Shocked to hear from me? Well, let’s not waste words. I had my suspicions about you. But I was wrong. You may be more fucked up than me.” He cackled. “I’ve had you watched. And what do you know, you went to a pedo auction. Didn’t know you fancied kids.”
No doubt he thought he had something on me. Still, I said nothing.
“I need you to work for me while I’m stuck in here. Don’t worry. My bitch-ass wife and the feds didn’t get all my money. I’ll give you double what you made before. But first, you deliver my pig-squealing wife. That’s not a request, mind you. Don’t take too long. I might have pictures of you with a known pedophile. My guy did have to prove to me he saw what he saw.” He paused, and I didn’t fill it. “Do we understand each other? By the way, that piece of ass you have with you is sweet. I don’t blame you at all.”
I might have broken some teeth, considering how hard my jaw was clenched.
“Shawn.”
I waited a second before saying, “Yes.”
“Do. We. Understand. Each. Other?”
I waited a second more. “Yes.”
“Good. Give the phone back. But remember, you don’t have long to find her.”
I folded the phone in half, cutting him off before he could give me a definitive date. Then I tossed the guy the phone, leaving him to catch it with his two empty hands as I shut and locked the door.
“Who was that?” Tayla said, entering the room wearing a robe.
There were enough things I was keeping from her. This wouldn’t be one of them. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. “Not anyone good.”
Her brow quirked up, and she folded her arms across her chest. So I glanced at the ground before continuing. “I told you before, I’m not a good guy.” She pursed her lips but didn’t grace me with a response. “The man I used to work for isn’t taking my desire to end our business relationship to heart. He’s basically given me orders from prison with an ultimatum I can’t ignore.”
“How did he find you?”
It was a good question. I shrugged. “I don’t know. There’s no way he had people following me all this time, and I didn’t notice.” Though inwardly, I wondered how well my head had been in the game.
“Do you think…?” she began.
For a second, I didn’t get it. Until I did. I shook my head because I couldn’t accept the idea. “When?” I said on repeat a few times. Then it hit me as my mind raced through memories I wished could remain long buried.
I refocused on her. “Check me,” I said, with words barely above a whisper.
She nodded and came over. As she circled me, I unbuttoned my pants. When she faced me again, she reached up to put her hands on my shoulders and then slid them down until she reached my hands. With my thumb hooked in my waistband and pressure from hers, the pants gave way to gravity.