Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 63786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Has someone taken her?
I’m about to leave the room when I see an envelope leaning up against the lamp on the bedside table. I rip it open to find a note inside.
If you love your baby, you’ll let us go. Your world is not our world. I’m sorry.
Panic turns to relief.
Relief turns to anger.
She’s left me.
She’s taken my baby and run.
Inside the envelope is the credit card I gave her and her engagement ring. Seeing the ring is like a hammer hitting me in the chest.
I crumple the paper in my hand as my chest tightens with the knowledge that she’s run away from me.
She’s scared.
But I thought we were on the same page. That despite the horrors of my world, we had become something more than the deal to keep Wilson alive. More than a fake arrangement. I thought we had built something real. But clearly, I was wrong, and fuck, getting slammed in the balls would hurt less than this.
My phone rings. It’s Feliks.
I don’t give him a chance to speak as I answer. “Brooke’s gone. Do you know where she is?”
“No. Fuck. Are you sure?”
I tell him about the note.
“How did she leave without any of the guards seeing her?”
“Good fucking question,” I growl just as my head of security walks in.
“Alright, I’ll do some digging and see if I can find out anything.”
I hang up and glare at Pierce. “I want a list of names of everyone who has come in and out of the estate today.”
“Already got it. Other than my security team, there was only one visitor to the estate today.”
“Who?”
“Joe, the food delivery guy.”
19
BROOKE
I’m either a genius or the world’s biggest fool, I think to myself as I ride in the back of Joe’s delivery truck. Either way, this is what I have to do.
I can’t have my baby growing up in a world where you can be kidnapped and beaten to prove a point to your rival in crime.
Another thing I can’t do is think about what it will do to Lev when he finds out I’m gone. I’m taking his baby, and I know it will hurt him, and I feel that pain already in my chest when I think about it. But I can’t let that distract me from what I have to do to protect this baby. It’s not about me or Lev anymore.
The truck hits a pothole, and my bones rattle with the vibration. It takes me back to the night of the explosion, and I shiver. I’m cold, and my bones are stiff from sitting in this cramped position for the last twenty minutes.
The plan is to sneak out of the truck when Joe stops for his next delivery and find somewhere safe to stay the night. I’ll admit this isn’t the best thought-out plan. Time was of the essence when I decided to flee.
Finally, after what feels like the bumpiest, longest ride in the history of driving, Joe pulls up and opens the back door. I hold my breath and squeeze my eyes shut, hoping he doesn’t see me hiding behind a stack of boxes toward the rear of the truck.
Fortunately, he pulls out a tray of bread and then leaves, and I see my chance to finally sneak out.
Outside, it takes my eyes a moment to adjust to the late afternoon light. It’s going to be dark soon.
You need to find somewhere safe to sleep.
We’re parked out in the front of a strip mall. Across the intersection is a gas station, and next to it is a motel.
I dash across the road and disappear inside the motel. An older lady with a kind face is behind the reception counter and looks me up and down when I walk in. She looks for my luggage but doesn’t say anything when she realizes I don’t have anything. Going by the dated furnishings and original carpet from the eighties, I think discretion is this motel’s selling point.
“It’s twenty-five dollars for the night, sweetheart,” she says.
I don’t have any cash or a card, but luckily, I have my Apple wallet on my phone.
But then I remember, Lev will be able to trace that.
Damn it. How am I going to do this without him finding me?
I call Henry, who is currently staying in my apartment back in Chicago, and he answers on the second ring. “You know, I could get used to living here. Do you know you’re in the delivery area for the best Chinese food in the city?”
“That’s great, Henry, but I need your help.”
Hearing the tone in my voice, he’s immediately concerned. “Why do you sound so panicked? Is everything okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine and safe, but promise me you won’t freak out when I tell you that I need a motel room for the night and that I need someone other than me to pay for it.”