Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
I’d gotten about two lines in when I felt someone’s eyes on me.
Looking up, I smiled at Raphael.
“Hey!” I waved.
Raphael nodded, got in his truck, and pulled out of his driveway.
He was about halfway down the street when I felt another presence, causing me to look to the side.
“Don’t move,” the boy snapped.
Ellison.
He looked cold.
He was wearing nothing but a long sleeved tee, a pair of dark washed jeans, and a pair of lime green Jordan’s that would likely get ruined in the snow.
Oh, and he had a gun.
Pointed at my face.
I blinked, my fingers freezing on keys, and looked up from the gun to his eyes.
“What do you want?” I asked carefully, my fingers gripping the computer with a grip that would likely pain me in the morning.
“Get up. Go inside,” he gestured to the door with a red can that was in his hand.
My body froze, eyes going wide at the sight of the gas can in his hand.
I couldn’t tell you why that made my throat swell and my heart stutter in my chest.
Both the gun and the can of gas were troubling, but the gun was the more imminent threat to have right then; but you wouldn’t be able to tell my body that.
“Go!” He screamed.
My eyes went sideways as I rose from my chair, placing the computer on the chair where I’d been sitting and turning to walk inside.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Ellison ordered gruffly.
I opened the door to my house.
***
Drew
“Where’s your head at?” Tai asked as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
I dropped my phone into my pants pocket and pulled the hood back up over my head.
“That was Raphael, my neighbor. He said he had to leave,” I muttered, my stomach suddenly sinking.
I couldn’t explain it, but getting that call from Raphael saying he had to leave had my belly somewhere near my knees.
“I need to run by the house and get my parka,” I informed him. “I left it at the house last night. Do you think the boys will go for a run to the house?”
“I don’t see why not,” Tai shrugged. “It’s less than five minutes from the station. Technically, we wouldn’t even have to leave there if we didn’t want to. Plus, I’m sure Chief Allen would let us stay there due to the fact that there’s no power at the station.”
“The engine and medic would be in the snow, though. I doubt he’d like that very much,” I said, playing devil’s advocate.
Tai shrugged. “Back the medic into your car port. The engine will be fine.”
I nodded and turned to see what the guys’ thought, and they were all for it.
Apparently, sitting in a dark station with no electricity was a good motivator.
Five minutes later and we were pulling onto my street.
On the way, we’d decided to use the Morrison house that was at the top of the street as a place to park the engine. The Morrisons went down to Florida every December and January, something I’d found out during one of my many runs through the neighborhood since I’d moved there.
The Morrisons usually parked a massive gooseneck motor home there when they weren’t using it, and it was the perfect size for the quint.
It was five houses down from mine, which meant it was about as ideal as it was going to get under the circumstances we were currently dealing with.
“Damn, that’s impressive,” Booth called.
“What?” I asked, engaging the parking break.
“The fact that you just backed up in less than five seconds, in the snow. With almost zero visibility,” Booth indicated the steering wheel. “You’re good at it.”
I snorted.
“Been doing it for going on twenty years now,” I grunted. “I should be.”
Booth grinned and popped the door open.
I followed suit and started walking towards the boys that’d taken the ambulance down to my house.
Booth and Tai fell into step beside me as PD and Bowe emerged from the ambulance they backed to the end of my driveway, under the car port.
We were nearly neck and neck when a shot rang out from Aspen’s house, having my every nerve ending spark to life.
My legs started carrying me towards the door to Aspen’s house before I’d consciously told myself I should.
Instinct kicked in, and I was running blindly towards the door when I was tackled from behind.
“Stop,” Booth hissed when I went to push up.
I froze at the pure authority that leached out of his voice, and reason came back to me in a snap.
“Okay,” I licked my lips. “Okay.”
Booth got off me almost as quickly as he got there, and I pushed up onto my hands and knees, scrambling to the window next to the rest of the men.
“What’s going on?” I whispered frantically.
“Young kid with a gun and a can of gas. He’s pouring it all over the living room. The couch. Walking back to a bedroom now.”