Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
I inhale.
“Okay, let’s talk then.” I feel the pit of my stomach twist. Is this a good talk or bad? Oh shit. Foreboding grows heavy in my chest and I brace myself for whatever happens.
“The thing is…” Lori begins but then covers her face with her hands. She groans loudly, the sound muffled by her fingers.
“Sweetheart, what’s going on?” I demand, growing more concerned by the minute at her strange behavior. “You know you can tell me anything.”
Lori takes another deep breath before shooting me a strange look. “Is Weston home?” she asks, perhaps dodging my question.
“No, no.” I shake my head and stand up. “He’s with his mom, for a change. Remember? Leonora breezed into town unexpectedly and said she’d have him at her place for a little while.”
“Good, that’s good,” Lori nods. Then, the curvy girl puts down the jar and sits down before pulling her legs up to her chest. She takes another deep breath, as if mustering her courage. But it doesn’t have to be like this, so I slide onto the couch next to her.
“Honey, please, what’s going on? Are you okay? Did something happen?”
But just as she opens her mouth to start speaking, I hear the sound of something popping loudly outside on the front lawn.
“What the hell?” I jolt, my defenses going into overdrive. It’s been a long time, but that sound was rampant when I was serving in the Army, and it’s something you never forget. I stride quickly next to the window and peer around the edge of the curtain. I push it aside just enough to do some surveillance, but not too much so as to be seen.
“Caleb?” Lori asks, confusion in her voice. “What was that?”
“Gunfire,” I bite out grimly. “Fuck this.”
Less than a second later, a bullet flies through the front window, shattering the glass. I jump back just in time, shielding my face from the flying shards with my arms as Lori screams. Crawling on my belly, I make it over to the curvy girl. To my immediate relief, she doesn’t appear injured, but she’s definitely in shock as she sprawls on the ground.
“Lori, we need to move. NOW.”
I don’t wait for her reply. Springing into action, I grab my cell phone off the coffee table and hit speed dial. As it begins to ring, I grab Lori by the arm and yank her up before dragging her through the house towards the back.
“Where are we going?” she huffs, trying to keep up. Her face is pale and she’s obviously in shock, but I keep a firm grip on her arm while hustling her faster. To her credit, Lori doesn’t resist or hesitate, but instead puts utter trust in my decision-making.
“We’re going to my panic room,” I rasp. “It’s just through here. Come on, in you go.”
We hustle into my office, and then pressing a secret button in the wall causes a latch to pop out. I yank on that, hard. Then the wall swings open, showing that it’s actually a reinforced steel door, like the kind you see at a bank vault. I basically shove the curvy girl inside before slamming the slab shut behind us with a heavy clunk.
“What is this room?” Lori gasps, looking around. There’s a bank of monitors against one wall surveilling every angle of my property. There’s a futon pushed against the corner, as well as a mini-fridge and some emergency supplies. “Why do you have stacks of canned goods in here? And water? Is this some sort of bunker?”
“Yes,” I answer shortly, already sitting down at the monitors. I’m trying to secure the room and at the same time figure out who the hell is shooting in my front yard. I’d spotted approximately two gunmen, but my training tells me there could be more, likely approaching the house from another direction. But who are these fuckers? And why have they targeted my home?
“What was that sound outside?” Lori asks, her voice cracking with worry. “Was that a bullet that almost hit me?”
I grimace at the question, not even letting myself think about what I would have done if Lori had been injured. Instead, my eyes still on the screens, I type something into the console in front of me.
“Those were bullets, yes.” I say in a neutral tone. “The property’s under siege at the moment.”
She gasps.
“How do you know? Maybe that was a random drive by.”
I swivel to turn at her then.
“I know, Lori. There were masked figures approaching, and they were heavily armed. We’ve been targeted and I need to figure out why.”
At that, she groans, dropping to the floor. I can see stress and fear settling into her features, and she’s fast going catatonic.
“Lori,” I say sharply. “Stay alert. I need you to help me. Look at this monitor and tell me what you see.” I gesture toward a screen on the left as she shakes her head with confusion, blinking. Then, she makes her way slowly toward the computers, looking at them with a dazed expression.