Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 125140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
For twenty minutes I pace as I try to figure out what to do. I need to find him. I have no choice but to find him. I run to the wardrobe and put on my wig, a dress, and some fake glasses. I grab my phone, our passports, and find the gun and put it all in my handbag. I walk out of our room and into the elevator. I push the button with my heart hammering hard in my chest. I scroll through my phone to try and find a map satellite. I have no idea where I am going. I look through the apps and I find one.
Find My Phone.
Huh? What’s this? Stace must have put it on my phone unless it came with it. I click through and it seems to be some kind of tracking device. Hang on, I wonder if he put it on his phone, too? I quickly type in Stace’s number and watch the screen. Low and behold, like magic, a little red dot lights up the screen.
Yes!
He’s not far away, just four blocks from here. The doors of the elevator open and I bounce out with renewed optimism.
I know where he is.
* * *
The street is busy and bustling and I make my way out, knowing the little red dot is here somewhere, I just have to find it. I think it’s just up here on the right. I keep my head down and walk as fast as I can, aware that at any moment I may be spotted.
The red dot seems to be underneath me, and I frown as I do a full circle on the spot.
Where the hell is he? I walk into the bar on the left hand side of the street and search with no success. I stare at the phone and frown it says he is literally above me. I look around, and over by the wall I find a staircase and tentatively walk up. I smile broadly when I get to the top.
A bar. I walk through and the first person I see is Stace, sitting alone at a bench seat at the back with a beer as his companion.
I approach the table. “Mind if I join you?” I ask.
His eyes rise up to meet mine and he shrugs without answering.
I slide in next to him. “They’ve found us.”
He frowns as his eyes flicker to me. “How do you know?”
“I saw Stucco and one of the others in the street below our hotel looking for us.”
He exhales deeply and sips his beer.
I wait for him to say something but he doesn’t.
“I think we should go,” I whisper.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” he replies flatly.
My heart drops. “Stace,” I whisper as I put my hand on his thigh.
He flicks it off. “Don’t touch me. I’m so fucking angry with you, I can’t see straight.”
“I know. I’m angry with myself.”
We stay silent for a while and he orders another drink.
“We really should go,” I whisper. “We don’t have time to be sitting in bars.”
He shakes his head. “Right now I got bigger problems than fucking Stucco.” He growls.
A smirk crosses my face. “Me?”
“Yes, you,” he snaps.
“I should have asked you if you took them.”
“You should have.”
“I just…” I pause as I try to articulate my thoughts. “I’m not very good at trusting people.”
“You said you loved me.”
“I do,” I whisper.
“That’s not love, Rosh.” He pauses. “Not the kind I give, anyway.”
“I don’t have your love yet, Stace, we both know that.”
His eyes meet mine. “It would be much easier to walk away from you if you didn’t.”
He’s going.
My eyes tear up. “Please don’t walk away from me.” The lump in my throat gets really big and I find it hard to speak. “I’m much better when I’m with you. I can try harder.”
“I just don’t need this,” he whispers.
I sit with resignation, understanding exactly where he is coming from, and after a long pause of silence I speak quietly. “When we get out of here, you can go.” The tears burst from my eyes and I wipe them away shamefully. “You are better off without me.”
He continues drinking his beer, void of emotion.
“But at this moment we need to go,” I whisper. “Stace, they are going to find us. We are in danger. You can leave me later.”
He downs the rest of his beer.
“I have our passports and the gun in my bag,” I whisper.
“Give me the gun.”
I pass it to him under the table.
“You walk in front of me. We are more noticeable if we are together.” He thinks for a moment and hands me back the gun. “You keep it.”
I frown.
“I can handle myself without a gun,” he explains.
I nod and put it back into my bag.
“Just remember that we are on land now. If you shoot someone, you are going to jail.” He widens his eyes. “So don’t shoot anyone.”