Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 67144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
But the lack of air is terrifying me, mixing with my pure, unadulterated fear.
What the hell is happening?
The side of my head throbs from Freddy smashing me in the face with what I’m guessing was his fist, ricocheting my skull off the window when I dove blindly for the horn.
Thank God, I hit it loud enough for Troy to hear it.
I know he did.
I believe he did.
“You couldn’t just behave, could you?” Freddy asks from beside me. “I tried to help you, baby. I told you to take me back. I begged you not to do this. I did. I had it all planned out, and it could’ve been fine. It could’ve been great. But you had to ignore the rules of the game and tell people what was happening, and they started poking around in places they didn’t need to be.”
His voice grows louder, more frantic just before his fist connects with my head again.
“Stop it!” I scream. The pillowcase’s nearly soaked and is clinging to my face. My chest heaves as I sob. “Why are you doing this to me?”
“This is all your fault. All of it. You cost me everything. Everything, dammit.”
I have no idea what he’s talking about. None of it makes sense. He’s clearly unhinged.
I bring my hand to the side of my head, tapping it lightly against a warm goo near the top. A metallic odor floats through the air as my fingers touch what’s undeniably blood soaking through the pillowcase.
“What’s my fault?” I ask, the words barely audible around the fabric. The wet material’s going to suffocate me.
The car quickly turns, and I smash into the door again.
I must get myself together. I have to survive.
I have to buy enough time for Troy to find me.
“You know Troy’s coming for me,” I say as calmly as I can manage. “You won’t get away with this.”
“What? Are you fucking him now too?”
“Are you looking over your shoulder? Because you should be.”
His laugh is wicked. “The only thing behind me is the pizza delivery guy. But he’s taking a little nap right now, so I think we’ll be okay.”
I still, my blood turning cold as I realize the horrifying truth … he’s going to kill me.
Troy
“I’m coming at you from the mainland,” Grey says as soon as I answer his call. “What the hell’s going on?”
I press the pedal to the floor, ripping by the guard shack at the neighborhood entrance. I can’t see them before me, and catching up will be nearly impossible, considering their head start.
“Someone took Dahlia,” I say, focusing on the task at hand and not on the fear gripping me like a vise. “They’ll want to get off the island to avoid looping around. We have to catch them before they’re off the causeway, or we could lose them in traffic.”
“I’m ten minutes from you.”
“Fuck!”
I scramble to remember the road layout on the island, which I memorized on the plane ride just a few days ago. A sign for the bike path entrance is up ahead. It’s a nature road, if I remember correctly, and follows the shoreline. It’s not made for cars, but … “Fuck it.”
Lincoln’s car makes the sharp angle a breeze but doesn’t love the terrain as much. Sand whips around us. It’s replaced with water as I plow through a shallow wetland.
God help me. Help me get to her.
I force a swallow.
Please let me save her.
I can’t lose the woman I’m utterly and completely in love with.
I can’t.
I won’t survive that.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Dahlia
“You can still walk away from this,” I say, working to loosen the pillowcase as discreetly as I can. “You haven’t done anything wrong that can’t be forgiven.” Lies. “I’ll say I went with you, and we had things to work out.” More lies. “This is just between you and me.”
If I can get him to think he’s not going to prison, he might reconsider this. Maybe. I have to give it a shot.
He laughs like a madman. Or not. “I’ve already killed the pizza delivery boy. He’s a little involved, too.”
My stomach hits the floor, my hands shaking. No, Dahlia. Focus. Don’t be a victim.
I gather myself. “Well, that’s one death,” I say as casually as possible. “And maybe you’ll kill me. But I promise you, Freddy, Troy will find you. And when he does, you’ll wish you hadn’t done this. Think about that.”
Tears lick my eyes because I know I’m right. Troy will not sleep until he finds him. Until he finds me.
I’ve thought about his words earlier … “I just want to protect you and make you happy. And I worry I can’t do that. I worry I can’t do that. I worry I can’t keep you safe, and you’ll see that I’m a fraud.”
Those words were the most vulnerable thing I’ve ever heard from him. They say everything.