Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 146666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 587(@250wpm)___ 489(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 587(@250wpm)___ 489(@300wpm)
Off to the side was a metal chair. Just sitting there on its own.
A flash of memory hit her. A man sitting on it. No, he was slumped in the chair. Secured to it with blood pouring from his forehead.
Matthew and his friends were taking turns working him over.
Bile rose in her throat and she leaned over to vomit up her lunch. She choked, heaving for breath.
Why had she come here?
More memories rushed at her. She’d lain here and listened to them jeering at him. Asking him questions. Because they’d thought . . . he was a rat?
A rat?
Why? What would that even mean? How could he have turned on them?
But Matthew’s friends . . . they’d been part of a gang. The Devil’s Kingdom. Had this guy been part of the gang too?
They’d barely given him a chance to talk. They’d just kept hitting him. While he denied any wrongdoing . . . and while she’d hidden. She hadn’t spoken up . . . why hadn’t she said anything? Tried to save him?
A noise sounded from behind her. There had been a noise that night too. The others had heard it, and that’s when one of them had turned and noticed her.
But she hadn’t been the one who’d made the noise.
Nope. That had been the man in the shadows. Why couldn’t she remember what he looked like?
Who was he?
Another noise. She turned just as something smacked her in the face.
She screamed in pain as she fell to the dirty floor. Someone loomed over her. Panic clawed at her, stealing her breath and her ability to scream again. She stared up at the person, but she couldn’t see their face.
Instead, all she saw was Matthew.
You shouldn’t have followed me, you dumb bitch.
Don’t you know I’ve got to teach you a lesson?
I want in with these guys . . . this was my ticket in. But you . . . you stupid cow . . . you’re trying to ruin it, aren’t you, Greer? Always trying to do the right thing. But the right thing doesn’t get you fuck all.
She cowered back as the asshole kicked her in the side.
“You should have stayed away, you stupid bitch.”
Another kick. Agony engulfed her.
“Now that you’ve seen me, you’re going to have to die. If you’d just stayed away, you could have lived. But you’re a fucking idiot, aren’t you?”
Picking her up, he threw her against a wall. And then his hand was over her throat, choking her.
She stared into dark eyes. But she couldn’t see his face. It was covered in a mask.
So why did he think she’d seen him?
She scratched at his hand. She didn’t want to die. She had too much to live for. Why had she been so damn stupid?
But she couldn’t fight him. She wasn’t strong enough.
All those moments she should have fought back, should have stood up for herself . . . they all swam through her mind.
This time, everyone else wasn’t going to win.
She couldn’t leave Hack! She refused to!
Bringing up her leg, she smacked her knee into his balls. His hand loosened on her throat and she gasped in a breath before smashing her head forward into his nose.
He dropped her with a roar, and she raced for the hole, diving out of it. She slammed onto the ground outside. That was going to leave bruises, but she didn’t have time to worry about that. Her vision was blurred, one eye already swollen as she climbed to her feet and started to run down the alleyway.
“Come back here, you bitch!” She turned with a cry as she ran. He was going to catch her. Then he went down suddenly. Shit. He’d tripped over that pile of rags. She might actually make it.
Her car was just there. But she didn’t have her keys. Her handbag must still be in that room! With a sob, she raced across the road.
A car screeched to a halt, and she sobbed as she looked back to find him standing in the middle of the road, the driver of the car was screaming at him. She took off around the corner. She knew she couldn’t get far. Hide, she had to hide.
There was an alley. She ran into it and hid behind a dumpster.
Would the person in the car call the police? They had to, right? A masked man chasing an injured woman? Please let them call the police.
Even the cops would help her in this situation, right?
The world tilted around her. Shit. She must have hit her head. She was feeling dizzy and nauseous. All she wanted was to go home and curl up with Hack around her, holding her. Leaning over, she vomited as quietly as she could.
Shivers racked her body, and even though she knew she shouldn’t, she closed her eyes.