Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 71814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
I was hurting them by not being honest. What if the cartel still tried to hurt them after I left?
“The cartel told me if I didn’t stop investigating and leave town that they’d kill all of you like they killed my mom,” I blurted out.
Silence greeted me as the guys looked stunned. That was how I felt too when I read those words, coupled with a nauseating wave of grief. It wasn’t fair that people like those in the cartel could get away with threatening and hurting people. Killing people.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Garrett stated with narrowed eyes. “They don’t scare us, Zoe.”
“You know what did scare us?” Kieran added. “When we couldn’t find you.”
“We thought something terrible had happened to you,” Kit said, sharing a brief look with the others before turning back to me. “We’re used to danger. It’s our job. What we’re not used to is having someone we care about being threatened by a dangerous cartel.”
Their words warmed me all the way to my heart and soul. As they gazed at me with care in their eyes, I knew that I couldn’t send them away or keep them in the dark. It wasn’t fair, and we were in this together.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized as I shifted toward the middle of the bed as they sat around me on the sides.
“If we hadn’t found you… what were you planning to do? Were you planning on not talking to us ever again?” Gabe asked.
My chest ached as I heard the hurt in his voice. That scenario had crossed my mind, but I didn’t think that I could ever bring myself to do that forever.
“I’m not exactly sure,” I admitted. I didn’t have a plan. I just ran. “I was going to give up the story and try to go back to my normal life with the hope that the cartel would leave you alone.”
“We would’ve continued fighting to take the cartel down,” Kit replied from my left. “This is something we have to finish.”
“It’s something you have to finish too,” Matty spoke up as he gave me a firm look. “Remember all the times you got discouraged and wanted to quit? Who encouraged you to keep going?”
“My mom,” I replied without hesitance.
“She’s not here to tell you to keep going right now, but you know that she would,” Matty pointed out.
“And you’re so much like her,” Kieran added with a gleam of admiration in his eyes. “You have that same determined spirit that helped her accomplish everything she set out to do.”
“If anyone can finish what she started, it’s you. It should be you,” Garrett said from my right, earning a nod from his brother.
My eyes threatened to water as I listened to their encouraging words, my determination and concern getting all twisted up. I was terrified of something going wrong, but I was also scared of letting everyone down.
“All of you, the whole crew, mean so much to me. I don’t want anything happening to you if I decide to come back and continue.” I fretted as I pulled my knees up to my chest, doing my best to keep my tears at bay.
Kit scooted closer to me, his hand brushing my upper arm.
“We have your back, and you have ours, right?” he asked me as our eyes locked.
I swallowed hard and nodded. Like I knew they would for me, I would put my life on the line for them.
“Then, there’s nothing to worry about,” Kit assured me. “But you need to come back with us. We have to do this.”
“The cartel won’t stop if we don’t take them down,” Garrett added. “They’ll hurt more people. Kill more people.”
I drew in a sharp breath through my nose as the car accident flashed through my mind, my gut wrenching as the sound of glass smashing filled my ears.
“They’ve already taken enough from me,” I gritted out, my face growing hot as my heart pounded heavily.
The guys didn’t immediately respond as the tension in the room doubled, the air thickening and heating up as pure anger flowed through my veins.
“I can’t believe they killed her… just for an investigation. Just to silence her! Only people who are purely evil would strip a mother away from her family.” I bit out, anger and sadness lacing my words.
“They knew she would expose them,” Gabe pointed out. “If they didn’t stop her, they wouldn’t make one more buck. Sell one more drug. It would’ve been their end.”
She was so close too! Finding all of that proof in my room of all places almost felt like a sign. It was down to me to take us across the finish line.
To give her closure.
“She would want me to finish this,” I murmured before lifting my narrowed eyes.
“Let’s do it for her,” Kieran said with a determined nod, prompting the others to follow suit.