Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 136247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 681(@200wpm)___ 545(@250wpm)___ 454(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 681(@200wpm)___ 545(@250wpm)___ 454(@300wpm)
God.
There’s so much going wrong tonight, and inside my head.
I don’t even know how Owl got in the back of the truck. He probably jumped in without them noticing, but I couldn’t tell you when or where.
Please, just let him be okay.
“Put her over there,” a man orders. “I’ve called Pickett, he’s on his way.”
With another hard shove that doubles me over, his sidekick drags me up to an old house, onto what feels like a rickety wooden porch. A rough blow to my shins from his boots forces me to sit down, wincing.
Owl is nowhere in sight, and it’s too quiet to mean anything good.
I don’t know how long I’m there, kneeling in misery. It could be ten minutes or it might be an hour.
It’s a miracle I don’t break down sobbing then and there.
But I’m not giving them that. I force myself not to cry at the thought that Owl might be lying in the grass only a few yards away, bleeding and lifeless.
If I can’t make myself be brave, then I’m definitely toast.
Why didn’t I heed Quinn’s warnings? All this time, in the back of my mind, I just didn’t take this nightmare seriously enough. I thought I could fix it.
Now, I have to, what little way I can.
Have to find a way out of here. Out of these ropes.
My wrists are skinny. I’m used to twisting them, and do so now, bending them around and around, working the rope looser very slowly, counting seconds in my head for calm.
Four men are standing near the trucks. I recognize that creep, Marvin Heckles, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen the others. No sign of the tall, strange man with the cherry-red Chevy, either.
My heart stops the moment the rope on my wrists goes slack. Looks like Edison the horse isn’t the only one in this town who can play Houdini.
I slip one hand out carefully, not wanting anyone to see my movements, but then slide it back in, and keep them behind me. Let them think I’m still tied up.
I also don’t know what I’ll do for sure, but the rope is all I have for a makeshift weapon.
Do I run for it?
The dairy farm isn’t far from here, a few miles, less cross country.
Drake and Bella’s place is even closer, but I’m lost on how to get to either place.
All I know is this is the south side of the lake.
I think?
Minutes feel like hours. An eternity passes by the time the headlights finally appear on the road leading to the house.
A pickup chugs up the road and rolls to a stop. Newer than the other trucks.
I watch as a freakishly tall, horribly familiar man with tattoos along his neck unfolds himself and climbs out.
My stomach flips at the way he glares at me, walking toward the porch. I’d get friendlier eyes from a starving wolf.
“Faulkner’s girlfriend, huh?” Bat Pickett spits Quinn’s name like a curse. “You ever get a primer on what happens with Feds’ women?”
I keep my mouth shut. I’ve already made enough mistakes. I’m not going to mouth off and let this monster backhand me into another mini coma.
He leans down, nostrils flaring as he reaches for my chin, tipping my face up.
For a second, I’m forced to gaze into his blue eyes. Nothing like my own, they’re weirdly pale, even in the darkness. Grey, soulless, and angry.
Straightening up, he drops my chin.
“Gotta say, I like that you mind your manners. He’s taught you well. You’re perfect bait,” he says coldly. “We’re gonna have ourselves a big old slice of justice tonight.”
“Justice?” I whisper, wishing it hadn’t slipped out.
He turns, looking at me like I’m just another bug in the night.
“Old school justice, little lady. I’m talkin’ real old, like Babylonian style.” A cruel smile pulls at his lips. “You ever hear of Hammurabi’s Code? This history professor told me all about it, a real degenerate, loved to run his mouth about all sorts of wild shit while I was just a street grunt, keeping him in crystal.”
I look down because I took ancient history at college. I know what he’s getting at before it’s even out of his mouth.
“Those were some smart fuckers back then. You ask me, we’d all be in a better place if we left the laws real simple. You know what I’m talking about?” He pauses, drowning me in that wicked gaze. “No? You ever heard the phrase 'an eye for an eye?'”
Before he can reach for me again and force an answer, I nod. It feels like my head weighs a ton.
“Thought so,” he says, his smile getting wider. “See, this whole beef with Faulkner happened because he murdered my brother. I ain’t the kinda fuck who gets hard for messing up women and burying them in pits but...well, you understand. I don’t have no choice. Don’t take this personally. To make things right with the universe, right with the law, I’ve gotta kill Faulkner—but first, I’ve gotta kill you.”