Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 122097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
I know drones can be cheap. But I’m worldly enough to understand that those are not the kind of drones Amon is talking about. He certainly didn’t buy a toy to airlift a chihuahua out of the Bahamas.
I let out a long sigh. Yesterday was so nice. Today is stressful.
And it’s all stupid Grimm’s fault.
Why can’t he just leave me alone?
Just as I think that my phone buzzes in my hand and when I look down, the screen is lit up with a text message from Jim Bob, which reads: Come to my office right now. We need to talk.
Great. Just great.
I want to ignore this text. Pretend I didn’t even see it.
But when you are a Disciple girl and Jim Bob Baptist summons you to his office, you had better get your ass over to his office.
“I’ll be back in thirty,” I call out to Rosie. “If Collin comes by, tell him to wait for me, please!”
“Sure thing,” Rosie calls back.
And then, like it or not, I get my ass over to Jim Bob’s office.
Iturn back to the clearing and focus on the net with my dog inside. She’s whining a little because the net is still swinging, but she’s not thrashing, so that’s good. “Hold on, Mercy. I’m coming.” While I might not be carrying a gun—something that I will never do again—I always keep a pocket knife on me.
What’s interesting, though, is that they left me a knife. It’s stuck in the tree where the trap is set up. It’s a really nice skinner knife with an engraved blade.
But I don’t study it. I go over to the ropes and start sawing, holding the main rope so when the tension breaks, I can do what I can to slow the long fall down for Mercy.
She still hits pretty hard and cries out, but it’s better than it could’ve been.
I go over to her and start untangling her from the net. It takes a good few minutes to do that, but finally she is free and back on her feet.
I’m bent down, lookin’ her in the eyes. “You all right?”
She pouts a little, probably embarrassed that she got caught in a trap.
I pat her head. “It’s OK. We all get caught every once in a while. Come on. Let’s go.”
I take the knife with me and look around, without seeming to look around, as we make our way back through the woods, over the bones, and down the first hill.
They’re still watching me. I know that for sure. So I just keep going across the pasture, hit the next hill, and go down that one too before I let out a breath.
I’m sure they have cameras everywhere. That’s how they knew I was up there. Because that boneyard, whatever it was, it wasn’t where they stay. They saw me coming and they got their team together.
I’ve been trying to figure out how they disappeared like that. Like magic.
It’s not magic. It’s probably tunnels. And if I had rooted around a little, I’d have found them.
This leads me to the next question—who the fuck are they? Who has time to make a network of tunnels up in the hills? They wanted me to think they were mountain men and granny witches with those hanging bones. And maybe that boneyard is sacred ground. But then again, maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s just cover for somethin’ else?
Regardless, there’s an operation up in the hills above Disciple and these people have access to money, time, equipment, tunnels, and very nice weapons.
And I have a really strong suspicion that these men, whoever they are, are connected to the secrets that Jim Bob is holding dear.
I think a visit to Jim Bob’s little stone building is in order.
But as I’m heading down the last hill, my phone buzzes. I answer. “Yeah.”
“Where are you?” Amon says. “People been lookin’ for you all morning.”
“Who?”
He laughs. “Just Lowyn. She says she was tryin’ to call you and it went straight to voicemail.”
“I was up in the hills above the house. Mercy took off.”
“What? That’s impossible. Mercy don’t take off.”
“Well…”
“Before you start this story, are you home yet? Because we’re going in to Revenant, remember? And I’m pulling up to your house right now.”
“My house? Or Lowyn’s house?”
“Same difference.”
“We’re coming down the hill. I can see you. Be right there.”
When I come out of the woods I throw the knife, stickin’ it in a stump. Because I’m not gonna tell Amon about what just happened. Not right away. I’m gonna talk to Jim Bob first. So when we get down to Amon’s truck, I just direct Mercy into the back cab and get in the passenger seat.
“Damn.” Amon is lookin’ at my muddy boots. “She took you on a chase, huh? What was she after? Because my dogs do not take off. They track or they hunt. So she was doin’ one of the two.”