Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89093 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89093 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
I snap my eyes back to the unnamed man with a scarred face when he gabbers out, “He? I thought she was traveling alone?”
“She was.” I curse Cedric to a lifetime of misery when the caller adds, “Cedric established this at the start of our hunt.”
I lose the ability to swallow my spit.
He said hunt, not rescue, proving JR’s overprotectiveness was for a good reason.
He truly is saving me.
“Could she have picked someone up on the way?”
“Doubt it,” the caller replies. “But Sheriff Michaels has half his team looking into it. The roads on all sides of the mountain are barricaded. We will find her. You just need to work out what you want to do if she’s found alive.”
I sink into the shadows of the woods when he strays his eyes my way. His stare is so accurate, anyone would swear he’s spotted me staring at him. “If she’s alive, make sure her resurrection is brief. If you can’t do it, have the dogs take her out. From what I’ve heard, death by mauling is an entertainer’s delight for this family.”
Just as he ends his call without a goodbye, the menacing growl of a blood-thirsty dog echoes through the dense woodlands. It sends a chill down my spine that doubles the height of the goosebumps on my arms and renders me so speechless that when JR returns to my side with a dusty wallet and a set of keys, I am as mute as him.
“Ugh,” he grunts before pushing out the bangs I grew to hide an almost decade-long secret like he already knows them all. I’m covered with mud, but he stares at me like protectiveness is the sweetest form of love.
“Get me out of here,” I beg, finally unashamed to ask for help when it is needed.
Chapter Fifteen
After nodding without pause for thought, JR hooks me onto his back, shelters my body from the bitterly cold winds with the deer skin, then races us along the edge of the clearing.
Approximately ten minutes later, his speed reduces from a hurried sprint to a leisurely jog. I learn the reason for his changeup when I spot something oddly out of place in the distance. I’ve studied the landscape of this woodland for hours on end the past couple of days, so I know a fake set of branches when I see them.
“You’ve had a truck at your disposal the entire time!” I shriek out when it dawns on me what the camouflage material and fake pine bristle stems are hiding.
JR clamps his hand over my mouth. Not just to shut me up but also to lessen the chance of my girlie shriek reaching the ears of a man who wants me dead. He ran for what felt like miles, but we’re technically only a few hundred feet from the cabin. He took us the long way to ensure the massive pine trees surrounding the cabin kept us hidden, then I go and ruin his plans by being a loudmouth.
When JR’s pleading eyes request for me to be silent, I dip my chin. I learned my lesson. He won’t need to tell me twice. Furthermore, I’m so close to passing out, anything above a nod is beyond my comprehension right now.
After slipping his hand from my mouth, JR dips us under the camouflage mesh, carefully pries open the driver’s side door of a truck that’s clearly older than both of us, then slots me behind the steering wheel.
I automatically commence scooting to the passenger side. It didn’t matter if it was a truck the size of a tanker or the Matchbox car Cedric begrudgingly hired during his first overnight trip to Ravenshoe, if it had a gas pedal and a brake, Cedric was in charge, so you can picture my shock when JR closes the door without the slightest bang before he hotfoots it to the other side.
He slips into his seat, throws down the visor, snatches up a set of keys, then hands them to me. “Whose keys are those?” I ask after dropping my eyes to the pair he’s clutching for dear life. When it dawns on me that now is not the time to be seeking answers for injudicious questions, I jab the key into the ignition before making sure JR is aware of the risks associated with this daring operation. “Are you sure you want me to drive? My track record isn’t that great in these conditions.”
JR’s unexpected grin fills me with enough confidence to fire up the ignition without an ounce of fear bombarding me. Although I can’t see a single thing in front of me, the truck’s deep rumbling engine leaves me no choice but to flatten my foot on the gas pedal. If the truck’s engine doesn’t alert the goon to our escape, I’m certain the plumes of smoke the exhaust pipe is choking on will soon activate his other senses.