Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 67320 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67320 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
As the boat picked up speed, the horror of my situation became all too clear. The engine, with blades sharp enough to slice me into pieces, was a few short feet away from me. As the boat pushed through the water, my hold became even more precarious…even more painful to my muscles as I tried to cling to my last hope for life.
How far had we driven out into the water? I’d been unconscious, so as far as I knew, it could have been hours. It had been far enough that he’d felt comfortable to fire a gun and it not attract attention. How long had I been missing? Did Landon know I was still alive or had he given up hope when he’d seen the broken body flung from the rooftop?
Was he looking for me…or was he already headed back to the arms of the other man in his life?
*****
Landon
Two hours. He’d been away from me for two hours and I already felt like my soul was dying. I didn’t believe in love at first sight, but I fucking believed in Micah…and I loved him.
The dead guy at the hotel had fooled me for all of about five minutes. I hated to be crass, but when I’d looked at whoever it was, my heart hadn’t shattered. I wanted to feel sorry for the guy, but I had no doubt that he’d been involved with Micah’s abduction so I couldn’t dig out much sympathy.
I’d also placed a tracker on one of the countless bracelets Micah wore at all times, so as soon as I’d pulled it up, I’d known he had left the building via stairwell…not air. Two huge concerns against me, though. First was the fact that he’d been gone for nearly thirty minutes before I’d known to turn on the tracking device. Second, and even worse, was that whoever had taken him had been on Lake Garda and was now headed back toward land.
That fucking piece of information crushed my heart. All my training told me what had happened while out on the water. I knew the odds of Micah coming back to me were virtually non-existent, but I refused to believe it. My heart would know, right?
The dock the boat had left from was straight ahead, only minutes away. I watched the road with one eye and the tracking device on my watch with the other. The boat looked to be close to docking again and the signal still blinked a signal to me—giving me hope that Micah was still with me. I barely maintained control of the vehicle when I turned into the marina. At close to two in the morning, the dock was dead…except for one single boat slowly making its way into a skiff.
I cut the lights on my vehicle, dropped it into park, opened the door, and slid into the darkness of the night. On instinct, I pulled my gun from the back of my pants and checked it as I made my way toward the boat. The lights had already been turned off, but not before my eyes made note that there was only one figure moving about on the boat and from the size and ungraceful movements, I knew it wasn’t Micah.
Fuck…had they stolen his bracelets before tossing him overboard? Was that why the signal kept blinking on my watch? My baby was still out in those dark waters, his life snuffed out by some crazed fan. Had he hoped I would rescue him? Had he called out my name?
I was going to kill the bastard responsible for taking away the man I loved. I would kill him slowly…then I would slowly die. I couldn’t even imagine living a life without Micah in it.
I skirted around the crowded docks until I was behind the bastard…who jumped off the boat and then casually started strolling down the wooden planks. The fucker whistled as he walked.
He seemed familiar.
Disbelief seeped into my veins, leaving me cold and broken. His own father? My baby’s own father had hurt him? Please God, let him be all right.
“Don’t take another step,” I growled. My gun was aimed directly at the back of his head, and it wouldn’t take much to make me pull the trigger. Hell, I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from pulling the trigger if he told me he’d hurt Micah.
His body jerked in surprise and then he froze. Slowly, his hands raised above his head, but even without him facing me, I could hear an evil chuckle tumbling from his lips. I cocked my gun, feeling confident that someone was going to die tonight. “Turn around. Slowly.”
When he turned, there was a cocky smile on his face—a smile that didn’t even waver when he realized he was looking down the barrel of my gun. The little bit of hope I had in my heart began to flicker again. “Where is he? Where’s Micah?”