Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 73230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
He went down, albeit a bit unwillingly, and I cuffed him.
First one hand, and then the other.
“On your belly,” I ordered.
He went, and I searched him for weapons, only turning up one cell phone and a pair of keys, presumably to the truck that was currently being driven out of the driveway by the large tow truck.
Ellis waved at me, and I nodded my head in his direction before I shoved the guy to his back.
“You got a kid here in this mess?” I asked in disgust.
Normally, I would’ve gotten the kid out of the equation first if I could have, but in this situation, I deemed that the father was a higher risk to the child’s overall safety.
He lifted up his lip in a silent snarl, and I was suddenly very tired.
I hated how people treated their children like utter crap.
They acted as if it was a privilege for that kid to be in their presence, not the other way around, as it should be.
“Get up,” I said, kicking him slightly to help him along.
He moved to his knees, then further to his feet, and started walking down the steps.
“Go to the passenger side of the truck. Put your ass in the seat and face forward,” I ordered.
I’d already opened the door, knowing he’d be getting in it.
He wouldn’t be one of those men that would be bonded out quickly, like Old Lady Rona.
This man was in for some real hard time, and most likely wouldn’t be seeing the outside of a jail cell for a very long time.
Armed robbery, possession of drugs and attempted murder being just a few of the charges he was being accused of.
He sat down heavily, and I attached him to the bolt I’d had welded to the floor, attached directly to the truck’s chassis.
I’d just gotten the door closed and my phone out of my pocket to call someone to come get the little girl when the smell hit me.
I turned and cursed when I saw the house had smoke billowing out of it.
“Motherfucker,” I cursed, placing the phone to my ear as I ran back inside the house.
The bong that the man had been smoking had somehow fallen to the floor under the table, catching the carpeting, then the couch on fire.
“Shit,” I hissed, waving a hand in front of my face as I hurried to the bedroom where I’d last seen the little girl.
She was still in the same spot, thank God, and I grabbed her by the foot out from under the bed, kicking and screaming.
“Shhh, girl. It’ll be okay. The house is on fire,” I informed her gruffly, coughing once as I got up to my feet once again.
“Mommy,” she cried.
The distinct smell of reefer started to fill the air, and I pushed my legs to move faster.
“We’ll get you to your mommy, darlin’,” I promised. “Just got to get out of this house, first.”
We were nearly at the door when something popped at my side, completely blindsiding me with pain.
I grunted, staggering listlessly to the side, but kept moving through the pain.
I was down the stairs and across the front yard when I reached down and pressed my hand down to my leg, coming back with blood.
Stopping behind my truck, I crouched down onto the ground and placed the little girl down on the ground, and inspected my wound.
At mid-thigh on my left leg sat a clearly circular opening in my jeans where blood started to bleed through my pants.
Mother fucker.
I’d been shot.
“Climb under the truck, baby doll,” I ordered her.
She looked at me like I was crazy and dove into my arms, making me freeze in terror.
Someone had shot me, and it hadn’t come from inside the house.
It’d come from outside, and it was so fuckin’ dark that I couldn’t see a goddamned thing.
Going with the hope that whomever had taken the initial shot couldn’t see me since I was no longer illuminated by the fire in the building behind me, I pushed myself and the girl as far into the truck as I could, and pulled out my phone.
For expediency as well as the least light, I held down the one button, and it automatically connected me to Peek.
“Hello?” Peek answered quickly.
Good, he wasn’t tattooing anybody.
“Someone just shot me,” I said. “Cops are on their way, but it’s not going to be fast enough. Whomever did it won’t wait until they get here to try again. I need you to send Wolf.”
Wolf was normally my backup in situations like this. When I needed a hand, he was normally within ten to fifteen miles of me, just in case.
I’d hoped that I’d never need to use him, but it’d been a promise I’d made to Peek, and he’d held me to it. Every time I headed out for a job, I called Wolf. And if Wolf wasn’t available, someone else usually was.