Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Danny’s gaze shot to me.
“I can never remember his name,” Lucy continued quietly to herself. “Dammit, what is that guy’s name?”
“François Baudelaire,” I answered as Chance’s head snapped up. “Am I right?”
“How the hell did you do that?” Lucy asked suspiciously. “You can’t read my mind, right?”
“Of course not.”
“Good. Just checking.”
“He’s well known in some circles,” I explained. “High in the United States government.”
“Oh, goody,” she said tiredly, leaning back against the wall. “Because this shit wasn’t crazy enough.”
“Why did Zeke think that Baudelaire was involved?” Chance asked.
“How the hell should I know?” Lucy snapped. “That’s just what he said. That he thought Baudelaire was funding the research or something. I don’t even understand what the hell they could be researching.”
I knew. I’d suspected since I’d walked into the hut they’d tortured my baby brother in, but I hadn’t wanted to believe it.
“If they’ve got that kind of funding, they could be tracking us by fucking satellite,” Danny said, straightening. “We need to get rid of our phones.”
When we’d begun searching for Charlie, it was for the sole purpose of finding our brother’s mate and bringing him into the fold. Ignoring his existence would’ve been impossible. He was Zeke’s soul match. The other half of the baby brother we’d lost.
We’d realized early on that Charles and his sister were in hiding. The fact that they’d suddenly dropped off the grid was proof of that. It hadn’t been until our brother, Beau, and his mate, Reese, were attacked that we’d begun to understand exactly how much danger Charles might be in.
Lucy would’ve been collateral damage if the group that was hunting mates had caught up with them. Their only interest in her would’ve been as an avenue to Charles. Now that we’d met and the mating heat had begun, she was in as much danger as her brother.
I tossed my phone onto the counter.
“I don’t have one,” Lucy said with a shrug. “Those were the first to go. Amateurs.”
“We need to leave,” Chance said, glancing toward the front door. “We’ve been here too long.”
“You two go straight to the airport,” I ordered. “Take my phone with you. Toss them all when you get there.”
“This is fucking stupid,” Chance said, stuffing my phone into his pocket.
“Probably better that we’re splitting up,” I replied, actually believing it. With any luck, whoever was watching would assume that I was flying home with my brothers. Maybe they’d think that we hadn’t found anything because Baltimore was a dead end. “Hopefully, it’ll give us a little time to get to Charles before anyone notices.”
“You take the car,” Danny ordered. “We can make it back to the airport—”
“We’re biking, aren’t we?” Chance bitched. “Excellent.”
“Stop whining,” Danny replied.
I caught the keys that Chance tossed my way.
“Go,” he ordered. “We’ll clean up here. Make sure no one knows we stopped by.”
“I’ll call as soon as I can,” I said, gesturing for Lucy to follow me. “Give me a few days before you call out a search party.”
“No promises,” Danny said, moving in for a hug. “This is fucked,” he murmured in my ear.
I nodded as I let him go. It was fucked. We had more questions than answers, and I didn’t see that changing for a while, at least until I could get Charlie and Lucy back to my parents’ place, where I knew they’d be safe.
“No details when you call,” Chance ordered.
“No, really?” I said sarcastically as I hugged him with a hard thump on his back.
“You sure about this?”
“If I need you, I’ll call.”
“With what phone?”
“I’ll fucking buy one,” I said in exasperation. “It’s going to be fine. If no one has shown up yet, we’ve still got some time.”
“Clock’s ticking,” he warned as I led Lucy toward the garage door.
“I’m aware.”
“Love you,” I called out as we entered the garage.
Both of my brothers replied, repeating my words as I opened the passenger side door for Lucy.
“They’ll be okay on those bikes?” she asked dubiously, looking at the bicycles in the corner.
“Don’t worry about them. They’re resourceful,” I assured her.
A few minutes later, I was driving two miles above the speed limit as we left the little neighborhood behind.
Lucy was quiet beside me, her arms wrapped around the bag on her lap. She’d pulled her baseball bat up from the back floorboard and set it next to her feet. Easily accessible.
I wanted to assure her I wouldn’t let anything happen to her, but since I’d seen what she could do with that bat, I kept my mouth shut. If she felt more comfortable with it in reach, she could sleep with the thing.
“Where am I going?” I asked as we made our way closer to the freeway.
“North,” she replied, resting her chin on the bag.
“Still not going to tell me where he is?”
I thought she’d ignored me. She didn’t reply for a long time. We’d been on the freeway for half an hour before she finally spoke again.