Total pages in book: 331
Estimated words: 315585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1578(@200wpm)___ 1262(@250wpm)___ 1052(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 315585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1578(@200wpm)___ 1262(@250wpm)___ 1052(@300wpm)
“Eve,” Haidyn growls.
“It’ll be fine,” she assures him. “Like Hooke said, we have to lure him in. Blackout is the best place. All of you will be here.”
“What did you send her?” Ryat asks.
“I pretended to be an old friend. Told her that she was right and I dumped my piece-of-shit boyfriend and got a new number. I asked if she could meet up, told her I’d love to tell her all about it at Blackout tonight. Drinks on me.”
“Won’t work,” Hooke tells my wife. “Her phone is off. It’s been out of use since she went missing.”
Eve’s cell beeps. I look at it sitting on the table and read her incoming text out loud. “Can’t wait to hear all the tea.”
Saint frowns. “How did he answer that if Hailey’s phone is off?”
“They’ve forwarded all of her incoming messages and calls,” I answer.
Ryat nods, confirming. “I’ve done it before.” He smiles proudly. “It’s actually pretty easy to do. You install an app on your phone and theirs, and it sends you everything their number receives…texts, emails, calls…and you make it appear that you’re responding from the number they reached out to if need be. You also have access to their search history or any app that they use. It’s literally like you’re looking at their phone on your own.”
“I don’t care. I don’t like it.” Haidyn voices his opinion.
“It’ll be fine.” Eve rolls her eyes. “Seriously, all of you will be here. I’ll be at the bar when he shows. I’ll make it obvious I’m waiting for someone. He’ll sit down, strike up a conversation, and dig to see if I’m here alone and who I’m waiting for. After a little while, when she doesn’t show, he’ll want to leave. I’ll have him follow me outside, you guys grab him and stick him in the car and take him to Carnage. Simple.”
“It’s never that simple,” Haidyn argues.
“Why not keep him at Blackout?” Alex questions. “Tyson has a basement, and you don’t have to take him far. We have the bartender slip him something and we just drag him down the steps.”
Hooke shakes his head. “I don’t want him here. The best place for him is Carnage. I want to see how he reacts when he finds out Isabella is there.” He looks at me, and I stand, handing Eve back her cell. “See if they have a connection like I suspect.”
“Your safety comes first. If I think he’s getting shady, it’s over,” I tell my wife.
“With all of us watching, what could happen?” Alex asks, arms out wide, and Haidyn snorts.
EVERETT
Checking the time on my phone, I see it’s almost midnight. I’ve been sitting here since ten o’clock. I never mentioned a time in my text, but the party doesn’t start until after eleven. Everyone knows that.
The guys are all over Blackout tonight. Ryat and Sin have been sitting in a round booth right off the dance floor for as long as I’ve been perched at the bar.
Kashton is standing up on the breezeway with Saint. I haven’t seen Haidyn, but I know he’s here too because we rode together. Thankfully, he gave up his argument about how bad of an idea this is.
I can handle myself. I know I wasn’t always like this, but I like to think I’ve come a long way since I was that scared little girl. I kill grown-ass men. Sure, there have been some close calls, but it’s always worked out. This one won’t be any different.
I’m going to play whatever part I have to in order to help them find this missing woman. I hate to tell Hooke, but it’s been weeks. If she’s part of the human trafficking ring, she’s been sold and is long gone. If she’s lucky, she’s dead. But even if that’s the case, she should be laid to rest. Everyone is entitled to peace, and her family deserves to pay their respects.
“Is this seat taken?”
I look over to see a man standing beside me. He looks young. Mid-twenties, dressed in light-wash jeans and a plain white T-shirt. His blond hair is combed over, and it makes him look like a jock.
He’s my guy.
I bite my bottom lip, looking around nervously. “Yeah. My friend is running late as usual.” Reaching out, I go to pull the barstool from his hand, but he doesn’t let go of it.
“How about I sit until she gets here?” he offers. “Promise, I’ll get up the moment she arrives.”
Sure, you will. I nod and he gives me a charming smile. I pick up my drink and take a sip from the thin straw.
“Do you come here a lot?” he asks.
I shake my head. “I used to, but I moved away a couple of years ago with my boyfriend.” I roll my eyes. Kashton wasn’t happy that I had to take my wedding ring off. I told him to keep it in his pocket so I could have it back as soon as we get this piece of shit outside.