Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
To get to her.
I never should have bloody left the island!
Sweat dripped down my temples and soaked my shirt as I tore down the street toward the bungalow. Blue lights flashed from the emergency vehicles parked outside, and neighbors were gathered in their gardens and on the street, peering in curiosity and concern at Taran’s home. I shoved past Ennis, Taran’s neighbor, uncaring about politeness. Seeing me coming, others hurried out of my and Ramsay’s way as we bulldozed toward the property.
William, a young police constable on the island, tried to step in my path, but I shoved him too.
“Hey! You can’t go in there!” he shouted helplessly as I ran through the open front door of the home.
“Quinn!” London tried to push past DC Alice Young, who stood with her in the reception hall.
Alice’s eyes flashed in irritation. “You can’t—”
But I was already marching past her into the living room, chest heaving.
DC Paul was there with Forde. Their heads snapped toward me, and they moved ever so slightly.
My gaze dropped to the floor. I saw Forde’s ashen face from where he knelt on the ground.
There was blood. So much blood I felt the room spin.
It was only when I realized the blood belonged to a guy I’d never seen before that panic receded enough for me to bark, “Where’s Taran?”
“The lighthouse, Quinn!” London grabbed me, spinning me around. “I told them. She’s taking him to the lighthouse. You all have to go after her!”
“Who?”
“Some crack dealer this idiot brought over.” London spat toward the man the paramedics were working on. “It’s about a pocket watch in Taran’s family’s collection. It’s worth millions and the appraiser guy didn’t tell her. Instead he told some drug dealer he owed. He was the one who broke in, who tried to take her in Oban. He has her now, and he has a gun. She promised to take him to the storage facility where the antiques are, but she’s taking him to the lighthouse instead.” London held out keys. Taran’s car keys.
I looked over London’s shoulder to where Ramsay stood. “Are you with me?”
“Quinn, we’ll send officers after them!” DC Paul cried, but Ramsay and I were already out the door.
We were in Taran’s car and racing down the street before Paul could even assemble his small unit of cops.
“They should have left as soon as London told them,” I seethed.
“I’m not armed.” Ramsay squeezed his hands around the steering wheel.
“I don’t care. I just need to get to her.” Adrenaline coursed through me as fear yawned in the back of my mind like a monstrous beast. I couldn’t let it win. I had to focus. I had to get to Taran. The thought of being too late … I swallowed back the vomit that wanted to rise at the thought.
“We’ll get to her in time,” Ramsay vowed.
If we didn’t … I didn’t think I’d survive losing her again.
50. Taran
To my relief, there was no one else parked at the lighthouse as we pulled up to it.
“Is it in there?” Pollock demanded, eyes narrowed with suspicion as he pointed at the abandoned keeper’s cottage.
“Nope. It’s that way.” I gestured to the lighthouse, trying to buy time.
“What the fuck do you mean it’s in there?”
“I mean my family owns the lighthouse, and I use it as storage.” The lie tripped easily off my tongue. A strange calm had come over me. Perhaps it was shock.
The surrealism of what was happening to me right now hadn’t quite sunk in.
“If you’re lying … och, get out of the fucking car.”
I did as he demanded and followed him around the vehicle. That’s when I noted it had a European plate, not a UK license plate. It was just a guess, but I was pretty sure if the police ran those plates, the car would be registered to some random person from mainland Europe.
He jerked the gun toward the lighthouse. “Lead the way.”
The problem was that I knew as soon as we reached the building, we would be greeted by a locked gate and a sign that read Property of the Northern Lighthouse Board. No Trespassing.
I pretended to stumble on the peninsula, trying to slow us down.
But eventually we reached the gate.
Pollock immediately clocked the big padlock and the sign. He spun on me, his gun hand shaking as he pointed it in my face. “You fucking bitch!”
I laughed hollowly. “It’s amazing to me that I’m the bitch when you just shot a man in my living room and are holding me at gunpoint all to steal something that doesn’t belong to you.”
“The watch is mine. White owes me!” he spat.
“Except he doesn’t own the watch. I do. And I owe you shit.” I sneered hatefully at him.
“Do you want me to mess up that pretty face by putting a bullet in it?” He jabbed the gun at me. “Stop messing around and take me to the fucking storage facility, you cunt!”