Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Chapter Three
A week of having Rainier’s medical team and security in her house had Harlow ready to tear out her hair. She wasn’t used to company—or men—especially bossy men with far too much testosterone. She left before the sun was up, taking her camera and climbing gear. She needed to be in the fresh air, far from any males who thought it was perfectly okay to invade her home and tell her what to do.
“I absolutely am no Stella, or Vienna or Shabina—especially Shabina, who seems to be able to put up with males telling everyone what to do at all times,” she announced as she loaded her gear into the back of Raine’s brand-new Jeep. For all she knew, Raine’s Jeep was equipped with hidden machine guns. She wouldn’t be surprised.
She glared at her friend. “Rush is a monster, just so you know.” She put Misha on the back seat beside Daisy, Raine’s Jack Russell, and buckled the belt around her crate for safety.
Raine gave her a faint grin. “I won’t argue with you. Hop in and take a deep breath of freedom.”
“Did you mess with the cameras?” Harlow asked as she slid onto the seat. “I told them I was meeting you early this morning at the Sunrise Café because I wanted to take pictures of the sunrise.”
“Of course I messed with them. They’re playing a very long loop, so it will take some time for anyone to realize, and that’s only if they’re looking specifically. You asked for it, and I did it, mostly because every single time Rush comes around, he plays the doctor, and it annoys me.”
“Um, Raine?” Harlow sent her a little grin. “Rush is a doctor and a very good one at that.”
“Very true,” Raine conceded, “but he isn’t my doctor anymore.”
“Are we going to talk about your leg?”
“Nope.” Raine was decisive. “We’re going to go somewhere far away from civilization where we won’t be found. You’re going to take kick-ass photographs, and then we’re going to climb a boulder or two.”
Harlow nodded in agreement. “You didn’t tell anyone else, did you?”
“Our treacherous friends? Stella would tell Sam. Vienna would tell Zale. Shabina would go to her grave with our secrets, but Rainier has some kind of ability to read minds—especially hers. We are free.” She took her eyes from the road for a quick look at Harlow. “Are you going to tell me why you’re hosting half of Rainier’s security force?”
Harlow’s heart skipped a beat. Raine always knew everything, classified things no one else seemed to know. For her to ask meant she didn’t know.
“Rainier is being obnoxious over my safety,” she said. She wasn’t going to lie outright to Raine, but misleading her with the partial truth was acceptable until she talked to Wilder.
Raine kept her eyes on the road as they took one of the dirt tracks leading up toward a property no one lived on. There was an old barn that was falling down that Harlow had wanted to photograph for ages. There was also a set of boulders few knew about, even though Knightly was a climbing community. Harlow had been working on the project on and off before winter had set in. The boulder was considered a “high ball,” one over thirty feet. It wasn’t an easy ascent, but she was determined.
“Have you received more death threats?”
Harlow sighed. “Two in my mailbox in the last week. One just said ‘die, bitch’ and the other said ‘coming for you.’ ”
“Did you turn them over to Rainier?”
Harlow shook her head. “I didn’t hire his security company. Quite frankly, I couldn’t afford it. In any case, I’ve gotten a few of those weird magazine cutout threats just stuck in my mailbox over the last year. I’ve never actually had anyone attack me.”
The Jeep bumped over several potholes and rocks. Raine handled the vehicle with more skill than Harlow had thought possible. There was no tension in Raine; she appeared as if she were driving a perfectly straight paved highway, not a rocky, pitted track that was nearly grown over with brush and weeds.
“Honey, you know if the contacts are getting more frequent, the threat is escalating. Are you certain they’re from the same person?”
Raine wasn’t going to like the answer. Harlow stared out the window. The light was just beginning to thread through the darkness. The pattern was beautiful, layers of gray and black streaked with light.
“It’s definitely two different people. One started about a year ago,” she admitted. “The other started after Lawyer died, and he didn’t threaten to kill me. It was just…ugly. I’ve gotten two from that person. I already told you and the others about it.” For some unexplained reason, just voicing aloud to someone else that she was hated for the death of a patient made her throat close. The lump took forever to go away, so she continued to stare out the window.