Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
“I, uh…I just need to graduate high school and get enough money saved so I can get a place to live.”
He let out a short, hard laugh. “Sure. You say that now. But you’ll start wanting more from me. Thinking you can threaten and demand anything you want. You need to know that you’re not just dealing with me. There are those who put me in office that you should fear. A threat to me is a threat to them.”
My gaze swung back to the closed door. Surely not the men he’d sent for me?
“Who—”
The line went dead. He had hung up on me. I pulled the phone back to see that the call had indeed ended.
That son of a bitch. Ugh! After telling me that some powerful people would deal with me, he hangs up and leaves me with those two?
What would Momma do?
She’d go out there and let them know that she wasn’t being pushed around. Jericho and some dangerous men didn’t want my truth out…well, neither did I.
“All right, Momma, you told me to do this. Here it goes,” I whispered, then spun back around and strode to the door with confidence I didn’t feel.
With my shoulders back and my head held high, I swung the door back open to see the younger one with a cigarette. He glowered at me, and this time, I gave it right back to him. It was easier when he had one of those in his mouth. I hated them.
Cutting my eyes back to Linc, I gave him a tight smile. “I’m not leaving with you without knowing where Jericho is having me sent. If it’s the bottom of a lake, I’d prefer to just go to the local television station,” I told him, doing my best to give a threatening expression.
The man rubbed his short beard, and I saw tattoos on his fingers, along with a black ring on the ring finger of his left hand. He was married. I knew it shouldn’t, but that made him feel less dangerous. Or maybe I was just grabbing at anything to ease my mind.
“I have a daughter, and when she’s older, I hope she’s careful. I can respect that,” he replied in a hard tone.
His being a father of a little girl surprised me. He didn’t fit that part.
“I live on thirty-five acres of land. It’s fenced in, and it has a privacy gate. There is a small cabin toward the back of the property that I am allowing you to use while you are here. Than will be your transportation, and he will also be who makes sure you are where you say you are. We can’t have you going off and running your mouth about things,” Linc finished.
I glanced back at Than, who had the cigarette in his mouth again.
“Trust me, I’m not fucking thrilled about it either,” he drawled, and his voice was deeper, huskier than I’d expected.
Not wanting to look at him any longer than necessary because it could be addictive, I turned my attention back to Linc. “Okay. But there is someone close to me who knows about this. They don’t want anyone finding out either for my sake, but if I go missing, they’ll go to the police with my medical records and paternity test and tell them I came here to get help after my momma died,” I warned him.
Peg and Melody knew where I was, just not the truth behind the why. If Jericho or this man thought that this was a secret just between us, he had been misinformed. Folks had seen Jericho with Momma back then. Momma didn’t tell anyone who my father was, but his showing up with gifts after I was born had kind of given it away.
His eyes narrowed. “Who else knows?”
I shook my head and let out a sharp laugh. “Like hell am I telling you. That’s my insurance policy. I don’t know that Jericho didn’t hire you to dump me somewhere and leave me for dead.”
Linc let out a heavy sigh and glanced at Than with annoyance, then back at me. “Do you need help with your things?” he asked again.
I did. I had more than I wanted to carry. I stepped back and opened the door wider. “The two suitcases and the boxes. I can roll the suitcases if y’all can carry the boxes. One has books, so it’s real heavy. The smallest one is just some pictures so it’s light. And that one has some breakable things in it,” I said, pointing to the one to the right.
“Thanks,” Than drawled. “I missed the large red letters that say Fragile, written across it three times.”
I glared at his back as he sauntered past me.
“I’ll get the breakables and the other one. You grab the books,” Linc told him.