Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
I wasn’t sure what he was after, to be completely honest.
I mean, what he was saying was too good to be true.
“I’m tired of how the justice system works,” he said. “We’re fixing it, a few good men at a time. The only thing that I want out of this is, if it ever comes to it, you help me if I ever need it.”
Get out of jail, but also possibly have to help a man that may or may not be bad.
Honestly, a few years ago, that might’ve bothered me—the gray.
But now, after years of having to protect myself in every way possible?
Well, now that black and white wasn’t ever going to be solid black or solid white again. Gray was my only color now.
“Etienne Deveraux,” I started. “Wake Westfield. Kyle Davis. Bain McDempsey. Cassius. Aodhan.”
“Cassius have a last name?” he asked. “Aodhan?”
I shrugged. “Sure they do. I just don’t remember them.”
Normally I was great with names. But they were two of that group that I hadn’t spent as much time with. They would protect me, and I would protect them if needed. But ultimately, they all stayed out of my way, and I stayed out of theirs.
“I’ll get my hacker guy on it,” he said. “If they prove to be okay guys, I’ll get them out. It won’t be at the same time as you, though.”
I shrugged. It didn’t matter.
As long as I was out of this place eventually, then I’d be okay.
The sooner, the better.
“You won’t make them promise the same thing?” I asked the man.
He shrugged. “Maybe. But probably not. I don’t need muscle or wealth. I have that in spades. What I need is a mind like yours to find the people that need found.”
“And what will you do with these people once they are found?” I asked. “And what if I’m working on another case?”
Lynn grinned. “You’re not giving me a single inch, are you?”
I didn’t bother answering.
“No, you’re not,” he confirmed his own question. “Hopefully, Kobe, I never fuckin’ need you. But, if there ever comes a time when I need someone, then you’ll help. And if your other cases aren’t urgent, then you’ll put my stuff over yours. But if your other cases are urgent, if, say, you have a kid that needs found, I’ll never put my stuff over yours. Children always come first.”
I liked him for saying that. I liked him a lot.
“I’ll help you if I can,” I returned. “Just get me the fuck out of here.”
Lynn winked. “Done. It’s going to take us some time to coordinate this. We don’t want any of the wrong people asking the right questions. We want this to be legitimate. And getting you out at separate times doesn’t bring up as many red flags.”
I would wait. And I would plan.
Six months later, I was breathing free air again.
CHAPTER 1
I want to be a nice person, but everyone is just so dumb.
-Kobe’s secret thoughts
KOBE
8 years earlier
I watched as the woman struggled to breathe.
Her teeth were gritted in pain, and I saw the moment that she’d decided to give up.
Tomorrow, I was surrendering to the police, where I would then be sentenced to jail for the next few years. But right then, I was able to help.
She was bent over a park bench, clutching her belly as if it was about to rip itself away from her.
“Can I help you?” I asked the woman.
She looked up, and I felt the breath leave my body.
God, she was pretty.
Her eyes were a melty, liquidy, soul-stealing brown.
I’d never seen the likes of the color before.
In the harsh brightness of the overhead streetlight, I felt like I’d taken a good look at my life and been found lacking.
Holy hell, was she gorgeous. Even crying and red, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
“Y-yes,” she breathed. “I think I’m having this baby. Right now. I can’t make it to the hospital.”
My stomach dropped down to the ground, seemingly without warning.
“Um,” I hesitated. “I could drive you.”
Of course, I’d just taken my car to an auto shop to be housed with a good friend of mine.
At one point in time, we’d been in the military together. He was on his way out when I was on my way in. We’d bonded over the uncertainty of our lives to come, and that was how I’d found myself in the middle of nowhere, otherwise known as Kilgore, Texas.
Why was she in the middle of nowhere?
Like, quite literally, the only thing in this entire area of Texas was a park bench. The nearest damn town was over thirty minutes away because my friend liked to make sure he could see around his property for miles. Meaning there was nothing but rolling hills for as far as the eyes could see.
Everything but this one stupid bench.