Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
I debated for a split second. Stay out of sight or check Haywood’s vehicle? I wanted to see what was in the car, but the position was too exposed. Not knowing where Haywood was or what kind of weapon he had made waltzing out into the open risky. If he’d already clocked me, and I knew there was no way he hadn’t heard me coming, I’d be visible the second I stepped out of my SUV. But there wasn’t any way to help that.
A gunshot shattered the silence, echoing off the mountains and answering my question of whether he was watching. Whoever had pulled the trigger wasn’t in the clearing, but they were close. Avery. Her name ricocheted around my mind. If that bullet had been aimed at her, we were already out of time. I went for the trees, circling the edge of the clearing, searching for any sign of where they’d gone.
I found what I was looking for two-thirds of the way around the clearing. A deer path marked by fresh tracks belonging to two people. I wasn’t a woodsman who could look at footprints and guess height, weight, or shoe size, but I knew enough to see two distinct sets of tracks. The one in front had dragged their feet, overturing mounds of fallen leaves and making their trail impossible to miss. Avery. She was alive. There was no blood, which there would have been had he shot her.
My heart pounding, I moved forward.
The woods around me were silent, except for bird calls and the occasional crackle of a small animal moving through the underbrush. I moved as silently as I could, weapon in one hand, eyes scanning for any sign of movement.
I heard him before I saw him, his feet moving fast, leaves rustling, branches breaking as he moved down the trail toward me. I ducked into a thicket of rhododendrons, hidden from view until he was even with me, his eyes on the trail ahead, his weapon held loosely in his hand.
I left the cover of the rhododendrons as he passed, stepping out to press the barrel of my gun against the back of his head. “Drop your weapon.”
He froze, his hand tightening instinctively on the gun. Taking advantage of his surprise, I reached around to wrench the weapon from his hand. Flicking on the safety, I tossed it out of reach.
“Cole Haywood, you’re under arrest.”
“For what?” he asked, hanging on to that snooty lawyer tone even with my gun pressed to the base of his skull.
“Kidnapping to start. Put your hands up and behind your head,” I said.
He lurched as if preparing to run. I’d been ready for him to make a move. My free hand shot up and closed over his throat, squeezing until he let out a pained squeak of sound. “Just give me a reason to pull the trigger, and I will,” I promised. “Where is Avery?” I loosened my hand just enough to let him talk.
“Let me go, and I’ll tell you,” he rasped out.
“The hell I will. Hands behind your head,” I ordered. “Do it now, and I won’t shoot you where you stand. Don’t fucking try me.”
“She’s already dead,” he sneered, his eyes fixed on the trail behind me. Avery was back that way. She had to be.
His words sent icy fear spiking through me even though I knew they were bullshit. “If she were dead,” I said, squeezing his throat tighter, “you wouldn’t sound so nervous. She’s out there somewhere, and since you won’t tell me where, I don’t need you.”
I saw that bit of logic had seeped into his brain as he raised his hands and placed them behind his head.
“Smart move,” I said, slapping a cuff onto one wrist. “I’ll shoot you if I have to, but I’d rather bring you in. You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorney—”
Maybe unable to believe he’d finally lost, Cole twisted in my grip, kicking out with one foot. I followed him to the ground, landing flat on top of him. Before he could roll, I slammed a knee into his back and rattled off the rest of his rights as I wrenched his free arm behind his back and slapped on the other cuff.
“I have a feeling resisting arrest is going to be the least of the shit we charge you with,” I said, “but I’ll be adding it on anyway. Now, we’ll try this again. Where the fuck is she?”
Brush crackled. Dead leaves rustled behind me.
I shot a glance over my shoulder, heart leaping, hoping it was Avery. Hawk materialized out of the trees, weapon in hand. He spotted Haywood face down, cuffed, and nodded.
“You want me to bring him back to your vehicle, or go find Avery?”
“You take him,” I said, getting up. “I’m going after Avery. And Hawk?”