Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“We?”
But even as I said it, I became aware of the men swarming the clubhouse.
“What happened?” Fallon called to the room at large, having no idea who saw or did what.
“I saw them coming,” I said, sniffling. “And I tried… I tried to get down here fast enough. But when I got upstairs, he shot Rune. Or… maybe Rune shot my cousin and then Jack shot Rune. And I… I had the gun. But I hesitated. And then someone…” I stopped there, unsure what to say.
“I took the gun and shot Jack,” Vas said, making me turn to him.
Vas?
Vas had done that?
I guess I thought it had been Croft. Older, more experienced Croft. Not the still-wet-behind-the-ears Vas.
Fallon shared a look with a few of the other guys. And I could have sworn it conveyed all the things I was thinking about such a young guy being able to do whatever needed to be done without hesitation.
“Whose gun was it?” Fallon asked.
“That’s the one from on top of the cabinet downstairs. Rune told me about it when he took me on a tour.”
“Good thing he did,” Rune’s dad said. “And good thing you were quick enough to remember to grab it. Even if I think Rune is probably not happy you didn’t stay where you were safe.”
A small sob escaped me.
“Honey, he’s gonna be okay.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I’m not a doctor,” he agreed. “But the people at Hailstorm are. Anything they got at a hospital, they have there. And then some. Because the people Hailstorm employs are used to gnarly-ass battle type wounds. They got this. I trust them, or I wouldn’t let them take my kid there.”
“Okay,” I agreed, nodding and sniffling.
“It looked like it was more on the outside of his stomach,” Vas said. “Shouldn’t have hit anything vital.”
His father stood, reaching out and wrapping an arm around Vas, pulling him in for a quick hug. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Why did you do it?” I asked, looking up at him.
“Do what?” his dad asked.
Vas glanced over at Jack’s body.
His dad followed his gaze, then looked back at his son, something a little sad and resigned in his face. “Didn’t want it on her,” he said with a shrug.
“Dezi, Cain, and Perish on this,” Fallon said, waving at Jack. “Voss, Sully, and Nave on this,” he said, waving to the other body.
“Everyone else is on cleaning. Where is—” he said, scanning the room until he found me. He exhaled hard as he approached, then crouched down. Using a softer voice, he said, “You all right, babe?”
“I’m all bloody,” I said, looking down at my hand and my shirt.
“And maybe a little in shock,” Fallon said. “We can get you cleaned up.”
“I need to see Rune.”
“Yep. We’ll make that happen,” he agreed. “Is there anything else that happened here that I need to know?”
“I wasn’t here for the beginning of it,” I admitted. “I think… I think Rune shot him,” I said, glancing over toward where three of the men were putting my cousin into a bag. “And then Jack shot him… and that’s where I came in. He was asking where I was. Then… then just… Vas…”
“Okay. Got it. Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
He took me into the kitchen where he poured soap over my hand and started scrubbing it with his before drying it with paper towels.
“Are you okay going with Roderick to Hailstorm?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Then why don’t you get going. You don’t need to see any more of this.”
With that, Roderick shuffled me out into a car, and we drove through the dark streets of Navesink Bank toward this big, gated storage container mansion on the hill. With its floodlights and barbed wire. And men walking around with guns.
“It looks scary on purpose. But you’re welcome here, so don’t freak out about the guns.”
We had to go through a security checkpoint before we were allowed to drive through, park, and make our way into the building.
It was labyrinthine, just endless windowless rectangular halls and rooms. I was disoriented within two turns, but Roderick seemed to know exactly where he was going.
Then, eventually, we walked into an actual hospital ward: white walls and floors, dozens of little beds with white linen.
“Baby,” Roderick said, rushing forward toward a tall, gorgeous woman in her baggy T-shirt and shorts, her long, dark hair falling out of a high pony.
This was Liv, Rune’s mom.
I couldn’t think of a worse situation to be meeting her during.
“Carm,” a voice said, making me turn to find Croft a few feet away.
My gaze tracked down his body, taking in the blood still covering his hands and his shirt. A choked whimper escaped me.
“Hey, he’s okay,” he assured me. “I talked to the doctors. They’re optimistic. They’ve got to get the bullet out and stitch him up, but it’s looking positive.”