Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 90607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Pat rarely came here unless he had to drop her off. Lidia kept asking him in for coffee. At the time, he thought it was because she had developed a crush, but he had been so wrong. Lidia did not have a crush on him. She wanted to be his friend because he looked so lonely—her words, not his.
Pat wasn’t lonely, but after learning that she just wanted to be friends, he opened up to her. By opening up, he accepted coffee and listened to her talk.
Her car was parked in the driveway. There was no other sign of trouble. Her curtains appeared to be open.
“Please to fucking God, do not let her be dead. Please, let her just be busy,” Grant said.
Pat agreed. He didn’t want Lidia dead. She talked a lot and wanted to find Mr. Right, but that didn’t mean she should die. Yes, she was annoying, but she was such a lovely woman—sweet, kind, and always seemed to be there.
Pat went to the door, but Grant was already there, banging on the hard wood. Pat looked around the street, wondering if anyone was watching.
Lidia didn’t answer right away. Grant looked toward him.
“Lidia, come on now, open up.” He slammed his palm flat on the wood.
There was no answer.
Grant moved toward one of the windows, and looked inside.
“Break down the fucking door.”
Pat didn’t even ask and rushed inside. He found Lidia on the floor, pale. Her face was bruised, and a syringe was stuck into her arm. Across her chest was a bag, which clearly showed she had been on her way out. Her cell phone had been stepped on, and from the angle of her hand, it looked like someone had crushed it under their foot.
“Shit, fuck,” Grant said, going to his knees. He pressed two fingers against her pulse. “She’s alive, but barely.”
Pat was already on his cell phone, organizing a car. They didn’t have the means of getting her to the hospital.
Jake was the one to answer the call. He didn’t give a shit if there was a risk. He told him to get there in five minutes, and not to give a shit about the cops. Just to get here. If anyone followed him, Pat would deal with them.
“She couldn’t have been like this for long,” Grant said.
Pat knew it had to have been this morning or last night.
Getting to his feet, he pulled out his gun and started to walk through Lidia’s small house. He was tense, wondering if he and Grant had stopped the attack.
Making his way through the kitchen, he checked the back door to find it was locked. Pat looked through the downstairs, and everything was safe and secure. Upstairs, she checked everything. No sign of a break-in, and this wasn’t good. Making his way downstairs, Jake arrived with the car and Grant had picked her up in his arms.
“She knew who it was that attacked her,” Pat said.
“How the fuck was that possible?” Grant asked. “No one hates Lidia. Sure, she’s a pain in the fucking ass and talks too much...”
“She answered the door to them. She stepped back, let them in, then they hit her.”
“Are you sure they didn’t attack her?” Grant asked.
“Look where she was lying down. She fell. She was hit, fell, and they injected her. She didn’t put up a fight.”
“We don’t have time to speculate,” Grant said. “We’ve got to get her to the hospital.”
****
Doc picked her up from the coffee shop and dropped her back home. Once again, Violet was there, and she also noticed a car parked just down the street, with one of the men wearing a Chaos and Carnage MC leather jacket.
Ava didn’t ask what was going on. She only asked if Pat and everyone was okay. Doc told her everything was fine, but she was not to go home, and she was to stay with her mother and sister. Those were Pat’s orders.
She thought he mumbled something about a lockdown, but she wasn’t entirely sure if she heard him correctly. Either way, she was home. Violet didn’t stay up after waving to Doc. She made herself another hot chocolate, Bernice settled into her bed, and Ava went to take a nice, long shower.
Lauren had been so happy and excited. It seemed Lauren had met a man. She was not willing to say much of anything yet, because it was still early. Just that he loved her coffee and cakes, and wanted to take things slowly. According to Lauren, he was a bit of a bad boy. Ava wasn’t sure what to say, and seeing how happy Lauren was, she didn’t tell her she wanted to quit. The other woman was still her friend, and she was not, under any circumstances, going to let her down like that.
So, she got to work, served coffee and lots of cake, and then got picked up by Doc. She was happy for her friend, and could relate to how happy she was. One day, she would find out who Lauren was dating.