Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
Two minutes.
It was all the time I would allow myself to gather everything I needed.
When I entered the apartment, I looked around expecting to see it ransacked or someone inside waiting for me, but it was just as I left it. Still, I took my time clearing every room, door, and corner before I allowed myself to breathe.
And then I went into my room and started loading guns, clothes, and bullets as I could into a pink duffel bag. I left the apartment as quickly and quietly as I’d arrived and jogged down the stairs.
I slinked through the breezeway until I reached the back of the building, where Deborah was parked in her usual spot by the pond. That was my first mistake, but a night spent shivering in my sleep inside my cold car left me anything but on top of my game.
Reaching Deb unscathed, I threw my duffel bag across the console and into the passenger seat and quickly dropped into the driver’s seat. It was only after I jammed my key in the ignition, turned it, and listened to Deborah struggle to wake up that I realized my mistake.
I didn’t check the backseat.
A cloud of Axe body spray and cigarette smoke drifted over my shoulder as I stared straight ahead in horror. Snapping out of it, I dove for my gun, but the intruder was faster.
A long arm encased in leather whipped out from the backseat where he had hidden and wrapped around my neck in a brutal hold that had me gasping for air in seconds. The second arm joined the first when I struggled, putting pressure on my carotid and pinning me to the seat.
“You should have known better than to think you were getting away from me that easily,” a familiar voice whispered.
Fucking Kellan.
I gurgled obscenities as I struggled, but his hold was too secure, and none of the rigorous defense training I’d put myself through over the years could slow the fog creeping in from the edges of my vision.
I’d be conscious again in less than a minute, but it didn’t matter. It was time enough for Kellan to incapacitate me permanently if he wanted.
Stop panicking, I scolded. Think.
My door was suddenly snatched open before I could form a plan, and a man I didn’t recognize in a simple black suit and chauffeur’s cap crouched next to me. My eyes met his apologetic ones briefly before widening at the sight of the long needle the older man used his teeth to uncap.
Kellan’s arms loosened only enough to keep me conscious while ensuring my flailing body remained secured. “Do it,” he snapped at the older man.
It didn’t matter how sorry he was. The driver made a decision and leaned forward to follow orders, so I hawked and spit in his face before he could stick me in the arm.
Using their mutual horror to my advantage, I surged forward before Kellan had a chance to tighten his hold again, and then, shifting the gear into reverse, I slammed my foot on the gas.
The chauffeur’s shout of surprise was cut short when he was knocked over, Deborah’s front left tire narrowly missing his head.
Pity.
I kept my foot on the pedal as the car shot across the small parking lot, and then I felt Kellan shift as he turned to peer over his shoulder.
“Oh, fuck,” he whispered. Fright had his arms slackening a little more when he saw where we were headed. A large and seemingly bottomless pond was nestled between the parking lot and the small grouping of trees. “Stop the car!” he screamed. I kept going. “Hunter, for fuck’s sake, stop!”
Ignoring him, I turned my head and sank my teeth into his bicep, digging into the skin until I tasted blood.
Cursing, Kellan was forced to let me go, and I risked precious seconds waiting for the right moment. I’m sure Kellan had the same idea, but he’d made one mistake.
Deborah was a two-door.
Kellan had allowed himself to be trapped in the backseat with nowhere to go.
Finally, concrete gave way to grass and dirt as I twisted in my seat. With the only second that I had to spare, my determined gaze collided with Kellan’s shocked one, and I smiled.
Adios, asshole.
I threw myself from the car just as Deborah sped over the grassy knoll.
My back, thankfully, absorbed most of the impact with the ground as I allowed my body to roll across the grass. When I finally lost momentum enough to stop, I looked up just as Deborah cleared the small hill and plunged into the pond.
I was frozen momentarily as I watched thousands of pounds of water rush inside the open door and Deborah quickly sink beneath the surface. My mouth parted in a silent scream, and tears I hadn’t shed in a long time spilled from my eyes when I realized what I’d done.