Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
“Go away,” she cries, and I know I won’t be able to get her out of there unless I pull her out kicking and screaming.
I run back into the house, going for my phone and calling the only person I can think of who can help her. I dial her number, and she answers on the second ring. “What do you want?”
“Lilah,” I whisper, “it’s Lucy.”
Chapter Twelve
LILAH
“What do you think?” Courtney asks as I look around the simple one-bedroom apartment she found about forty minutes away from town.
“I mean, it’s just you,” I say as I look at the small kitchen we both might fit into.
“I don’t want anything big.” She stands in the small living room/kitchenette area. “It’ll be the first time in my life that it’ll be just me.” She turns around in the space. “And this feels like it could be home.”
I’m about to say something to her when my phone rings from my back pocket. Pulling it out, I pinch my eyebrows together when I see his name. The bane of my anger today. “What do you want?” I snap into the phone, not willing to put up with his bullshit after hours.
“Lilah.” The way he says my name causes the hair on the back of my neck to stand up. “It’s Lucy.”
“What?” Confusion fills my body. “What do you mean it’s Lucy?” I look at Courtney who is looking at me with a worried look. “What is Lucy?” I feel like I’m stuck to the floor, or better yet, I’m stuck to the floor, and the room is now spinning all around me.
“She’s…” he says, and I can hear fear in his voice, which makes the hair on the back of my neck stick up. “She…” He stumbles on his words.
“She fucking what?” I snap.
“She tried to run away.” The words hit me like a blow as images of her hurt fill my head. My chest seizes as I find the energy to breathe.
“She tried to run away,” I repeat his words before looking at Courtney, moving the phone away from my ear for a second, telling her, “I have to go.” She nods and shoos me away with her hands. I rush out of the apartment. “Did you call the police?” I run down the steps. My heartbeat echoes in my ears as I make my way to my car.
“No,” he says, his voice low and quiet.
“No?” I practically shout at him as I unlock my truck and get into the driver’s seat. “You need to call the police. You need to call Charlie. You need to call everybody you know.”
“She’s in the barn.” I don’t know why, but when he says those words, my head falls forward on my steering wheel. “She’s in the crawl space and won’t come out.” I hear him walking now. “She told me to go away.”
Once I start the truck and put it in drive, the phone connects to Bluetooth. I put my phone down. “I’m about forty minutes away,” I mutter, almost in tears. “What did you do to her?” I ask, and I can hear his heavy breathing.
“Lilah.” His voice is so broken that I almost have to pull the truck over to the side of the road as I can’t see through my tears.
“Tell her I’m coming,” I tell him. “And how about you start with I’m sorry?” I hang up on him before I say something to set him off, and he takes it out on her. I go just above the speed limit and check the time on the dash every single minute, making it feel like hours have gone by. Once I get to Main Street, my heart picks up even more, knowing I’m so close but still feeling like I’m so far away. I turn down the paved driveway to the barn. The white fence is semi-lit up with the reflection of the moon and my headlights as I make it down toward the barn.
I spot him by the barn door, pacing back and forth. His hair looks like he’s going to pull it all out. His shirt is plastered onto his body. I put the truck in park, getting out and leaving it on. The lights from my headlights fill the barn door even more. The adrenaline runs through my body, making my hands shake. If I didn’t have the mission of getting to her, I’m pretty sure my body would be shaking like a leaf on a tree in a windstorm. “She’s—” he starts, and I walk into the barn, looking at him beside me. Worry is all over his face, and when he points at the small crawl space, I waste no time getting on my hands and knees. “I tried to get in, but it’s too tight for me.”