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)
“That was you?”
“It was always me,” he states, proud of himself. “You almost caught me that one day.” He holds the spoon of soup, and I turn my head. “That was close, thank fuck Derek was back in town. I didn’t even have to plan that. It was like God was giving you to me.”
The tears run down my face. “When you finish eating, we are going to cut your hair a bit,” he says, “and I’m going to pick up some hair dye. Do you want brown hair or black hair?”
“I want to go home.” I can’t help the sob that roars through me. “I swear, I won’t tell anyone.”
“I can’t let you do that, my beautiful angel.” He bends again to kiss my lips, putting the bowl of soup to the side. “I’ll be right back.” He turns to the side and walks out of the room, and I try to pry my hands out of the handcuffs. I try to put my thumb in the middle of my hand and pull it out, only to be stopped.
He comes back in, and I stop what I’m doing, so as not to upset him. “Sammy,” I snap, “this is crazy. You aren’t going to get away with this.”
“I already am,” he gloats, again proud of himself. “I’m even helping with the search party.” My skin crawls. “Soon enough, though, I’m going to pretend I’m having a breakdown, and they’ll send me home. So I can stay with you longer.”
“You’re crazy,” I retort, and his whole demeanor changes. He grips my face with his hands, squeezing me so hard, I’m surprised nothing breaks.
“I’m not crazy. This is all because of you. You couldn’t give me a chance,” he barks and then steps away as he grips my hair in his hand, pulling it so hard I feel some of it rip from my scalp as he cuts it to my neck. “Fucking bitch.” He throws the handful of hair to the side. “Strutting your ass in my face.” He grabs the other side, and I can’t help but cry out in pain. “And then fucking Emmett.” I think he’s going to throw the hair to the other side but instead he backhands me, and I see stars. “You let him touch you. Do you know all the women he’s fucked?” he hisses. I’m trying to get my vision straight when he hits me on the other side, but this time, his hand is in a fist. “Let him fucking touch you. Now I have to wait longer.” He hits me over and over again. “He may have fucked you, but I’m going to make you mine,” he shouts, my head feeling like it’s spinning on my neck, “for-fucking-ever!”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
EMMETT
“She’s not here,” I say, feeling defeated as we walk beside the creek. I stop and put my hands on my hips, looking down at my boots. “She has to be fucking somewhere.” My voice cracks.
“We’ll find her,” Charlie assures me. “We’ll get her back.”
We turn and stop walking when I see him. The man I’ve only seen in pictures, the man I’ve secretly hated since Lilah walked into my life. “What the fuck are you doing here?” I can’t help the hiss that comes out of my mouth. Charlie holds my arm, making sure I don’t do something I shouldn’t.
“I just heard the news,” he replies, running his hand through his hair. “I wanted to tell you guys that I saw her the night before.” The minute he says the words, Charlie lets go of my hand and steps in front of me.
“You have five seconds to talk before I let him loose on you,” Charlie hisses.
“I came to walk, just to clear my head, and she was here, I guess doing the same thing also. I—” He shakes his head. “I wanted to tell her how sorry I am for what I did to her.” He holds up his hands when I take a step. “Honest to God, man, we had a good talk. I said what I had to say, and then I left. I didn’t follow her, and I didn’t go after her. She went one way, and I went the other.” His face shows that he’s telling the truth. “I don’t want any more trouble.”
“Whatever,” I retort, touching Charlie so he knows I’m going to be okay. “Stay the fuck away from her,” I warn, walking by him with Charlie following me. “If he gets close to her when she gets back, I’m going to fuck him up,” I vow, walking back to the truck and getting in. “Any news?” I ask. He shakes his head, and I let him drive us back to the barn.
“We’re missing something.” I run my hand over my face and into my hair. The only hope we really had was the phone. Except we can’t trace it, so we have nothing. “What is it we aren’t getting?” My eyes roam over the whiteboards we have in the barn, then back to the four computer screens that are set up on my desk as Pops does whatever on it. The minute we called him and told him what was going on, he was here, and he brought everyone with him.