Total pages in book: 188
Estimated words: 182255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 911(@200wpm)___ 729(@250wpm)___ 608(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 911(@200wpm)___ 729(@250wpm)___ 608(@300wpm)
Five phones sat in plain view three feet away, unreachable.
Now they were completely cut off. Every lifeline gone. Every illusion of help stripped away.
Gene had them trapped, and his terrible smirk said he knew it.
Guilt filled Hudson’s face, as if he was beating himself up for betraying everyone.
She sent him a reassuring smile. It’s okay. There was nothing else you could have done.
In that moment, he looked so much like Seth that it almost broke her heart.
“Good job, kid. Now sit down,” Gene ordered, gesturing with a jerk of his gun toward the couch. “Next to Grace. Where I can see you.”
Hudson obeyed, sinking onto the cushion beside his grandmother.
Gene’s message was unmistakable. They were leverage. And they were expendable.
Beside her, Grace blinked, her stare landing on Hudson’s tormented face. Then she lifted her gaze to the spot on the floor where Carl had fallen before trailing to the unmistakable stain of Beck’s blood. Something inside her seemed to snap.
“What are you doing, Gene?” Her voice cracked. She sounded raw and desperate.
He turned his focus on her, his eyes wild with rage. “Michael asked the same stupid question, in that same righteous-ass tone—right before I blew his fucking brains out.”
Gene’s words landed like a sledgehammer.
Grace gasped, the sound strangled and broken. Disbelief rippled across her face. Heavenly felt the woman’s shock blasting through the room in a wave of horror. Grim silence followed.
A moment later, Grace opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She stared at Gene like she was seeing him for the first time—not the man she’d known and trusted—but the vicious monster he’d concealed for decades.
“Why?” she finally managed to choke out. “Michael was your friend.”
“Michael should have learned to either shut the fuck up or cooperate. I offered to let him in on the business, but no. He had to be a goddamn saint.” Contempt twisted Gene’s face. “He made his choice. So I made mine.”
His words were sharp. Cruel. Like Michael’s murder was less important than the weather.
Grace’s face crumpled. Her shoulders shook with raw, guttural sobs that tore at Heavenly’s heart. She slapped her hand over her mouth, trying desperately to hold in her grief, but it broke through in jagged gasps.
Hot tears stung Heavenly’s eyes. She’d never met Seth’s father, but she nearly cried with Grace. The woman had spent sixteen years mourning her beloved husband, believing he’d been gunned down in the line of duty by the criminals he’d sworn to stop.
And it had all been a lie.
His best friend—his partner—had killed him for a buck.
“I’m trying to think here,” Gene snapped. “And I can’t do it with you blubbering. So shut the fuck up or I’ll do it for you.”
Hudson tensed, fists clenched. His whole body coiled in fury.
Heavenly caught his eye and shook her head. Subtle but firm.
Hudson’s jaw worked, rage and helplessness warring across his face. Finally, he cursed under his breath and sulked against the back of the sofa, crossing his arms over his chest.
Heavenly sighed raggedly. Beside her, Grace’s sobs had quieted to shuddering inhalations. Tears still streamed down her face as she rocked, clearly trying to hold herself together and failing.
Every cell in Heavenly’s body hurt for the woman. The shock. The pain. The utter betrayal…
Then she realized… If Gene had killed Michael, he’d also ordered Autumn’s and Tristan’s deaths. He must have. Seth had been investigating his father’s murder, and he’d gotten too close. So Gene had blown away his wife and infant son, then left him to drown in guilt and grief.
Did Seth know? Had he figured it out? Would whatever Michael had left in the storage unit prove how evil Gene was?
Seth must know by now. He had to. Or else…why wasn’t he back?
Heavenly felt the screws of danger tighten.
The monster was waiting for Seth to return so he could clean up the last of his loose ends. If he managed to silence Seth, he’d kill them all without a second thought.
She couldn’t let that happen.
A whisper of a plan began forming in Heavenly’s head, fragile and desperate…but the best she had.
“Gene.” She was surprised by how steady her voice sounded. “Can I go check on Beck? Help stop his bleeding?” Maybe sneak out the basement window and get help?
Gene snapped his head in her direction, his expression vicious. “Don’t fucking move. Your other boyfriend is just fine.”
She blinked, his words a paralyzing shock. He knew?
Heavenly’s heart stuttered as she whirled to Grace, whose brows furrowed with confusion on her tearstained face.
“You didn’t know, Gracie? Priceless.” Gene shook his head, somehow mocking and pitying at once. “But I’m not surprised. You’re just like Michael, too good to see the bad in others.”
Grace’s lips parted, but nothing came out. Then she turned her questioning stare on Heavenly.
Dread filled her. Humiliation followed. What should she do? Say? If she wasn’t careful, she could mess up Seth’s relationship with his mom—if they lived long enough for that to matter.