Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 104141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
The two Scales slung their rifles over their shoulders and moved fast. One took over from the nurse at the throat. His bigger hands wrapped around hers, and he applied steady pressure as she eased back to grab a fresh pack of gauze from the toppled tray.
The other stepped in beside her partner at the doctor's shoulders. He braced the body with both arms so she could finally pull her broken wrist out of the work.
She let out a small sob. “Oh my God.”
I crossed to her.
She flinched at my approach.
I lowered my gun. “What happened?”
She sniffled. "T-the woman, Kiko, was on the bed while. . .D-dr. Goda drew blood for the test, and then he turned around to put the vial in the rack and s-she grabbed a scalpel from the tray and stabbed him.”
More sobs came. The sound was a storm brewing in the depths of her chest. “Why would she try to kill him? He did nothing wrong!”
"Where is she now?”
“Dr. Goda fell forward and she took his phone from his coat pocket, ran into the bathroom, and locked the door."
Hiro growled, “The fucking phone!”
That’s why she did all of this!
We both rushed to the door.
I aimed at the handle and fired.
Kiko screamed from within.
The lock shattered.
Hiro kicked the door open.
It slammed against the inside wall.
I stepped through and brought my gun up in one motion.
Kiko was in the corner, on the floor between the toilet and the wall with her back pressed into the tile and her knees drawn up as far as the large swell of her belly would allow.
The fucking phone was at her ear. Her free hand was clamped around it like she was afraid it would jump out of her grip. Her face was wet with tears, snot, and blood.
Her eyes locked on mine. “H-he’s here! Help me! The Dragon is here!!”
I crossed the bathroom in two steps and tore the phone out of her hand so hard her wrist jerked away and the back of her hand slammed against the tile wall.
She yelped. “No!!!”
I put the phone to my ear.
There was breathing on the other end.
Then my father's voice sounded.
Soft.
Pleased.
And sinister.
“Son? Are you there?”
Horror rose within me.
"I see you now, boy, and I can’t wait to meet your Tiger.”
I closed my eyes for one heartbeat.
“Be patient, son. We're on our way—"
Opening my eyes, I ended the call, dropped the phone on the tile and stomped on it. The screen cracked under my heel. I ground my boot down until the casing splintered and the battery popped loose and skittered across the floor.
Kiko sobbed in the corner. Her shoulders were shaking. Her hands were now pressed flat to her belly, fingers splayed wide, as if she were holding the twins inside her by pure will.
I raised my gun and pointed it at her forehead. My finger settled on the trigger. “How long was the phone call to my father?”
“That bitch called him?” Hiro sneered. “Are you fucking kidding me?!!”
Kiko screamed as snot dripped from her nose. “You g-gave me no choice!”
I rushed her way and pressed the tip of the gun to her head. “How long was the fucking phone call?!”
“I-I don’t know.” She cried. “I t-think it was eight minutes.”
Eight minutes.
Horror hollowed my chest.
Dr. Goda was one of the few people on the island authorized to place outside calls during lockdown conditions. Reo would have granted him unrestricted satellite access for medical emergencies—heart attacks, supply failures, premature births, storms, evacuation requests. The clinic needed a direct line to the mainland in case people were dying faster than we could save them.
Which meant the phone Kiko stole wasn’t routed through our protected network.
It pinged towers.
Satellites.
Coordinates.
Eight minutes was not just enough time for my father to hear her voice.
It was enough time for his tech people to triangulate the island, confirm the signal pattern, lock onto the route lines over the water, and start preparing an assault before I had even stepped into this bathroom.
Reo had trusted the doctor because saving lives required trust.
Kiko had weaponized that trust against all of us.
“Fuck!!” My hand shook. I wanted to pull that trigger so fucking bad it hurt my soul. Nothing would be better than spraying this wall with her blood.
Reo got to my side. “Kenji, give me the gun.”
“You sold the island to him. Huh?” I pressed the gun harder into her forehead.
She groaned in horror. “P-please. . .”
“How much did you get?”
“Oh, please!” She tried to push it away, but couldn’t. “Kenji!”
“You sold my Tiger. You just sold every man, woman, and child on this rock, you fucking bitch.”
Reo tried to take the gun. “Kenji—”
“Give me a minute—”
“We don’t have a minute. Give me the gun so we can evacuate the island.”
My hand shook. The barrel of the gun vibrated against her skin. “Your mother. Your aunts. Your cousins. Anyone you know and love. Your fucking neighbors. That’s who you really sold. And I’m going to take my time killing them while you watch.”