Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 160041 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160041 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
“We’re working on it,” he yells.
“Then take one of them instead of her!” I yell back.
“What the fuck did you hope to do here?” he says. “You really wanna kill a cop now?”
“I fucking might,” I retort, still clutching my knife.
“Wait, wait, hold on. Let’s not kill anyone here,” Orion says, rubbing his forehead. “This is a mess, and she’s going to be so upset with us for fighting among ourselves.”
“Fine. You love her? You help her,” I bark at him.
He narrows his eyes. “You think I’m going to abandon my duty?”
I close the gap between us. “She. Needs. You.”
Our foreheads are in contact, but I don’t give a single shit, because he needs to get it through his thick head that he needs to pick a fucking side and stick with it.
“I tried. She refuses to talk,” he says.
“Not. Hard. Enough.”
“Guys …” Orion mumbles. “This is not going to help her.”
“He’s right, you know. You hit an agent of the law.”
“You should be glad that’s all I did to you, after what you did to her,” I growl.
He raises a brow. “Are you done?”
My nostrils flare, and I’m this close to pummeling him into the elevator and sending him to the moon.
I shove him away, and he straightens his jacket.
“You two should be happy you’re still allowed to roam free.”
“Fuck you,” I spit, pointing my knife at him. “You’re lucky you’re still alive.”
“Likewise,” he retorts.
Orion stands between us. “Enough.”
“Are you on his side now?” I balk.
“No. I’m on her side. And she wouldn’t want us to kill each other.”
I suck in a breath. He’s right. Even though I don’t understand, she likes him enough to keep him around. If I killed him now, it would only make her hate me, and that’s the last thing I want.
I lower my knife and sigh out loud. “If you’ve fallen for her… help her.”
I put my trust in Sunny.
She chose him.
For a reason.
It has to work.
Atreus stares me down. “Get out.”
“Find the last one on her list,” I say. “Bring him to her.”
He blinks a couple of times and licks his lips. “Leave, before I arrest you both.”
But there’s something about the way he looks at me that makes me pause. An inkling of resistance disappearing.
Maybe … just maybe …
Orion grabs my coat and drags me with him. “C’mon, let’s get out of here, before shit hits the fan for real. He got the message. Now let’s go.”
CHAPTER 42
Atreus
Days later
I stare at my phone and scroll through the evidence over and over, trying to decipher the motive, but my eyes keep going back toward that hit list and the one guy who got away.
I’ve been following Samuel for days now, but I’ve never seen him go into this neighborhood. A grimy-looking building up ahead is clearly visible through my windshield, right next to Priory Forest and close to the road leading up to Spine Ridge University.
A young man with plenty of tattoos enters the building through a broken-down door.
Samuel.
All this time, the bureau assumed the building was vacant after a thorough search, but maybe we missed an important clue.
A catalyst.
I open my car door and step out, tucking my phone back into my pocket as I lock my car and head toward the building, following in the man’s footsteps while trying to remain unseen.
The dark, damp place has moss growing in the corners of the concrete walls, and my eyes skitter past several open doors scattered across this hallway, all empty. At the far end is a thick wooden bookcase with dusty old medical books, nothing out of the ordinary. But my eyes land on a corner behind the bookcase that was previously not visible.
A gap.
Narrowing my eyes, I push my fingers through and feel an opening.
Fuck.
I grab the bookcase with both hands and slide it forward far enough so I can slip through. It leads to a staircase going down into a basement.
What the hell? Why did the cops not see this when they searched this building?
Someone is rummaging through something downstairs, so I grab my phone to light my way down into the darkness. Rows and rows of doors have narrow windows, and when I look through them, each one reveals an old metal table lined with unsanitary medical supplies and equipment.
Blood stains the walls. The floors. Even the equipment itself.
What is this place?
I swallow as my stomach begins to flip, but I push ahead as there’s a small light visible up ahead all the way on the other end of the hallway.
This is the young man I’m looking for … he’s the last piece of the puzzle that will unravel everything.
He’s frantically picking up notes, folders, books, and anything he can get his hands on, stuffing it all into a bag.
Is he trying to get rid of the evidence?
He doesn’t seem aware of my presence yet, so I stalk slowly and pull out my gun before he turns. I point it at his forehead the moment our eyes lock.