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)
“Don’t move,” I warn him.
He immediately drops the things he gathered onto the concrete floor. “Don’t shoot me.”
“Who are you?” I ask.
His lip quivers as he speaks. “Samuel. Samuel Garcia.”
Precisely who I’m looking for.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“Gathering … things I found.”
I click off the safety. “Don’t bullshit me.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” he says, sweating profusely. “It’s all just one big misunderstanding.”
“You knew your way around here too well,” I say. “Which means you’ve been here more than once.” I glance around. “What is this place?”
“A hospital.”
Hospital, my ass. It’s way too unsanitary for that.
I push the barrel further into his forehead. “Don’t. Lie.”
“I’m not, these are operating rooms. You saw them yourself, didn’t you?” He points at the doors behind me.
That part is true.
“What kind of operations would take place in such a disgusting place?” I growl, pushing him further back.
“They help women, children, men, anyone who needs it, off the record, off the books. So no one gets registered,” he says. “Look, I don’t know—”
“They would die of sepsis before they exit this building,” I interject and grab his shirt to pull him closer. “No, you’re not telling the truth here, and I swear to God I will put a bullet in your brain if you don’t tell me exactly what I want to hear.”
“Don’t kill me, please. I was just here to pick up some stuff, that’s it.”
He’s hiding something, I just know it.
I snatch the papers from his hand and hold them out in front of me, reading a list of names, probably patients that once came here for God knows what reason. But I stop the moment I see the words that bring a chill to my spine.
Sunny Reed.
I hold up the paper in front of him, my finger underneath her name, as I grit. “Do you know her? And don’t lie to me again,” I say, as the barrel of my gun bores into his head.
“S-she…” He stutters, “She’s m-my ex, my ex-girlfriend.”
My eyes widen.
This man … he’s the one she was targeting, the last one on her list, and it’s her ex-boyfriend?
No, that can’t be right, this can’t just be a lover’s quarrel, right?
Grinding my teeth, I pull him even closer. “That doesn’t make any fucking sense. Why would she kill the others if she was aiming for you?”
His pupils dilate. “Kill me? Oh God. She’s coming.”
He runs his fingers through his hair and lets go of the bag he was holding that’s filled with incriminating evidence. Suddenly, he shoves me so hard I’m knocked into a table, and I groan when a sharp pain runs through my back.
Goddamn, that hurt.
Samuel bolts off through the open door, and I chase him. Too late, as he’s rushing through the hallway.
I raise my gun and shoot.
BANG!
Orion
We enter the grimy-looking building, following the clues Sunny left behind for Xavier, who stole valuable info off her phone before it got confiscated. This place gives me the creeps, and I don’t get that often, considering I enjoy the stench of death.
“What is this place?” I mutter.
“I don’t know, but whatever they used it for can’t have been good,” Xavier responds as we head down the hallway lined with rickety, half-emptied rooms, which looked like they were once part of some clinic.
At the end of the hallway is a bookshelf that has been partly pushed off the wall.
Narrowing my eyes, I approach it to touch the books inside, curious about why she led us here, and my gaze lands on the small gap between the bookshelf and the wall when, suddenly, eyes meet mine in absolute terror.
BANG!
A bullet ricochets off the walls, and a man pushes the bookcase forward. “Out of the way!”
He shoves both of us aside, and we turn to look as the man runs through the hallway, out the door, and disappears from sight.
“What the…” Xavier grumbles as he forcefully tears the bookcase away to reveal a hidden hallway behind it.
But the moment we enter it, we’re met with the barrel of a gun.
“You …” Xavier growls, immediately pulling out his knives to defend himself.
Atreus Foley is here.
“What are you two doing here?” he growls. “I thought I told you to stay the fuck out of it.”
“We could ask you the same damn thing,” Xavier retorts.
Atreus narrows his eyes. “You following me?”
“Maybe,” I reply.
“Turn around now,” Atreus says, aiming the gun right at his face.
But Xavier refuses to back down. “Fuck that, you’re here because of Sunny, aren’t you?”
Atreus’ pupils dilate. “I’m investigating a lead, the last one on her hitlist, and you just fucking let him escape!”
Fuck.
I swiftly glance over my shoulder.
“It’s too fucking late now,” Atreus barks.
“Not our fault you can’t do your fucking job,” Xavier spits.
“You two keep butting in to every fucking investigation.”
“Excuse you?” I mutter, frowning. “We’re concerned about Sunny.”
Xavier points at Atreus with his knife. “Because you arrested the wrong person, and you fucking know it!”