Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“No idea,” I replied faintly. “Will you call my dad?”
“Casper’s gonna call your dad,” he replied kindly. “I bet he’s already on his way here.”
“I think he was just crazy,” I said, glancing at the shoes again. He was wearing sneakers. That seemed weird for some reason. If you were going somewhere to shoot someone, it seemed like you would wear boots.
“What?” Uncle Woody asked.
“You hear about that stuff, you know?” I said. “Some guy passes a woman on the street and gets it into his head that she’s wronged him or something. Maybe that was why.”
“Could be,” he consoled.
“Come here, doll,” Gram said, pulling me into her arms. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”
“I tried to give you time to leave,” I mumbled into her shoulder. “But he made me keep walking.”
“You did exactly what you should’ve,” she replied, smoothing my hair down the back of my head. “You called out.”
“I didn’t scream.”
“Sometimes, you’re so startled, you don’t.”
“I screamed when I saw Uncle Woody outside.”
“Well, by then you were already prepared,” she said logically. “Woody, get her a stool to sit on before she falls down.”
“I’m fine,” I insisted as they sat me down.
Moments later, the sound of Harleys broke the night.
Dad was the first through the door, a pistol in one hand and my mother’s hand in the other.
Then my grandfathers. Uncles and cousins. They just kept coming, crowding into the room, mostly silent.
“Will, Mick, Rumi,” Grandpa Dragon called softly. “Check the property and find his car.”
They turned and left without a word.
“Gotta stop findin’ you with blood all over your face,” my dad joked gently, his hand on my chin. “Where you at?”
“I’m okay,” I replied as her mom wrapped her arms around me. “I was going to text Mom that I was staying with Gram tonight, and he was just standing there inside the front door.” My chin trembled, and I clenched my jaw to stop it.
The room was so silent, I could hear Gram sniffling across the room.
“He was already in the house?” Dad asked, tilting his head to block my view of Gram. “Then what?”
“He did this.” I lifted my finger to my lips. “And shooed me back this way. I was walking backward because I didn’t want him behind me—”
Dad nodded as Mom’s arms tightened.
“And I yelled for Gram.” I glanced at her again. “And then he pointed his gun at me.”
Dad’s nostrils flared as he nodded again.
“I asked him why he was here, and he said I pissed someone off,” I recounted. “But, I swear I don’t know what he was talking about, Daddy. I—I work in an office. I don’t have any crazy ex-boyfriends or anything like that. I don’t know what he was talking about.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of it, Harpy,” Dad said softly, brushing my hair out of my face. “Okay?”
“Okay,” I whispered.
There were too many men in the house for me to see the dead man’s feet anymore, but I could picture them in my mind clearly.
“First, I’m gonna take these,” Dad said, reaching for my glasses. “Get ’em cleaned off so you can see better.”
“Thanks,” I rasped.
I sat there, my mom rocking me carefully from side to side as the men began to talk. Someone grabbed cleaning supplies and began working out of sight. The elders talked quietly by the back door. Uncle Woody left.
Gray rose from where he’d been crouching on the other side of the island, his face expressionless. He rounded it and came straight to me.
“You good, baby sister?” he asked, squeezing my knee.
“Yeah. Is Gram going to get in trouble?”
Gray jerked in surprise. “For what?”
“Shooting that guy,” I replied. “Killing that guy.”
“No,” Gray replied easily.
“But—”
“No, Harp. Gram won’t get in trouble.”
“She didn’t have a choice—”
“I know,” he said with a firm nod. “It’s over, okay? Anything from here on out doesn’t have nothin’ to do with you. Understand?”
“No,” I replied honestly.
Gray’s mouth quirked up at the corners.
“Here you go,” Dad said, sliding my glasses back on.
The front door opened, but there was so much going on in the kitchen that I couldn’t see who it was. Dad turned to look.
“Where is she?” Bas demanded. “Harper?”
His voice was frantic. Panicked. High and trembling. He shoved through the men until he was standing just a few feet away.
Tears filled my eyes as he stumbled to a stop.
“Oh fuck,” he whispered.
Then he dropped. Just dropped. The floor vibrated as his knees hit the tile.
I was on my feet without thought, brushing off my mom’s arm as I tried to reach him.
“I’m okay,” I said, tears dripping down my cheeks. “Bas, I’m fine.”
“What the fuck happened?” he asked, glancing toward the body. “Jesus, fuck, what happened?”
“I just—he came in and—” I started to blubber as his hands found my hips.
“Everyone out,” Grandpa Dragon ordered. I barely heard him.