Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98819 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98819 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
I shoot past the ruined Jeep and race up the road, only for a set of motorcycles to surround me. These riders also have grinning skull masks under their black helmets. I don’t need to see their hands to know they all wear a Fraternitas ring.
Fucking St. James—always interfering. As soon as I have Inara safe and the Bondage Killer in the ground, I’m going to turn my focus to ruining him. He loves money, so I’ll bankrupt him first.
“Hamish calling,” Alfie informs me. I order it to answer and as soon as the call’s connected, I snap, “What have you done?” I know he’s behind Inara’s escape from the Manor.
“I did my duty,” Hamish says so stiffly. “To you and to the detective.”
“You betrayed me.”
“I’ve been more than supportive of your illegal nocturnal activities. I’ll even allow that some lives should be snuffed out for the cause of justice, but I will not be party to imprisoning a young woman in our home.”
“My home. You will pack your bags—”
“Undoubtedly, I will. But may I remind you that we have the same aim: to keep Detective Ramos alive and stop the Bondage Killer.” The chill in his voice could freeze over hell. “You do not have time to throw a tantrum.”
My brain shorts out. I’m so angry, I don’t know what to say.
“Really, Rex, what would your parents think?”
And now my chest is seizing with pangs of guilt despite myself. I was just in the hall, looking at their smiling faces and realizing they’d disapprove of me.
When Hamish decides to pull out the big guns, he does not hold back.
“You dare—”
“I’m sending a team to the duplex.” He changes the subject. “The killer has been there.”
The air leaves my lungs. “What? How did this happen? The place was under surveillance.” I’m angry at Hamish and St. James, so it feels good to direct my anger somewhere fruitful.
“There’s something wrong with the security equipment. Some sort of glitch. I’m working to override it.”
“I tried to pull up the feed from the cameras earlier, and they seemed to be offline. That’s why I deployed drones. Are you telling me the Bondage Killer was on my property and all my tech failed to detect him?”
“It seems so,” Hamish sounds preoccupied, and I can hear the computers chiming in the background.
A cop car slides in behind me, sirens wailing. I accelerate to lose him. I do not want the cops involved in this. A news helicopter is circling overhead, which means my stunt will be all over the stations.
Sure enough, Hamish says, “I’m getting traffic reports from New Rome. Are you currently involved in a high-speed chase on Central Avenue?”
“Yes,” I grind out.
“Far be it from me to criticize, but is this the best time to pull resources away from the BK manhunt?”
“That sounds a lot like criticism, Hamish.” More cops are on my ass, but there’s a tow truck ahead with its ramp down and nothing loaded on the metal bed.
“Initiate turbo mode,” I tell Alfie, and the computer takes over the wheel. The car hits the ramp at high speeds and sails over the truck. Parachutes deploy, allowing the car to float over the median into the opposite lane of traffic.
“Call incoming. Unknown number,” Alfie tells me.
“Trace it,” I bark and start evasive maneuvers, dodging cars to drive the wrong way down the highway.
“Trace complete. Location, Club Empire.”
“Hamish, I’ve got to go. St. James is calling me. He has Inara.”
“May I ask what you’re about to do next?”
“I’m getting Inara back. Then I’ll deal with everything else.”
“You can’t fight everyone and keep her safe. You need us. You need me. And you need her consent.”
I want to shout him down, but he’s right. I curse.
“Language, sir,” Hamish clips, sounding just like he did when I was a surly sixteen-year-old. I automatically cringe.
A truck veers into my path, and I swerve around it. I’ve lost the cops, but it’s only a matter of time before one of them spots me again. I jerk the wheel, crossing five lanes of traffic to dart into a tunnel.
“I’ve recovered the most recent feed from the townhouse,” Hamish says. “Sending it over now.”
I end the call with him and switch to the line with St. James.
“Where is she?” I ask.
“Hello, Rex. It’s been a while.” He’s joking; it’s been only a few minutes. I can hear his smirk over the line.
“Cut the small talk, Sebastian. You have something of mine. Give her back.”
“Is the lovely detective a toy we’re fighting over?”
“She’s mine,” I snarl in response, but Inara’s accusations echo in my head.
I’m just a possession to you. A trophy you can put on a shelf.
Maybe it’s the after-effects of adrenaline, but her words resonate with me now as they didn’t before.
St. James continues, “The news is all abuzz about a high-speed car chase in the city. And it seems all the traffic lights on roads running east to west turned red. The police are out in force, trying to sort out the gridlock.”