Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 105231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
“I think the odds of that are pretty low,” Tyler told him.
“In this city, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Alexa said. “Of course, I’m trying to find a serial killer to date and keep getting nice guys.”
“Yeah, you definitely need to be medicated,” Gable drawled.
“I mean, not necessarily a serial killer. Just someone morally gray who operates on his own set of rules and doesn’t give a shit what anyone else thinks. I really don’t think it’s that much to ask for.”
“I don’t think she needs medication or counseling. I think she needs to be admitted,” Clay whispered.
“Rude,” Alexa said. “All right, I have her.”
“Wait, you do?” Travis asked, looking over at Alexa in surprise.
“Don’t know why you’re so surprised,” Alexa replied. “I am good at my job.”
“Where is she?” he asked. He didn’t have time for this chitchat. It was taking away from finding his girl . . . no, wait, Caren.
Not his.
He wasn’t interested in her like that. He just meant that she was under his protection.
“She’s staying at a hotel in Albany,” Alexa told him.
“A hotel in Albany?” Tyler repeated. “Does she still have family there?”
“I can look into that if you want,” Alexa said.
“We can’t invade her privacy,” Jace said. “That’s wrong.”
Travis disagreed. But he didn’t need to know about any family or friends.
“Just tell me where she is,” he said.
“Well, it looks like she’ll be back in the city in a few hours,” Alexa said. “She just booked a train ticket.”
“I need to get to Albany,” he said. “A train will take too long, though. I need a chopper. Tyler, get onto that, will you? Alexa, keep an eye on her.”
“Seems to me like it would be better to just wait until she returned home,” Rusty said suddenly. “Rather than go all the way to Albany and risk missing her.”
Everyone froze and turned to look at him. Because when Rusty spoke people tended to listen.
“He’s probably right, boss,” Shane said, finally waking up. “Then she won’t know about all of this.”
“Women react badly when they think you’re spying on them,” Clay added. “Alexa, how did you even find out this information?”
“Hacked her credit card,” Alexa replied casually as though that was something she did every day. “And for the record I wouldn’t care if my morally gray hunk hacked into my accounts to discover what I was up to.”
“Gable and Marc are right, you need something,” Travis said, pointing at her. “But we’ll talk about that later. Shit. All right. I’m going to go to her apartment and wait.”
“Slightly less of a red flag,” Jace muttered.
“But still on the stalker scale,” Alexa said with a smile. “I approve, boss.”
Hmm. He wasn’t sure that was a good thing.
11
Caren climbed out of the Uber. She only had a small roll bag which she dragged with her.
The car took off and she walked up to the door. Thank God there was a lift up to her place as she did not feel like climbing five flights on stairs.
She’d taken some painkillers but her head was still throbbing in pain. And she was exhausted even though she had gotten plenty of sleep. This morning, she’d woken up with a throbbing head and a dry mouth, without the good time to blame it all on.
No, yesterday hadn’t been a good time at all. It had been a complete shit show and she couldn’t believe she’d actually thought something positive might have come out of the visit. That she might have managed to find some closure with her mother.
Instead, her mother had thrown something at her and knocked her out. And she’d grabbed her arm, leaving one heck of a bruise. Thankfully, Caren had a long-sleeved coat with her that covered it.
As she moved toward her apartment, she reached with one hand into her handbag, trying to find her keys.
Why did they always end up in the bottom of her bag?
“Where the hell have you been? And why didn’t you answer my calls or texts?” a voice demanded.
She glanced up, stumbling back in shock as she encountered a large man rising from the floor in front of her apartment door.
Her breath caught.
He’d found her.
Oh. My. God.
How had he found her? How was this happening?
The world around her spun, growing dark as she gasped for air.
Scream! Run!
“Fucking hell! Breathe, Goldie! Breathe!”
Goldie? That’s not what he called her . . . that’s what Travis called her.
Hands grasped her around the upper arms and she was shaken. “Goldie, snap out of it! Fuck!”
Oh no.
It was Travis. She tried to calm herself, but the panic had taken over. It was all too much. Her mother. Her head. Travis.
God. What was he doing here?
“Tyler! What do I do for someone having a panic attack?”
Huh?
Was someone else here?
She felt herself being lowered to the floor.
“She’s panicking . . . it doesn’t matter why . . . maybe I had something to do with it . . . for fuck’s sake, Tyler! She can’t fucking breathe, tell me what to do. Right . . . yep . . . just that? Okay. Yeah, bye.”