Reckless Heart (The Hearts of Sawyers Bend #8) Read Online Ivy Layne

Categories Genre: Alpha Male, Contemporary, Suspense Tags Authors: Series: The Hearts of Sawyers Bend Series by Ivy Layne
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Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
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He raised a dark eyebrow, pulling his gaze up from where it had rested on Cole Haywood, filled with satisfaction and scorn. Protecting the Sawyer family was like a religion for Hawk. Griffen was his closest friend, and Quinn Sawyer was the woman he loved. They were far more than clients. They were his family, one Hawk had never expected and would kill to protect. The man on the ground had threatened his people, and Hawk didn’t always play by the rules.

“Hey,” I said sharply, catching his dark eyes as they hit mine. “Haywood needs to make it to jail in one piece, yeah? I have a lot of questions I need answered.”

“If I’d gotten to him first…” Hawk raised an eyebrow, then shrugged with a half-smile. “But I didn’t, so we’ll do this your way.”

For a split second, I wished I were a different man. One more like Hawk, who made up the rules as I went. A man who’d let Hawk take Cole Haywood for a private conversation before I brought him to jail. But this had to be done right. The last thing I wanted was for Cole Haywood to walk on a technicality.

I watched as Hawk hauled Cole to his feet, his grip tight on Haywood’s cuffed hands as he shoved him down the path. I tossed Hawk the keys to my SUV.

“Hold up,” Hawk said after he caught and pocketed the keys. “Take this.” He tossed me back a compact walkie-talkie. “Not always great in the mountains, but more useful than your cell. If you need help when you find her, call.”

I shoved the walkie into my pocket and nodded, hoping it wouldn’t come to that. I stood, watching Hawk march Haywood back to where we’d left our vehicles. In the silence of the forest, I set off on the deer path in the direction Haywood had come from. Had he shot her and left her up ahead somewhere?

I’d gone less than a hundred feet when the trail widened into a clearing. “Avery!” I called out. “Avery!”

No answer. The grasses and weeds in the clearing had been trampled, following a path to the far corner where they’d flattened a wide circle with their footsteps.

“Avery!” I shouted again, scanning the ground as I moved closer. My chest tightened as I saw the wooden circle resting on top of the weeds. It had been moved recently based on the overturned leaves and dirt at the edges.

“Avery!” I went to my knees at the edge of the well cover, yanking it off and peering into the dark.

“West?” Avery’s voice drifted up from the dark hole in the earth, weak and pained, but alert.

“I’m going to get you out of there. You okay?” I pulled the flashlight from my belt, flicking it on.

“He shot me,” she said weakly. The bright white beam of light caught her, and my heart stopped. She was caught in the well, her back braced against the uneven stone wall, her feet jammed into the wall opposite, barely holding herself in place, her legs straining with effort. She looked down her side into the dark below. “I don’t know how deep it is,” she said. “But I don’t think I can hold this much longer.”

Her voice trailed off as her foot slipped, the pressure of it dragging a stone from the side of the well. A high scream erupted from her lungs, her feet scraping and body sliding down half a foot. “West!”

“I’ve got you!” I threw myself on my stomach, reaching as far into the well as I could. My fingers almost grazed the top of her head. Not close enough. I sat back up, yanking the walkie from my pocket.

“Hawk, you got me?” I waited, every second an eternity, before he answered.

“You find her?”

“She’s in a well and she’s slipping. Grab the rope in the back of my SUV and follow the deer path.”

“Got it.” Hawk clicked off.

I leaned back over the edge. “Avery, I can’t reach you, but Hawk is coming with a rope. We’ll get you out.”

“Cole?” she asked, her voice strained.

“Under arrest. Hawk’s locking him in the cage in my SUV.” I thought about my belt. Sitting up, I unfastened it and pulled it free of my pants. Feeding the end back through the buckle, I lowered the loop to Avery. “Wrap that around your arm,” I said. “I have the other end. Just in case you slip again before Hawk gets here with the rope.”

Moving slowly, using her legs to brace her back harder into the side of the well, Avery shifted just enough to pull the belt loop over her right arm, wrapping the length around her forearm for better grip. I saw with horror that her left arm was covered in blood.

“He shot you in the arm?” I asked.


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