Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Fuck. Fuck. Avery wouldn’t have left these ingredients on the ground, and she definitely wouldn’t have left the door open.
Fuck.
I raced across the room and yanked the door open to see the parking lot empty except for Avery’s car. I texted Hawk.
Avery’s missing. Check her phone?
A second later, he called. “Phone’s at Sawyers Bend Brewing, but I have her tagged.”
“Of course you do,” I murmured, grateful for Hawk’s paranoia.
“It’s in her watch,” he said. “Since she rarely takes it off. One sec.”
“Where are you?” I asked while I waited.
“I’m at the gates of the Manor. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Get me a location on Avery,” I said. “You can catch up.”
“She’s on the move,” Hawk said a moment later. “Headed out of town. East. I’ll forward the tracking to you so you can follow.”
I raced back through the brewery and taproom, shouting to Avery’s brothers, “Lock up and go back to Heartstone. Sterling will fill you in.”
I didn’t have time to explain. All that mattered was getting to Avery.
Chapter Thirty-One
AVERY
My eyes opened to a sea of brown, the details slowly coming into focus as my body bounced. Brown upholstery beneath me. Brown fabric stretched above me. I was in a vehicle. How had I…?
It all came rushing back—Caro Haywood, Cole. The understanding had hit me so suddenly, I hadn’t been able to hide it. And he’d seen. He’d followed me into the brewery. He’d had something... A taser?
I tried to feel for an injury, but my hands were tied behind my back, whatever bound them cutting into my wrists. I shifted and realized my feet were tied as well. He’d trussed me up like a pig for roasting, and somehow, he’d gotten me out of Sawyers Bend Brewing without anyone seeing.
I tried to think. Was I better off pretending I was still unconscious, or should I talk to him? I wanted to know why. Everyone knew how devoted Cole Haywood had been to his wife. If Prentice had been having an affair with her, I could understand Cole shooting him. Not the best way to resolve marital differences, but that made sense. Coming after the rest of us, though—
Why? I needed to know.
Forget playing like I was out cold. I had too many questions for that.
“Where are we going?” I asked, twisting and straining, struggling to bring myself to a seated position. I needed to see his face—or what I could catch from the back seat.
“We’re going nowhere,” he said with a short laugh.
I tried to figure out if he sounded unhinged or if the laugh was him sounding normal. I couldn’t. A man I’d known for years had just kidnapped me. He wasn’t my friend. He was eight or nine years older than Griffen and my father’s business associate. There were a lot of reasons I’d never sought out Cole Haywood’s company, but none of them were because I thought he was dangerous. If anything, I’d always thought he was boring, just another buttoned-up business suit. I’d never pictured him with that taser in his hand, much less holding the knife that had killed Anna Novak.
I lurched my way into a seated position. I couldn’t see his eyes. They were, fortunately, focused on the road, but I got a good look at Cole Haywood’s profile.
It wasn’t what I’d expected. I don’t know—maybe I thought when he kidnapped me, the mask would come off and the crazy would be out in the open. But he just looked like Cole Haywood: chiseled jawline, blade-sharp cheekbones, perfectly styled dark hair. I’d been kidnapped by a menswear model.
“What do you mean we’re going nowhere?” I asked, confused by both his answer and his laugh.
“We’re going to the middle of nowhere,” he said, amusement coloring his words, “A little piece of property I walked a couple of years ago. I thought about investing in it with your father, actually. Changed my mind. Too remote. But while we were out there, we discovered that long ago, someone dug a well and covered it up. Weeds grew over the cover, but the well was still there. I thought, someday, that might be the perfect place to hide a body. And look, here you are, a body I need to hide. Convenient, isn’t it?”
“Not for me,” I muttered.
“Well, no,” he agreed. “Not for you.” Cole’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “You weren’t on my list, Avery. I wasn’t planning on getting rid of you. But I’m not done with your family yet. And somehow, you figured it out. So, here we are.”
“One of Sterling’s contacts found a trust Prentice set up for Caroline Sawyer,” I said, watching carefully for a reaction.
The wheel of the car jerked to the left, and my shoulder slammed into the door, my skull cracking against the window and sending painful shudders down my spine.