Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
I needed to have somewhere for her to go when the time came.
And it would.
I was more sure than ever before.
Ideally, I’d love to move her to Shady Valley. But that, like buying my own damn place to live, was going to need to wait until I was off parole.
“Rook?” Slash called, making me glance over, realizing I’d been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn’t been paying attention to church at all.
“Yeah?”
“You think you can get me that info in… less than three days?”
“Probably. Why so fast?”
“Because that’s when Saint is getting out. Yeah, I know,” Slash said at my surprised look. “We’re usually more on top of it than this, but he slipped through the cracks, given his charge.”
Slash was trying to build our numbers in general, sure, but he was also trying to pad our club with various experts when and where he could.
Like with me. A hacker was a valuable asset to any criminal organization.
Colter’s prior military background meant he was good at taking orders… and knew a lot about weapons.
Judge’s history with organized crime made him valuable as well.
And we already had four or five guys marked to offer an invitation to who were getting out in the next few years, each with their own unique skill sets.
“Alright, yeah, I can head out now and get some work done before Tessa gets home.”
A couple of the guys shared a look. Because while we were still insisting the marriage was one of convenience, it was clear something was growing between us. Something everyone could feel. Even if Tessa wasn’t quite ready to admit that yet.
In time, I reminded myself.
“Appreciate it,” Slash said as I got up and made my way to the door.
Not seeing Tessa’s car on the street when I got back to town, I let myself into the karate studio and into the office that Tessa had decorated with twinkle lights and matching desk decor, despite the fact that she never actually used the desk.
It was unexpectedly nice, though, to see reminders of her all around as I slowly slipped into work mode.
By the time I surfaced, I had a crick in my neck, and more hours had passed than I’d realized.
I immediately reached for my phone, expecting a text or two from Tessa asking where I was and what I wanted to order for dinner.
But there was nothing.
I wasn’t exactly worried as I rose from my desk and made my way out to the street, but there was a tingle up my spine that I didn’t exactly like, either.
When I didn’t see her car on the street or find traces of her in the apartment, yeah, that was when the worry started to settle in.
“Got something already?” Slash asked when I called.
“Uh, maybe. But I’m not calling about that. Is Tessa at the clubhouse?”
“No. Why would she be here?”
“Because she’s not home.”
“Maybe she just took another job when she didn’t see you in the apartment.”
“Maybe,” I agreed, but something felt wrong. “Thanks.”
I moved back outside, standing on the top landing of the stairs, looking down on the town, searching for any signs of her or her car.
When another half an hour passed, I was making my way down.
Shady Valley was small.
If she’d already gotten the order from the grocery store, she should have been back in town by then, regardless of how big the order might have been.
I made my way down the street, climbing on my bike, ready to take a drive around, thinking maybe that junker of a car of hers finally crapped out on her.
But why wouldn’t she have called then?
I shook that thought away, not wanting to get myself freaked out without reason.
I drove up the town first, going all the way to the gas station—which was the last stop before the prison—but saw her nowhere.
I drove through Millionaire’s Row on the way to the suburbs—where most of her orders came from these days.
She wasn’t on the street or in anyone’s driveways.
It wasn’t until I circled around to the apartment buildings that I caught a glimpse of gold.
Something felt… off about the placement. Parked on the wrong side of the road outside of the parking lot.
It wasn’t somewhere Tessa, who was now familiar with Shady Valley, would park. Unless she was looking for a ticket.
I rode over, my heart feeling constricted as I got nearer and found she wasn’t inside.
And when I got off my bike and looked in the windows, her fucking purse and phone were still on the seat.
“Again?” Slash answered as I dialed with shaking fucking hands.
Because I knew.
Somehow I knew, with no other clues, that whatever it was that Tessa had been running away from had finally caught up with her.
“Tessa’s missing.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Tessa
I don’t know why I was still insisting on taking so many jobs. I genuinely didn’t need the money. Between what Rook was paying me and what I’d already stashed away, I had more than enough to run if I ever needed to again.