Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
And then blackness set in again.
I woke up, the pain levels in my head and body warring with each other. I was so cold the shivers were constant and painful. The simple movement of the tremors caused agony to ripple over my body. My shoulder where I’d fallen was on fire. My hands were tied tighter again, and now my legs were strapped to the chair legs. I opened my eyes to see Calvin watching me, an evil smile on his face.
“Wakey wakey,” he said snidely. “I’d say your cavalry isn’t coming. And I won that round.”
“Fuck you,” I muttered, suddenly not caring. Furious at him. At everything. “Wanker.”
“Is that what your English boyfriend has been teaching you?”
“God, you’re stupid,” I mocked. “He’s Irish.”
“He’s history, that’s what he is. I am the only man in your life.”
I hung my head, the pain too bad to hold it up. “Whatever. He is not going to be happy with you when he finds me,” I mumbled.
“He can’t find you. This place isn’t on a map. And I checked the little watch thing. It’s just a knock-off of some kind, like a Fitbit. So trying to scare me with your cavalry thing isn’t going to work.”
“Uh-huh.” Evan had added to its capabilities, and there was no brand name on the device. But it was way more than a Fitbit.
“But I don’t like this attitude of yours. So if you think you’re cold and uncomfortable now, just wait.”
I frowned, not understanding. I was having trouble following his thoughts. I was even more confused when he undid the ropes that tied me to the chair and yanked me out of it.
“Get up.”
I was barely able to stand upright. He hauled me down the short hall to the main room of the cabin. A rug was rolled up, and he let me go long enough to lift a trapdoor.
“The root cellar,” he announced. “Your home away from home until I decide otherwise. You earned it with that stunt of yours.”
I stared down in horror at the earthen floor and cement walls. I could feel the icy air that drifted up, its tentacles wrapping around my already chilled feet and legs. I watched a spider scurry across the floor and began to shake with untapped terror as well as cold. I hated spiders.
“I’ll—I’ll die down there.”
“Then you’d better learn some respect fast.” He grinned at me, his eyes wild and expression mad. “And if you do die, you won’t be the first—and probably not the last.”
He grabbed my arm. “Now get in.”
That was when all hell broke loose.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
SULLY
It was cold outside, standing in the trees that surrounded the small cabin. The vans were parked a short distance away so we didn’t alert him we were there, but they were ready to bring the supplies we needed in a moment. Evan was a voice in our ears, directing us, telling us what he could see with his drone. Finn and Niall were beside me, a few men behind us. All of us were armed. Ready.
“No outside alarms or traps that I can see. Two heat sources inside,” he murmured. “The windows are covered in the front and back, so I can’t see much. The only one without a covering is the kitchen.”
“Can you get a camera in?” Finn asked.
“Too risky,” he replied. “They’re in separate rooms. One is moving, the other is not. I think the moving one is Cal or Al or whatever he wants to call himself, and he’s pacing. Agitated, I would say. The other one hasn’t moved this whole time.”
I shut my eyes, trying not to panic. Niall nudged me. “Probably tied up.”
I nodded, hating that thought too.
“Wait, there’s movement,” Evan hissed. “Cal moved to the back, and now both of them are in the front of the cabin. I’m switching to night mode, and I’m going to try for visual.”
We waited, my heart beating rapidly. Every moment she was with him was a moment too long. We needed to move, and I wanted to move now.
As if sensing my thoughts, Finn placed his hand on my shoulder. “Patience. We need to make sure she’s protected.”
“Positive,” Evan confirmed. “It’s him and Autumn. She’s arguing with him—or begging, maybe.” There was a pause. “Oh shit. There’s a trapdoor he has open, and he’s forcing her to go down inside whatever it is.”
That was it. I was off, my gun out, heading for the cabin. Behind me, Finn and Niall followed, Niall snapping orders to the other men. “Surround the cabin. He doesn’t get away.”
I sped up, lowering my shoulder, not stopping as we closed in on the cabin. I leaped onto the porch, hurling my entire weight at the old door, busting through it, Finn and Niall on my flank. Autumn screamed. The coward that he was, Calvin grabbed her, holding her in front of him like a human shield. He pressed a gun to her head.