Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 147545 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147545 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
I don’t know if I could have said or done anything to convince Russell not to tell the cops what he knows—the stakes are just too high, and he wouldn’t have wanted to get in trouble—but I should have at least tried. I was unsettled by the anger radiating from him. It wasn’t fresh anger. It was the kind that had festered over time. It felt dangerous, even though I struggled to link that thought to the Russell I knew.
Once my bag is packed, I go out to the car Tor left for me, then I drive to the motel to meet him.
This is crazy.
This isn’t how I should spend my last night of freedom, but to be honest, I don’t even know how I should spend it. My world has been shrinking for the past year, the circle of friends and even family I had back then getting smaller and smaller until not much is left, and everyone who is left doesn’t really want to be there. Obligation keeps them close, and when that’s the only thread that ties someone to something, resentment tends to build.
Maybe I am spending my last night of freedom the way I should.
As wild as it is, Tor has been putting his neck on the line for me nonstop since this ride started. If not for him, I wouldn’t have even had this last day of freedom. I would have definitely been arrested last night, and I don’t think my family would post bail, even if they could afford it.
I’ll never sleep in my own bed again.
It’s a sad thought, but one tempered by the fact that all the threads connecting me to that house and everything—and everyone—in it have turned resentful, too.
I park the car in a spot near the lobby. This motel has a long, rectangular row of rooms stretched behind it, each one with a private, exterior entry door. That’s probably why he picked it. He knew about the camera in the lobby, but there are none out here, so he’ll be able to leave and come back without being seen.
I wonder if he’s brought other girls here, but I guess that doesn’t matter.
The restaurant next door is one I used to go to on Sunday mornings with Russell and some of our friends, and breakfast there is delicious. If we have time before the police come for me tomorrow, I hope we can go over there. I doubt the food will be very good in prison. I’d like to have one last meal before I go.
I’m startled out of my thoughts by the light rap of Tor’s knuckles on my window. I look up at him, and he offers a ghost of a smile.
I’m not used to looking at his face and feeling anything good, but it’s not Tim’s face anymore, it’s only Tor’s, and it does bring me comfort. At least I’m spending my last night with someone who genuinely seems to like me.
I offer a whisper of a smile back, then I open my car door.
We head into the motel lobby together, but Tor takes the lead and pays for the room at the front desk. We get two plastic key cards in a little paper envelope, then we head back outside.
Our room’s on the ground floor. Tor requested it. We’re about halfway down, room 1013.
I’ve never shared a hotel room with a guy before.
I guess there’s a lot I’ll never get to do.
Tor opens the door and flicks on the light. It’s an ordinary motel room with just one king bed instead of two queens—Tor requested that, too.
There’s a TV on the wall, a desk in the corner, and a long chest of drawers with a bench beside it. I hang my purse on the back of the desk chair and drop my bag on the bench.
Tor has a leather weekend bag with him as well. He puts it down on the end of the bed and unzips it. “I have to go out, like I said, but you don’t have to wait up. Take a shower and get in bed, but keep the burner with you, sound on, because when I come back, I’ll need you to let me in. I don’t want to have to use the key card.”
“I can do that. I’m not a heavy sleeper.”
He nods, taking clothes out of his bag. Then my heart skips a beat when he takes the gun out, too. It’s wrapped in a plastic bag, and the sight of it causes an instant stomachache.
He takes out a different pair of shoes, which seems like overkill, but at this point, I know Tor is thorough, so I don’t question him.
“I’ll be right back,” he says, then heads to the bathroom.
My shoulders feel heavy as I walk over to the bed and look down at the gun. I remember the day I went to Russell and asked if I could borrow it. I knew he had more than one gun and that he wouldn’t really miss it. I knew I intended to commit a crime with it, too, but I knew he wouldn’t get in trouble. After all, I never planned to get away with it.