Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
It’s a shame I’ve been subconsciously accustomed to it. Now the same is happening with Victor. And I have to admit, out of all the men I’ve encountered in my life, Victor’s anger scares me the most.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Alex cried as he buckled, then he fell completely to the ground. I’d shot him in the thigh. It wasn’t my intention to kill him. Just hurt him. As he hollered in pain and called me all sorts of derogatory names, I ran around him. He swatted at me, trying to catch me by the ankle but missing.
I could see flashing red and blue lights behind me as I ran to the other side of the lake. That had to be James. I refused to stop, not until I made it to a place with service. Or another phone with service. I checked mine as I made it out of the woods but had no bars.
“Come on,” I wheezed, throwing my arm in the air. I twisted around, dying for just a bar. Just one. I tried calling Kennedy just to see if the call would go through. It failed automatically.
“Damn it.”
I spotted Eddie’s house a short distance away. A swirl of hope washed through me. I ran up the short hill, thighs burning, lungs on fire. Through the wide-open windows, I could see his entire living room. A fire was going, the TV on, deep corduroy sofas. A woman was in the kitchen cutting an apple on a cutting board. She was tall, slim, with shoulder-length sandy-blond curls that reminded me a lot of Emily’s. Her skin was several shades lighter than Emily’s beige.
Then I saw Eddie appear in the hallway and walk around the corner wearing sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt. He plucked an apple slice from the cutting board but not before kissing the woman’s cheek. The woman grinned.
I knocked on the window and they jumped. “Sorry!” I yelled as the woman pressed a hand against her chest. “I’m so sorry! It’s me, Rose!”
Eddie glanced at the woman before hurrying to the patio doors. “Rose? What in the world? What’s going on?” He slid the door open and looked me over.
The front of my sweats had a hole on the knee now, along with a dirt stain. I was filthy from the fall, but I was safe. Safe for now.
“What happened? Are you okay?” he asked, eyes widening again.
“I—I’m fine,” I told him. “I’m really sorry to bother you, but can I use your phone? I don’t have cell service out here.”
“Who are you?” The woman appeared at Eddie’s side. She folded her arms and looked me over with puckered brows.
“I’m Rose Gibson. I’m truly sorry for interrupting your night but there is a guy out there—well, three of them actually. The Reeds, remember?” I asked, eyeing Eddie.
Eddie nodded. “Yeah, the Reeds. What about them? Hold on, are they trying to hurt you?”
“I think so. I found out the truth about my friend. She’s dead. I think they killed her.” I wanted to break down and sob at that very moment, but I held it together with a quivering lip. I could cry later.
“My goodness.” The woman cupped her mouth, eyes widening with horror.
“Their sister told me everything and now I have to call someone. I need this person to come here.” I held up my phone. “I recorded the whole conversation I had with their sister.”
“Damn.” Eddie blinked a few times, confounded, before looking past me and out the patio doors. “Come in. Quick.” He ushered me inside and I thanked him as I passed through.
“Can I get you a water? Anything?” the woman asked, suddenly more concerned about my well-being.
“No. I’m okay. I could use a phone call though.”
“Well, our cell service sucks here too, even with the Wi-Fi,” the woman said. “But we do have a landline. It’s in Eddie’s office.” The woman pursed her lips and dropped her eyes to the gun in my hand. “Honey, I’m so sorry but I’d really prefer not to have any weapons in the house. I know you were protecting yourself, but I have a three-year-old daughter and . . . well, you know?”
“Oh, right.” I forced a laugh. “I’m so sorry. I’m not thinking straight.”
“I’ll keep it outside on the table with the safety on,” she said. “You can grab it when you leave. Is that okay?”
“Of course,” I said as she reached for it. I handed her the gun, and she accepted it but held it at a distance like she was carrying a fragile bomb. As she went to the patio doors, applying the safety, Eddie faced me.
“That’s my wife, Gina.” He chuckled. “Don’t mind her.”
“No, no. I get it. One hundred percent. I wouldn’t want a stranger’s gun around my kid either.”
“I’ll show you the way,” he said, already walking down the hall.