Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 137144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
“No, you went into town and got the feed that you knew I was going to get. You better not have lifted that onto the truck yourself, Clementine Malone, or you’re in big trouble.”
“Of course I didn’t,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I had Gary at the shop do it.”
“I’ll be calling him to check.”
“Sheesh. It’s a poor thing when your own husband doesn’t believe you.”
“I have reasons not to believe you.”
“Are the two of you going to ask about the guy trussed up like a turkey, and why we’re stuck up here? Oh, and you both remember Harvey, right?” Lily said.
“Yeah. Hey, Harvey.” Clem waved at him. “Well, my best guess is this guy came here to threaten you for some reason. You climbed up on the barn. Harvey got here, knocked him out, trussed him up like a turkey and went up onto the roof to rescue you, and then someone knocked over the ladder.”
Lily nodded. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”
Jaret sighed. “Let me get the ladder, and then we’ll sort this all out. I’m really not in the mood to deal with the sheriff today.”
“No Malone ever is,” Clem said. “So, you two look like you could use a drink.”
They really could. Jaret fixed the ladder and then Harvey started down, making her come after him so he could catch her if he needed to. No idea how he planned to do that, but she humored him.
They all stood and stared down at the guy who was desperately moving around on the ground. Harvey had wrapped one of the guy’s own socks over his mouth, tying it at the back of his head so he couldn’t talk.
“So, who is he?” Jaret asked. “And what exactly happened?”
Lily told them everything, including the bits she hadn’t yet had a chance to tell Harvey.
“Fuck. Piggy Wiggy.” Jaret disappeared into the house, appearing with the guinea pig in his arms. She looked like she’d died and gone to heaven.
“This guy was paying for videos of you?” Harvey asked. “And he tracked down Doctor Wallace, got your name, and then killed him?”
Lily nodded. “Not sure how he found me here, but yeah, that seems to be what happened.”
Harvey walked over and drew his leg back, slamming his foot into the guy’s side. Then he pulled the sock away from his mouth.
“How did you find Lily?”
“Fuck you,” the guy snarled just as another truck came up the driveway.
Harvey grabbed the guy by his ponytail, pulling his head back so his neck was at an unusual angle.
“No, fuck you, asshole. You think I’m going to let you get away with watching my girl being drugged and touched inappropriately? I’m not. Bet you paid through the nose for that, didn’t you? Bet you thought she belonged to you. And then you were mad because the videos stopped coming. But she doesn’t belong to you, she belongs to me. You need to forget that she exists, because you do not get to say her name, you do not look her way ever again, and you will not talk about her.”
A shiver went through her at the threat in Harvey’s voice, but she also couldn’t help the thrill of delight. She liked when Harvey got all possessive and threatening over her. Maybe it wasn’t a healthy reaction, but hey, it wasn’t like these circumstances were normal ones, right?
“How did you find her?” Harvey snarled.
“Through the property,” the guy said. “Found out she had a sister. Sister inherited this property. Took a guess and came here. Been watching for my chance to grab her.”
“Ooh, trussed up like a turkey. Quite fond of turkey, I am.”
Lily glanced over to see Beau strolling toward them. Behind him was Tanner. And the last Malone brother to get out of the truck was Alec.
Jaret sighed. “Really? You had to bring them with you?”
That must have been aimed at Alec, because he shot Jaret a look. “Couldn’t help it. They were with me when I got your call.”
“If you’re going to get your kicks in, do it now,” Tanner suggested. “The sheriff doesn’t like it very much when you smack around his prisoners.” He looked at Harvey as he said that.
Harvey stared at Tanner in surprise. Then he smiled. “Good to know.” Standing, he landed another kick against the guy’s ribs.
Lily flinched, jumping slightly.
Harvey glanced over at her. “Baby, why don’t you go in with your sister? Sit down. Put your feet up. We’ll be in as soon as the sheriff has come.”
“They just want to beat on him a bit without us around,” Clem said.
Yeah, that’s what Lily had figured.
“You can’t do that,” she said to Harvey. “You’re going to get into trouble.”
“Not my fault he got beaten up a bit by a steer.”
“I can’t believe this douchebag really threatened a guinea pig in order to get you to do what he wanted.” Beau shook his head as he stared down at him. “He deserves a few kicks to the ribs. Wish Chuck Roast had given him a real going over.”