Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 74898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Lynn’s mouth twitched, and I could tell he found it humorous that I was acting like their boss right now instead of him.
But I didn’t much give a shit at the moment.
Not when it came to my sister’s safety.
“There’s two,” Vance said. “The first is that she’s being forced so she can keep her inheritance.”
I shook my head before he’d even finished that one. “She’s a registered nurse. She has no reason to need her inheritance, nor would she want it. No, it would have to be something big to get my sister to go with them.”
“The other rumor is that she’s pregnant.”
My breath left me.
That would be more likely to be true, but I don’t know how that would’ve happened, and why she would think going with my parents would make that better. They were the worst people on the planet, when it came to family, and they didn’t much care what anybody thought, even their kids.
They’d been horrid to grow up with, and if it hadn’t been for Audrey and me having each other, our childhoods would’ve been a whole lot more different.
Not to mention Audrey was wary of everyone—man, woman and child.
Six years ago, Audrey had been raped on her way to her car after work. Ever since then, I’d not seen, or heard about, her finding anyone to be with. Sure, she was a beautiful girl and could get anyone she wanted, but she shut down anyone who got too close. The second they crossed over some invisible line known only to her, she retreated, and when she retreated, she burned the bridge so that they couldn’t follow her back.
I’d watched this, time after time, over the last six years. So, excuse me, for being doubtful that she was pregnant.
There had to be another reason as to why she was ‘moving’ with my parents.
That was a crock of shit.
“I think it’s more likely that she’s being forced in some way to go,” I murmured. “I’ll have my wife call her and find out why.”
There was silence from all ends of the phone lines, and it took me a few long seconds to realize what I’d just said.
“Knew you’d cave,” Silas finally said. “Knew that her being there in your territory, you’d break.”
I sighed.
Then Lynn started to laugh.
I looked into his olive green eyes, the same color as mine, and idly wondered about Mina’s question from the other day.
Is he your brother?
No, we weren’t brothers. But now that I was studying the man, it was more than apparent that our features were similar. Not exactly, but similar enough that I wasn’t sure how I didn’t notice them before now. A cousin, possibly.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I muttered darkly. “I didn’t cave, anyway. She figured it out.”
Silas’ eyes were dancing.
“Girl ain’t stupid, boy,” Silas muttered, then passed to look at something behind him. Moments later, his daughter, who was growing way too fast, came into the frame. She whispered something into his ear, and I watched as the man’s smile lit up his face before he shook his head. She disappeared moments later, and Silas’ eyes returned to the screen.
“I’ve missed so much,” I murmured.
I’d not only missed my own kid growing up, but I’d also missed everyone else’s. It felt like life had passed me by, and I didn’t like the feeling.
I sighed.
“You’ve missed it, but there’s enough time to catch up,” Silas offered. “We’re taking care of this now. We’re fixing this. Because it’s time. We’ve tried to do this the right way. It’s now time to do it in whatever way that gets the job done.”
“Agreed,” Lynn said. “Donald and Vance? As of right now, you can return to regular duty. Meet me at my office for a briefing the day after tomorrow. Then take a week off.”
We knew what that ‘take a week off’ meant. Lynn didn’t want them anywhere in the area when this shit hit the fan. Because it was very apparent that the only way we were going to take this operation, was by force. There were no legal protocols left to follow. This was guerrilla warfare time, and I agreed one hundred percent.
“Lynn,” I said. “My sister needs to be out of this mess first.”
Lynn nodded.
“Send someone to get her,” he said. “Get her out of the city, take her as far away from here as you can, and sit on her.”
I gnawed on my lip thoughtfully for a few moments while I thought about who could do that, and then a smile came to my lips.
“I’ll send Fender,” I grinned. “He comes off as all sweet and shit, but the boy is fuckin’ crazy when he’s threatened.”
Silas started to laugh.
Fender was a Dixie Warden. He was the epitome of a laid-back country boy. He had an easy way about him and a deep Southern drawl. He moved slow and reacted even slower. Until he was threatened, and then he struck like a snake on speed.