Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
It’s the sheriff.
He’s standing next to his cruiser, watching me with a contemplative look on his face, and I don’t look away.
I can’t.
I hold his gaze through the mask, and time slows as we stare at one another. The town, the truck, and even my guys fade away as the sheriff attempts to unmask with me his eyes, and I teeter between wanting him to and wishing he’d go away and forget he ever saw me.
Judging by the suspicion rapidly growing in his gaze, I know there’s little chance of that.
A horn blows nearby and snaps us out of it.
The sheriff lifts a hand and waves like he’s greeting a neighbor instead of the missing woman whose face has undoubtedly been plastered all over every news channel in the world.
Lifting my hand, I force a smile before remembering he can’t see it and awkwardly wave back.
I don’t exhale until I’m safely inside the truck.
Thorin, who’s in the driver’s seat this time, starts the engine while Seth blindfolds me. I feel the truck making a U-turn, and then he speeds all the way back to the trail where the snowmobiles are parked.
The mood by the time we return to the cabin is dark as hell.
Thorin puts my bags down and then goes back outside to blow steam chopping wood.
Khalil goes down to the basement, where he trains well into the night.
Seth goes to lock himself inside his destroyed bedroom, and I have a feeling it’s to keep himself in rather than keep us out.
Sensing that it won’t end well for me if I poke the bears, I quietly perform my duties. I put everything away, mop the wooden floors, organize the kitchen cabinets, and make their dinner, which goes untouched. There’s safety in reminding my mountain men why they’re keeping me alive. Afterward, I shower, grab a gardening book from the shelf to study, and crawl into my loft to hide until morning.
Hopefully, they’ll be in a better mood.
As much as I try, I can’t get how the sheriff looked at me out of my head. Once the basement quiets and Thorin comes inside, only to go straight into his room, I allow myself to admit what Thorin, Khalil, and Seth must have already figured out.
The sheriff knows.
AURELIA
One month later…
“Aureliaaaaa!”
Birds burst from the canopy at the roar, and a whimper tears from my lips. Knowing who that pissed-off voice belongs to, I pick up my speed despite my body begging for a reprieve.
I’ve already been running for miles.
My heart pounds so fast that each beat feels more like a stab, and with each passing minute, it becomes impossible to catch my breath. But I keep putting one foot in front of the other. I can’t risk slowing because I know the men chasing me won’t. If they catch me, they’ll keep their promise and punish me for running.
The pack on my back is heavy, and I’d move so much faster without it, but I can’t risk leaving it.
I wish I could say the last month has been bliss, but no.
It’s been weeks of waiting for Sheriff Kelly to come. That first morning after, Thorin and Khalil nearly came to blows over the decision of whether to take me and run.
Of course, Thorin was for it. Khalil wasn’t so willing to give up their home for the slight chance that the sheriff didn’t believe them.
And…he was right.
The sheriff never came.
I figured it would take him a few days to piece it together, but after the first week passed and then the second without him darkening our doorstep, I began to wonder if I’d imagine that moment between us.
Only the mood of my mountain men this past month confirmed that I hadn’t. And then one night, when I was brave enough to ask about that day in town, Khalil revealed a little of their history with the sheriff, and I finally understood why the man hadn’t come.
There might have been a second when the thought crossed the sheriff’s mind about my true identity, but in the end, he didn’t want to believe that the men he regarded as sons could do something like this right under his nose. It’s the same willful ignorance many parents show, who know their kids are obnoxious little shits but pretend they’re perfect angels instead.
Sheriff Kelly’s choice not to follow his gut was the first time I understood that I was truly on my own. And now I needed to do something about where that left me.
Thorin, Khalil, and even Seth have been surly, paranoid, broody, overly possessive, and un-bear-a-ble.
Needless to say, I couldn’t take it anymore.
The moment I stopped feeling their eyes on me for even a second, I ran. That brief head start is the only reason they haven’t caught me yet.
I run for another half a mile before I can’t take another step. I’m in much better shape than I was two months ago, thanks to Khalil and sheer fucking boredom, but I’m still gasping for air while the stitch in my side pulls tighter.