Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
“Yeah, so?”
“So it’s possible that people didn’t expect you to be there. Wade might have been surprised to see you.”
Riley swallowed, remembering Wade’s vacant stare. “I don’t think he was feeling much of anything that night, least of all surprise.”
Dante turned to Tao. “What does your gut tell you? I trust your gut.”
“I can’t trust my gut,” said Tao. “I’m too pissed at these people about other things to be unbiased about this.”
Riley had the exact same problem. Although she had no idea what to think, she found herself smiling at each of the wolves. “I’m really glad you guys came.”
Jaime returned the smile. “Of course we came. You’re pack.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
I was thinking we could go home tomorrow.”
Riley literally dropped the game controller. Did he have to go ruin the afternoon? They’d had a perfectly good day so far playing on the Xbox she’d borrowed from Max, and it had been pretty fun beating Tao’s ass at Killer Instinct. Now he was blurting out crap. “Look—”
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Tao turned to fully face her. “It’s been four days, Riley. Four. Nothing else has happened. Not a single thing. I think we were wrong about the shooter wanting to finish off from where Wade started. I think they just wanted to hurt you through Ethan and Lucy. You were there when we ran the theory by Sage and Ruby yesterday; they agree.”
“You’re probably right, but I still want to see someone punished.”
Tao pulled her onto his lap so she straddled him. “Do you? Do you really want to stick around here when you could be at home, where you belong?” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “I don’t think you do. And I don’t think your raven does either.”
He was right about that. The raven didn’t think of Exodus territory as home anymore. She found a certain level of comfort in it and enjoyed being there, but she missed Phoenix Pack territory, craved it. And yeah, okay, so did Riley.
Smoothing his hand up and down her back, he asked, “Don’t you want to get back home to the kids?”
Riley’s chest tightened. “Of course I do.” She missed them like crazy, and it hurt every time she had to explain to them on the phone that she’d be gone a little longer.
“Aren’t they more important to you than retribution?”
“You know they are.”
“Then let’s just get out of here.” He framed her face with his hands. “I spoke with Trey on the phone last night. Ramón has completely backed off. He hasn’t made a single call since Trey spoke to him on the day you were shot at. It’s safe to go home. It’s time. Sage will keep investigating the shootings—he wants to know who shot Lucy as much as you do.”
She closed her eyes, torn. For a while it had been rage that kept her there. But now that her thirst for blood had somewhat eased, she was more interested in getting back to the kids than in letting the gunman keep her away from Savannah and Dexter. The bastard didn’t deserve any such power.
Sighing, she opened her eyes. “All right, we can go.”
Tao smiled and kissed her. “That’s my girl.” His wolf pretty much sagged in relief.
“But I’d like to see Lucy before we leave. I want to check on her.”
Tao nodded. “I’ll call Sage, tell him that we’re leaving, and ask if he’ll let you in Lucy’s room to say goodbye. How’s that?”
“That would be good.”
Tao pulled out his cell. “What’s his number?”
“I don’t know it by heart. Just use my phone.” She plucked it from the coffee table and handed it to him.
He found Sage’s number in her list of contacts and dialed it, keeping Riley pressed against him so she could hear the conversation. It took a while for the Alpha to answer.
“Hello,” he greeted, his voice unusually gruff.
“Sage, it’s Tao.”
“I take it you heard, then.”
Tao stilled. “Heard what?”
“About Sawyer.”
“What about him?”
“He was shot twenty minutes ago.”
Fuck. Not the least bit surprised that Riley’s eyes were blazing with anger, Tao asked the Alpha, “What exactly happened?”
“He was patrolling the perimeter, just as he does most mornings,” replied Sage. “Hugh heard the shot and, given what had been happening lately, didn’t want to assume it was a human hunter. He was first on the scene and managed to stop the blood flow. The bullet tore through Sawyer’s side, but thankfully it didn’t hit any major organs.” He paused. “I’m surprised you haven’t already heard about it. We had to call Max in—he and Ethan know what happened.” There was the sound of other voices in the background, and then Sage said, “I have to go, Tao. We can speak again later.”
Tao slung her phone onto the table. “You hear all that?”
Riley jumped to her feet. “What the hell is going on, Tao?”