Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Arden shook his head. “None of them would arrive in the next two minutes. That’s about all the time we have left.”
Sure enough, after three more attempts, bolts of electricity flew upward from the spot the men had been working on, like reverse lightning. The entire perimeter lit up bright white, and then it disappeared. Arden whispered, “They’re through.”
As the men climbed back into the SUV and drove up the long driveway, we stepped back from the window. Arden shifted the rifle’s barrel off his shoulder and aimed it at the front door.
At the same time, Andy and I turned to each other, and I took his face between my hands. “Go upstairs and hide,” I told him. “They don’t need both of us. I’ll go with them, and then you’ll be safe.”
“No! There’s absolutely no way I’m letting you face them alone.” He pulled me to him and kissed me with raw passion. Then he took my hand and told our friend, “Arden, go hide. Hurry!”
Arden shook his head. “This is my home, and I have to defend it. I have to defend you, too. You’re my friends.”
A voice outside taunted, “Come out, come out wherever you are.” We all flinched as the solid wood door was ripped off its hinges. It landed somewhere outside with a loud thud.
The three of us backed up as Rosselin and his henchmen climbed the stairs and crossed the porch. He looked cool and composed in his expensive suit, while the men flanking him looked feral. “What a bother you two have been,” Rosselin complained. “Making me chase you for days, as if I have time for such nonsense.”
They crossed the threshold, and we took another step back. I tried to keep my voice steady as I asked, “How did you find us?”
“Well, it was no thanks to the seven trackers on my payroll! They only got as far as that motel off the interstate, and then they totally lost you. So annoying. I finally asked myself where you would go if you wanted to use the formula for yourselves. There was only one person I could think of that would be able to help you—the little shit who thought he was too good to work for me.” He flashed our friend an ice-cold smile. “Hello, Arden.”
Our friend was visibly trembling as he raised the shotgun and growled, “Get out of my house.”
Rosselin rolled his eyes. “Oh, please. As if you could stop me.”
One of his men flicked his wrist and sent Arden flying across the room. Andy and I both cried out when our friend smashed into the wall and fell to the floor. He wasn’t moving.
I tried to push Andy behind me so I could protect him, but the henchman brought his hands together and pulled them apart, and the two of us slid in opposite directions. It felt like I was being held in a giant, invisible fist.
Rosselin frowned. “Let’s not waste any more of my time, boys. You know why I’m here. Which of you is going to tell me what I want to know?”
We both glared at him, and I yelled, “You can go to hell!”
He pulled a handgun from inside his suit jacket and pointed it at me. “You first. But before that, I’m going to need you to write down the formula for me.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
He extended his arm and pointed the gun directly at my forehead. Then he swung it to the right, so it was pointed at Andy. “How about now?”
Fear ran down my spine and made my skin prickle. I fought wildly against the invisible bonds that were holding me as I yelled, “Leave him alone!”
Rosselin’s grin was pure evil. “Looks like I’ve found your weak spot.”
“Take me with you, and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know,” I lied. “Just don’t hurt him!”
A man with a thick beard and cold eyes came over to me and pressed his clammy hand to my forehead. After a moment, he turned to Rosselin and said, “He knows the formula.”
“Can you see it clearly?”
The man shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that. I can only sense that he knows it.”
That annoyed Rosselin. “Let’s take him and go. I can extract the information back at my lab.”
One of his men asked, “What about the other two?”
“We don’t need them.” Rosselin met my gaze and smiled. There was no humanity whatsoever in his eyes. “There’s just one thing, though. I never leave witnesses.” I heard Andy’s breath catch when Rosselin pointed the gun at him again.
A yell of absolute terror tore from me as he pulled the trigger.
In the next instant, a huge flash of pure white light blinded me.
I blinked a few times and tried to make sense of what was happening as my vision returned. Then I realized the gun had gone off, and the bullet was hanging in mid-air. Everything was silent. Frozen. Rosselin and his henchmen held rigid poses, not unlike the taxidermied animals around us.