Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
He groans and struggles not to fall on his ass, but I keep dragging him until we’re in the cold night air. It feels like an eternity since we’ve been down there. The kids are walking across the street, all except the girl with the red braid, who lingers near a trashcan. Damon’s man is leaning against the wall, his hand on his head, looking confused.
“Go home,” I snap at the girl, Grace.
The girl’s voice is hollow, too jaded for anyone her age or anybody. “Shoot him, mister. Shoot him!”
“Oh, how lovely, Gracey,” Damon says with shit-eating sarcasm.
I twist the barrel of the gun, causing him to whine and shift against me. He quickly cuts it off when he remembers his men can see and hear us, but I can sense how much effort it takes him.
“I heard you talking! You said you were going to put us in trucks,” Grace yells.
“Eavesdropping little bitch.”
I snap—a mini blackout—and when I “wake up,” I realize I’ve smashed Damon over the back of the head with my gun. His men rush toward me. I catch Damon before he can fall, then heft his body up, putting the gun against his head again.
“Grace,” I say over my shoulder.
“Yeah?”
“I need your help.”
The little girl is heartbreakingly eager. “Yeah?”
“I’ve got a digital camera in my pocket. I want you to take it out and start recording.”
“Yes, sir,” she says right away.
“What game are you playing?” Damon groans, slowly returning to his senses.
“This isn’t a fucking game,” I growl, resisting the urge to hit him again … for now.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
LILY
“I’m so happy you’re as crazy as me,” I whisper as I put a playing card on the coffee table.
Maddie grins over at me from the other side as she places a card down. “Who can say no to a sleepover? Anyway, I’m not the one with work tomorrow.”
“Work,” I say, nodding, my stomach tight. “Yeah, but I know I’m not going to sleep. He’s doing something tonight. I don’t know what it is. It sounded like he planned to get reckless, but he wouldn’t tell me.”
“Because you’re not supposed to know,” Maddie says lightly. “Are you? Unless you want to lose your job …”
“I don’t want that, obviously,” I sigh, placing another card now. “Snap,” I add halfheartedly. “You let me win that one.”
“Anything so you wipe that look off your face.”
“Can I genuinely care this much?”
“Can you care? What do you mean?” Maddie asks.
“I don’t even know him, but I want to be with him now and in the future. I want to see where it goes, but that’s the cruel thing. It’s not going to go anywhere. It can’t.”
“Not everything has to go somewhere,” Maddie says, shrugging. “Maybe you could have some fun?”
“I broke down on him,” I tell her. “I couldn’t stop crying. I couldn’t stop hating that he was going to leave me, and that was after days. After weeks, months, I think it’d break me.”
“I’m so sorry, Lily. I wish I had answers.”
“I’m just glad you’re here.”
We play quietly some more, and then Maddie says, “If you think he’s doing something tonight, you could text him and ask. You could explain that you know you said you didn’t want to know, but it’s eating you up. It’s not like work has the right to check your personal cell, so they’d never know.”
“That work situation is a joke, anyway,” I snap.
“I wish you’d recorded Carter saying all that stuff.”
“Me too,” I say. “He was smart. He didn’t give me a chance. I bet he’ll never admit it again, but I saw the director’s face. She’s definitely pissed at me.”
“But he told you the truth … and you don’t think he did anything wrong?”
I haven’t told Maddie about the apple tree job, but she knows I know what happened. I nod. “I can see why Carter resents him, but hating him is unfair.” I grab my phone. “You know what? I’m going to do it right now.”
When I look at my screen, my mouth falls open.
“What’s wrong?” Maddie says.
“He’s called me seven times in the last ten minutes. My phone’s been on silent.”
“Call him back!”
I quickly press the call button. He answers after not even a full ring.
“Lily,” he says. “I’m sending somebody to get you and your mom right now.”
“Wait, what?”
“I can’t explain, but it’s unsafe for you there.”
“Where are you?” I demand.
“At The Row with Grace and her mom.”
“Grace … the girl with the red braid?”
“Pack a bag, enough for a couple of days at least.”
“But—”
“Please,” he snaps. “I can’t lose you. I can’t even imagine it. Please, Lily, listen to me and trust me.”
“You’re scaring me,” I whisper.
“You trusted me before,” he growls. “When I told you that you and your mom would be happy, that you’d find a way out of the stress and pain, you didn’t believe it. I could see it in your eyes, Lily. You were so scared, so beaten down. I told you to trust me, and you said you did. Do the same now. Keep your cell on loud. My friend will be there soon.”