Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“Yeah, right,” Titus muttered.
The door opened behind me and I turned to see my mom poking her head out.
“Grab me a beer, Otto-mobile,” she ordered. “And then get your ass inside, dinner’s ready.”
As soon as I walked back into the kitchen, I knew something was up.
“No time for dinner,” Mick said to me over his shoulder before leaning down to give Emilia a kiss. “Gotta head back to the club.”
I looked around and Rumi was also getting up from the table, shoving his hand jokingly against Nova’s little brother’s head before kissing Nova goodbye.
“Sorry, ma,” I said, handing her the beers I’d carried inside.
“No worries, baby,” she said with a shrug. “Nothing new.”
I followed my brothers out of the house, still struggling to catch up to what was happening. My dad was already outside on his bike.
“Got some new information,” he said, lifting his helmet. “Those fuckin’ Bible thumpers have ’em. Go straight to the club, shit’s gonna get messy.”
We climbed on our bikes and followed him back to the clubhouse. The entire ride there I just kept thinking, thank fuck they’d sent Esther away and she wasn’t going to be in the middle of the shitstorm we were about to unleash.
Chapter 5
Esther
I no longer woke up and wondered where I was. The warm green sleeping bag and brown plaid couch had become as familiar to me as my childhood bed ever was. The little kitchen with my freeze-dried meals, and the fireplace, and even the outhouse bathroom had become my normal.
So, it was frustrating to realize that I was jumpy again. I thought I’d finally gotten past my fear of the dark and things that went bump in the night, but after a night of restless sleep, waking up covered in sweat from bad dreams, I knew that wasn’t the case. Every little noise startled me. Finally, just after dawn, I decided to get out of bed. The fire needed more wood anyway.
I hated waking up early. I’d never been an early riser to begin with, but living in the cabin had made it even worse. The earlier I got up, the longer the already long days were. As I rolled up my sleeping bag, I eyed the trap door.
Since I wasn’t even supposed to know it was there, I tried to forget the little room beneath my feet. For a few minutes at a time, it actually worked. Then, I’d remember with a shudder that I was living on top of some kind of arsenal and hadn’t even known it.
Had the guns already been there when I’d moved in? There was no way to know. I told myself that they’d been there the whole time without me knowing, so it shouldn’t be such a big deal now that I knew they were there. Unfortunately, that didn’t help my peace of mind. The cabin just felt different now. Someone had been in my space.
I got dressed and in a small show of defiance, rolled the dress and tights Aunt Lacy had given me into the fireplace. The thought of ever putting them on again, even if I was freezing, made me feel sick. I wanted to forget the day before had ever happened.
Shoving my boots on, I trudged outside. It was cold and getting colder but oddly, we hadn’t had any snow yet. I dreaded the thought of it, not knowing if the roads would be passable if the weather got worse. Pulling up the hood on my jacket, I ignored the rain and made three trips outside to gather more firewood. The thought of staying inside all day with those guns right beneath my feet sounded horrible, but going outside every few hours for more wood sounded worse.
I’d just brought in the last load, pulling the door closed behind me when I thought I caught the sound of a vehicle on the gravel outside. Every once in a while, if things were very quiet, I could catch the sound of cars on the road—but this was different. It was closer. Slower.
Fighting the urge to panic, I dropped the firewood and took off my jacket before walking over to the window. The rain was letting up but I still couldn’t see anyone. The sound seemed to be getting louder though. As I watched, two motorcycles came around the curve and everything inside me froze.
Then, a truck came into view and an SUV after that.
My hands shook as I strode toward the kitchen, wondering for a split second what to do. The phone and pistol were both sitting on the table.
How would a phone help you, Esther? Whoever those people are, they’re already here.
With a deep breath, I picked the pistol up from the table and checked the cylinder. Fully loaded. I’d never been so grateful for the one time my dad had paid attention to me, years ago showing me the different parts of the new revolver he’d bought, explaining how everything worked. Cocking the hammer back, I carried it with me as I threw open the door.