Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 78534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
“Just shoot him!” Victor’s hostage snaps. That must be Cooper.
But they don’t. “Where you gonna go, Kane?” Ghost asks. “There’s no way outta here.”
“If you want this guy alive, leave the women here and back the fuck off! I’ll send him back to you when I know I’m safe!”
“The helicopter,” I whisper, but nobody is paying attention.
Cooper struggles, but it doesn’t do him much good. “Shoot him!”
A biker with long black hair has his gun trained on Victor. He looks pissed. “You think we’re stupid? Hand him over first and we’ll think about it.”
I’ve seen Victor angry plenty of times, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen him afraid. He slowly steps backwards through the destroyed window, forcing Cooper to stumble after him or slit his own throat by resisting.
Anne is crying. “Daddy?”
“You won’t leave me with them, would you? Give them what they want, baby!” Marissa pleads.
I feel like I’m the only one that can see him for who he is, a horrible selfish monster that would sacrifice all of us if it saved his own skin. I stretch up on my toes to whisper to Tex without everyone else hearing. If things go wrong, I don’t want to give Victor even more reasons to punish me later. “The helicopter! There are stairs behind him.”
“He’s going for the chopper!” Tex yells.
Everything happens at once. Victor swears and drags Cooper up the stairs as Tex and Ghost grab me and Anne, pulling us away from the fight and keeping us from running after him. Marissa actually manages to do something for once, and brings her hands down on Jackal’s injury, distracting him just long enough for her to make a run for it.
“Daddy!” Anne screams.
“Does he know how to fly that thing?” Ghost asks.
I nod. “He doesn’t usually fly it himself, but has his license.”
“Fuck.”
The unmistakable sound and force of the rotors engaging just above us floods the terrace. Glass and debris goes flying and anyone still outside has to duck for cover. I watch in horror as the helicopter starts to ascend, swinging back and forth dangerously.
“What the fuck is he doing?” Tex asks.
“Oh fuck,” Ghost breathes out. He grabs Anne, who is hysterical at this point, and pulls her back into the house.
The helicopter is swinging because Marissa didn’t make it fast enough. She’s trying to climb in, but Victor won’t wait. She’s still hanging from one of the skids as it finally clears the roof.
But not for long.
“Don’t watch.” Tex curls me into his chest, blocking me from seeing her fall.
It doesn’t block the sound of her scream as she loses her grip, or the sickly thud of her hitting the lawn.
7
JESSICA
“Where are you taking us?” I twist in Tex’s arms as he marches me out of the house. I manage to land a good stomp on his boot, but I think it hurts me more than him. I wanted this to be my ticket out, but not if it means just being someone else’s prisoner, and not if it puts Anne at risk.
“Easy, honey. You’re coming with us one way or another, and this’ll go a lot smoother if you stay quiet,” he says with a deep chuckle that slides right through me. “Look at your little friend over there. She’s watching you to see how to react. The more you fight me, the more scared she’s gonna get. If you keep calm, she won’t panic and that’s safer for everyone.”
“Is that a threat?”
He blows out a frustrated sigh. “It’s reality. We can’t let you go and we can’t stay here. Thank her daddy for that. He’s got our guy and we have you.”
I shiver, partly from the cold but mostly from the thought of what’s going to happen when Victor decides to cut his losses. Anne is his daughter, he’ll save her even if it’s just to save face, but how important am I to him really? Not very. He didn’t even bother to try and help his own girlfriend.
No tears come when I think of Marissa lying cold on the lawn, but it leaves a sour taste in the back of my mouth. She was horrible, but she trusted him to care at least a little.
“Mount up! This place is dust in ten!” Hellfire yells. “You know your routes. Follow your team lead.”
All the bikers seem to know what to do, breaking into smaller groups as they go to their motorcycles. Riot is holding Anne off to the side. Her wide, terrified eyes are locked on me.
“Jess? What’s happening?” she shouts.
“Keep her calm,” Tex whispers in my ear.
“Th—They’re going to take us somewhere safe and um…”
“We’ll contact Kane for the trade,” he offers.
“And they’ll talk to your dad about fixing all of this. It’s going to be okay. I promise.” More softly, I whisper to Tex, “Please don’t make me a liar.”