Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75408 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75408 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Gannon threw up his hands to make him stop talking. “Wait, wait, hold on a second! Jack isn’t even in town anymore.”
“I think he is,” I said. “I think he’s been here the whole time, waiting. I also think he started the fire at the beach house.”
“Holy fuck,” Gannon said softly. “What makes you think that?”
I looked at my brother, then back onto the road. “You forget what I did in the Navy, Gannon. My job was intelligence. A week after the fire, I got tired of waiting for the police to figure it out, so I took matters into my own hands and had someone hack into the camera footage on the pier the morning of the fire. There was a man walking on the beach who looked a hell of a lot like Jack, but I couldn’t be sure. Then I remembered that one of the houses farther down the beach also has security cameras. They finally got back to me yesterday—and their footage showed the same man walking away from my beach house the morning of the fire. At first I thought I was just letting my emotions get in the way, but I was going to talk to Sutton about it after dinner tonight anyway. After this? I’m positive it was Jack. He’s been here in Seaside the whole time, just waiting to make his move.”
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Braxton snarled.
A similar growl sounded from the back of my throat. “Not if I get to him first.”
We pulled up to the ruins of the beach house, and I’d barely put the truck in park before we all piled out. Braxton had never been in the military, but he copied Gannon and me as we got down low and made our way toward the fishing hut. I could see a light shining from under the door. The windows all faced out toward the water, so even if the curtains were drawn back, no one would see us coming.
In the distance, I heard police sirens.
“Fuck. They’re going to alert him,” I whispered.
Gannon put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “I’m on it.”
He dropped back, and I knew he was calling dispatch to tell them not to come in with sirens on.
Braxton and I kept making our way to the fishing hut. I crept up along the side and peeked in through a crack in the curtains. My heart dropped at the sight before me.
Sutton was on the bed, and she appeared to be…out of it. She was having a hard time sitting up and keeping her eyes open.
Turning back to Braxton, I motioned for him to go to the front door and I’d go around to the back. I couldn’t see where Jack was, and I had no idea if he was armed or not.
As we both made our way around the building, I heard vehicles pulling up. I probably only had a few seconds to do this before they came running in with guns drawn—and crazy-ass Jack might do something horrible to Sutton in the chaos.
Once I got to the back door, I let out a whistle that sounded like a bird. Braxton replied twice in return. Thank God! He remembered the silly cops and robbers game we used to play as kids. I’d whistle back twice when I was ready, we would count to five, then we’d both enter.
Whistling twice, I counted as my heart pounded in my ears.
One.
I’m going to kill Jack.
Two.
I’m coming, Sutton.
Three.
Please be okay.
Four.
I’m here, sweetheart.
Five.
We kicked in both of the doors, which caused the police to start running down the pier, yelling out. None of that mattered—because the first thing I saw was Jack sitting in a chair, a gun on the table next to him.
I knew what Braxton would do first—go to his sister.
I dove toward Jack and knocked him to the ground, along with the table.
“I’ve got the gun!” Braxton called out as I wrestled to get Jack’s arms behind his back.
I looked up when I heard a loud commotion and saw my brother running in with three cops behind him.
“Get Sutton out of here!” I shouted to Gannon.
Braxton handed the police the gun while I held Jack. Now that more people had entered, he suddenly stopped fighting me.
One of the officers walked over to me and bent down. “Sir…sir, we’ve got this now. You can let him go.” I looked at the cop, and he simply nodded. “I’ve got him, sir.”
Focusing back on Jack, I leaned down and whispered in his ear, “You better hope they lock you up somewhere far away where I can’t get to you—because otherwise I’m going to kill you.”
“He’s threatening me! Did you hear him threaten me?!” Jack called out as I put my hand on his head and pushed myself up, muffling his words.