Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 95748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
She shifted slightly, feeling the ache in her legs and the hollow weakness in her stomach. “What’s your name, anyway?” she asked, her voice steady despite the tension in the air.
“You can call me Bob,” he said.
“Bob?”
He shrugged, the motion lazy. “Sure.”
“So, what’s your next move, Bob?”
He leaned back in the chair, the gun resting on his thigh. “I think I’m gonna call your father. Might as well get more money out of this. Then I’ll kill the guy who hired me.”
“Who hired you?”
Bob tilted his head as if considering. “Don’t know. It was anonymous. I deliver you, I get paid. But if the price is right, I could track them down.”
Emily narrowed her eyes. “Double-crossing everyone? So much for honor.”
He rolled his eyes. “Honor doesn’t pay the bills.”
“My father will pay to get me back.” She redistributed her weight subtly, testing her balance. If she could regain enough strength, she’d make her move.
Bob’s gaze flicked over her, assessing. “Yeah, I figured. Your family’s loaded.”
“So, who were the other two guys?”
“Just a couple of hired guns. I’ll pay them off once this is over.”
Good. That meant fewer threats to deal with. She just needed an opening. Her muscles coiled in anticipation, her illness forgotten beneath the sharp pulse of adrenaline that coursed through her veins. “Go for the bigger payout from my father.” She kept her tone even, eyes locked on his. She would strike the second he dropped his guard. If only she could get her damn feet to cooperate. Her toes tingled, but the numbness still clung to her calves like a weight.
Bob’s gaze drifted lazily over her, head tilting as if considering his options. “I guess if I’m not going to deliver you to whoever hired me, you and I might as well have some fun.”
Fun. The word made her stomach twist. Fun for her would be sinking her teeth into his jugular and holding on until he stopped moving. She forced a tight smile, tilting her head. “Oh, yeah? What did you have in mind?”
He shifted forward, elbows resting on his knees, gun still solid in his grip. The air in the room thickened as he leaned closer, eyes running over her as if seeing her for the first time.
A metallic scent clung to the air. Her blood mixed with the tang of gun oil and the rain-soaked earth from his boots. Emily swallowed against the weakness dragging at her limbs. Just a little longer. She could wait. She could strike when it counted.
She purposefully did not look at the gun.
He winked. “You are pretty.”
“Gee, thanks. I think you’re a colossal dickhead.” There was no reason to be nice. Not anymore.
He stood, eyes gleaming with something dark. “That’s just rude. Do I have to shoot you?”
“I’d prefer if you didn’t,” she replied evenly.
“Take off the pajamas.”
“No.” Emily ignored the throb of pain echoing through her kidneys. Her muscles coiled. Her pulse hammered.
He tilted his head and tapped the gun against his thigh. “I could shoot you in the leg. You don’t need that.”
“Yeah, but blood would get everywhere.”
His grin widened as if the thought amused him. “I kind of like blood.”
Emily clenched her jaw and braced herself. The moment he lowered that weapon, she would strike. Her breath hitched in her lungs, muscles preparing to spring.
The front door exploded inward with a deafening crack. Wood shards burst into the room, scattering across the dusty floor. A massive black wolf lunged through the splinters, eyes wild, teeth bared. It collided with Bob, driving him backward with bone-rattling force.
Jackson had found her.
Bob squeezed the trigger. The gun fired, the sound sharp and violent in the small space. Pain tore through Emily’s arm, hot and searing, sending her sprawling.
Her head struck the floor, stars bursting behind her eyes. Dazed, she turned her head just in time to see the wolf clamp its jaws around Bob’s throat, a vicious growl reverberating through the air. Blood sprayed across the room, dark and metallic.
Bob’s body hit the floor with a hollow thud.
“I wanted to do that,” she mumbled, her vision fading as darkness pulled her under again.
Chapter 14
Emily came to with a bright light shining in her eyes. She winced, lifting her hand. “Hey.”
“Sorry,” a soft voice said as the light disappeared. Light-green eyes in a heart-shaped face leaned closer. “How are you feeling?”
Emily blinked and looked around. She lay on a soft bed with the smell of bleach all around her. Bleach and a whiff of berries. “My head hurts,” she murmured.
“Oh, I bet.” The voice held a bit of humor. “You got clocked pretty good.”
Emily pushed herself into a sitting position, the room swimming around her. She steadied herself, focusing on the woman standing nearby. Did doctors use words like clocked? “You’re the doctor?”
“I’m one of them,” the woman replied. “Dr. Gwen Irondock. Everyone calls me Dr. Gwen. Nice to meet you.”