Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 60576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
“Who?” I say, trying to stay calm enough for him to tell me who the hell is doing this to me. “Who is doing this?”
He glances at the guard, who steps closer.
Come on. Just say it.
“I killed them on my own, there was nobody else, but that doesn’t mean other people didn’t know. They did. I had people who helped me cover it up.”
My heart skips a beat. “Who?”
My voice is clipped, and I’m trying really hard not to lose it with him.
“Two men, they were good to me, like my own sons. I helped them, and they helped me. But, things went wrong ... One of them wants revenge, and he’s going to use you to get it. You need to be careful, Mera.”
“Just tell me who it is!” I snarl.
“Caleb, his name is Caleb. Caleb Winters.”
C.W. – just like the initials.
“Where do I find him?”
His eyes dart back to the guard, who is watching intensely. “I don’t know, but I know someone who can help.”
“Well, get to it,” I mutter. “If you care at all about me, you’ll tell me what I need to know.”
“You need to go to the local biker club and ask for Wolfe Cross. He knows everything. He will help you.”
My entire world stops as my ears ring, and every sound around me seems to come to a complete stop. I can’t hear anything my father tells me after that, because his words just keep repeating over and over in my mind. Wolfe Cross. Wolfe Cross. I can’t believe what I’m hearing, I just can’t. Is he saying that all along, Wolfe has known my father?
That he has played dumb this entire time?
“Who is this Wolfe to you?” I manage to whisper, my body humming with a rush of pain and confusion.
“He’s a friend, I helped him a long time ago. I can’t tell you any more than that, but I can tell you that he is the only one who can find Caleb and stop all of this. Caleb has that girl, and Wolfe can find her and finish this.”
Reality slams me like a knife to the chest.
W.C.C.W – Wolfe Cross, Caleb Winters.
The initials on the dog tag.
The two boys in the photo.
Oh my god.
Wolfe was helping my father.
Vomit rises in my throat, and I press a hand to my chest, dropping the phone and leaping backward out of the chair. My father is yelling something on the other side of the glass, but I can’t focus on him. I can’t hear what he’s saying, and I don’t care to listen. The guard behind me takes hold of my arm and turns me toward the door.
I need to get out of here.
The walk down the hall is a blur, and the only sound I can hear is the excessive ringing in my ears. My brain is struggling to process what I just heard, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to focus.
Stepping outside of the prison, my knees wobble as I stumble into the parking lot.
I don’t see them, not at first, but when a flash stings my eyes, my heart jerks up. Two reporters are standing outside the prison, aiming their cameras right at me. Someone tipped them off, someone told them I was here. Someone has been watching me and now the entire world is about to know that I came to see my father.
They are going to assume I am here to get his help, because they will never see it for what it is.
“Mera Sloane, is this the first time you’ve seen your father?”
“What are you doing here, Mera? Is it because of the missing girl?”
“Do you have Nia? Do you know where she is?”
“What did he say to you, Mera?”
Pressing my hands over my face, I run toward the exit.
A motorcycle rumbling has my heart jerking up, and I see Zane on a large, black bike. How he knows I’m here, I don’t know, but I’ve never been more grateful to see anybody in my entire life. “Get on,” he yells, and I waste no time jumping onto the back of the bike and pulling on the helmet he unclips from the back.
Then, he takes off, getting me out of there.
The rest I will worry about when my brain decides to start working again.
The rest, I will process when I come out of this shock.
All along, Wolfe has known.
All along, Wolfe has lied.
I trusted him.
13
Zane doesn’t take me to the club, and I’m thankful for that.
If I saw Wolfe right now, I’m not certain what I’d do.
Right now, I need to process what I just heard. I need to let my body adjust to the fact that the one person I actually trusted has been lying to me this whole time. It all makes sense now, why he wanted me out of town, why he had to come with me on this search. It was all so he could keep the truth from me. He was hoping we would find Nia and I would leave town without another question.