Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 120513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 603(@200wpm)___ 482(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 603(@200wpm)___ 482(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
Within five minutes, they had the fucker loaded up in the back of the van, wrapped in tarps and hidden amongst various car parts from Dutch’s junkyard so anyone peering in the front windows wouldn’t see anything suspicious.
Danzig wasn’t a dead body yet. If it was up to Sig, it would take him a while to become one.
But that would have to wait. First, they were off to their next destination.
Entering Cara and Lyle Danzig’s house went as smoothly as the first. The only difference was that Deacon parked the rental down the street, told Syn to wait there until they texted her and then joined them.
They figured there would be a minimum of two adults in that house. Possibly three if the older son still lived at home.
Shade went in, did a quick sweep of the house and came back outside. He held up two fingers.
“Maya in there?” Dodge asked quietly.
“Yeah, sleepin’,” the younger brother answered under his breath.
Dodge nodded. “Think we need to get her out first, get her to Syn and then go back in and handle the rest.”
“How I wanna handle it might take a while,” Sig whispered in a bone-chilling, deadly tone.
“Ain’t gonna happen, brother,” Deacon told him. “Too fuckin’ risky. We’re gonna stick to the plan.”
“They need to learn a lesson,” Sig reminded Deke.
“Yeah, we’re gonna give them a lesson, but not the way you want it,” Dodge said. “Let’s not be stupid. We need to get the fuck outta this state ASAP. Especially with the cargo we’re haulin’.”
Even in the dark, Dodge could see Sig’s jaw shift sharply.
“Just gotta leave behind a clear message,” Dodge said. “The one we agreed on.”
“Didn’t agree to that,” Sig growled softly.
“The fuck you didn’t,” Deacon hissed.
Shade sighed and everyone shut up. “Gonna blow this before we even get inside?”
Dodge swore all of them took a collective breath, then blew out the stupid so they could focus.
“Now, let’s do it like we planned,” Deacon said. “Ready?”
They all nodded.
Once Shade quickly picked the lock to the rear door, they all followed him inside. Being a two-story, they figured all the bedrooms were up on the second floor and that was the direction Shade led them.
At the top of the steps, Shade pointed to one room with a closed door, then put his open hand up and out in front of his waist, indicating that was the room Maya was in.
He then pointed down the hall to another room with the door closed and held two fingers up again.
Everyone nodded in understanding.
Once Deacon, Sig and Shade quietly moved toward the room where the adults were, Dodge headed toward Maya’s room.
He took a last glance down the hallway, waited for his three brothers to disappear inside, then quickly entered Syn’s daughter’s room.
Thank fuck it had a nightlight so he could somewhat see her under the covers with one arm flung over her head.
He had no idea how to wake her without scaring the shit out of her. Or, worse, having her scream.
He also wanted to avoid giving her nightmares for the rest of her life.
After sitting on the edge of the bed, he softly said her name.
The little girl stirred but didn’t wake.
“Maya,” he whispered again and shook her shoulder gently. “Maya, I brought your mom to see you.”
Maya’s eyes flashed open and when she spotted Dodge, they went wide. Fuck.
“Don’t yell. I’m here with your mom. I promise. I’m not here to hurt you,” he assured her quickly.
The girl’s breath shuddered as she stared at him.
He quickly continued, keeping one ear open to whatever could be happening down the hall. So far, he wasn’t hearing shit. That was a good sign. “My name’s Dodge. I’m a friend of your mother. She’s waitin’ for you outside.”
“No, she isn’t.” Even through the shake of her voice, Maya’s attitude was unmistakable and much like Syn’s.
“She is. I promise. She came to get you. She loves you and wants you to come with her. You wanna see her? Know it’s been a long time. Bet you miss her.”
Maya nodded, her bottom lip tucked between her teeth.
Even in the dark, Dodge could see how much she looked like Syn, too. Thank fuck she didn’t look like that soon-to-be-dead motherfucker.
“You talk funny.”
“Yeah, don’t have an accent like you.”
“No, that’s not it.”
Dodge pressed his lips together for a second, waited until the urge to laugh passed, then asked, “You wanna come with me?”
Maya shook her head. “I’m not supposed to go with strangers.”
Dodge blew out a breath. Shit. That was normally a good thing, but not so much in this case. “Okay. That’s true, you shouldn’t. How ‘bout if your mom comes in here and gets you, instead?”
Maya tilted her head and pushed herself to a seat. “Is it really my mom?”
“Yeah, it’s really her, baby girl. She’s been tryin’ to get you back. She really misses you, too. She has a broken heart right now only seein’ you will fix.”