Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 93002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
“You know what’s funny,” he said in a conversational tone that seemed out of place, considering he’d just threatened to shoot us. “When I locked you in that root cellar, I wasn’t trying to kill you. I just figured I could stick you down there long enough for you to violate the will, lose your inheritance, and get banished.” He shrugged. “That seemed like enough of a prize to me. You know, just a step up from decapitating your Barbies.”
The light in his eyes when he said that last part let me know he’d enjoyed every minute of tormenting me when I was a child.
“But then,” he went on, “Griffen said you would have died of exposure. I thought it would bother me, the idea of killing you. I mean, you are my sister, technically. But it didn’t. Not really. If anything, I was disappointed you didn’t die. The money would be nice, but I do pretty well working for Sawyer Enterprises. If I can’t have Alan Buckley’s fortune,” he smirked and raised the gun again, “then I might as well just get rid of you. A quick trip off the edge of the cliff and—boom—problem solved.”
“You can’t just shoot her,” Forrest said, his voice filled with disbelief.
“Oh no,” Brax said with a roll of his eyes, “I’m going to shoot both of you. Obviously.” He raised his other hand and braced the pistol.
Forrest shifted as if planning to shove me behind him or out of the way. A crack sounded through the air. I lurched, my knees going out from under me. I didn’t feel any pain, but would I? The movies always made it look like people got shot and didn’t notice for a few seconds.
Forrest and I both hit the ground. I rolled to my knees, scanning myself and searching Forrest for a sign of injury.
There was nothing. Had Brax missed?
Frantic, I glanced over to see Brax wavering on his feet, his mouth open with an O of surprise, his eyes fixed on the edge of the woods. A bright red circle blooming on his chest, he fell to his knees with a thud and pitched forward, the gun spinning out of his hand to rest in the grass.
“Stay down,” Forrest whispered.
Callum Leary strode from the woods, a gun in his hand very much like the one Brax had pointed at us a moment before.
“I was tired of listening to him talk,” Callum said, coming to a stop in front of us. “Annoying little shit.”
“Is he dead?” I asked, looking at Brax lying prone in the grass.
“If he’s not, he will be soon enough,” Callum said, sounding mostly disinterested in Brax.
I should have been scared of his bored tone. He’d shot my brother. But at that moment, I was just grateful he’d stopped Brax from killing us.
“Now that he’s out of the way,” Callum said, “I’ll take the account numbers and any passwords your father left you. And given that I had to come all the way out here and save your life, I won’t be cutting you in.”
“There isn’t any money,” I said for what felt like the millionth time. “I wish there was, but—
“I heard the story you told the shithead.” Callum’s dark eyes studied Forrest, then me, as he processed what we’d said. Finally, he shook his head. “I’m not buying it. All this work, and it was a game? No way. I’m a businessman, so let’s do business. You give me the money, and I let you keep your lives. I think that’s fair.”
“It would be,” Forrest said, “if we had anything to give you.”
“Try again,” Callum said, closing the distance between us, lifting the pistol, and aiming at Forrest. “I’m going to count to three—”
“Don’t bother,” a new voice cut in.
My adrenaline was pumping so hard that I had a hard time processing what was going on. I strained my eyes. The voice was familiar, but I couldn’t see behind me from my position on the ground.
“Who the fuck are you?” Callum demanded, shifting the gun to point at the newcomer.
I turned to see Emmett Blake standing behind us, a very big gun in his hand.
“Emmett?” I asked. “What are you… How…” I couldn’t find the right words.
“He was tracking you, but he didn’t know we were tracking him.” Emmett raised one eyebrow a fraction at Callum. “You’re good at leaving trackers. You might want to get better at looking for them.”
“Fair.” Callum Leary stepped back, dropping the gun to his side. “My men?” he asked Emmett.
“Neutralized,” Emmett said simply.
“Meaning?” Callum pressed.
“Meaning they’re alive, but they won’t be able to help you.”
Callum gave a short nod. “Then we’ll talk later,” he said to Forrest and me.
“No, you won’t,” Emmett cut in, his gun still trained on Callum. “They weren’t lying. There isn’t any money.” Without taking his eyes off Callum, he continued. “We dug deep, and there’s no record of any accounts created around the time Alan Buckley acquired the Vitellius. It looks like he may have reinvested the income from his first startup in one that failed a year later. There isn’t anything to find. If you’re smart, you’ll go home and spread the word that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow had chocolate coins. There’s nothing for you here.”