Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 98398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Ten minutes later, we were pulling up to the building, and the stoop was surprisingly absent of neighborhood thugs. I didn’t have time to think about that. Hopefully, someone else finally reported her slumlord. I hadn’t found the time and didn’t consider it a priority since she was staying in the safe house.
I ran up the stairs, heading straight toward Eddie’s apartment. The door had been replaced but was unlocked, so I pushed my way in. It was empty.
Her stuff was still lying around, and there was a large black garbage bag in the middle of the room. It looked like she had been shoving clothes inside of it. I made a mental note to buy the poor woman some actual luggage when I got her back. And I would be getting her back.
“Who are you?” a feminine voice asked behind me.
I turned around to see a short, pretty woman with dark hair pulled into a high ponytail on top of her head.
“Harrison,” I said. “Who are you?”
“Are you the one she was seeing? The Neanderthal who threw her over his shoulder like some kind of caveman and put her up in a swanky apartment by the park?”
I nodded, not really feeling the need to explain my actions to some random girl in the hallway. “Do you know where she went?”
“Some guys came and took her. Two men dressed in dirty clothes with thick accents came and carried her off.”
“You saw them? Where did they take her? Why didn’t you stop them?” I couldn’t sit still. The violent mix of fear and rage flooded my veins, and I had to move.
I paced around the small room, running my fingers through my hair, pulling it at the ends, needing some type of outlet other than yelling at this poor girl.
“I didn’t stop them because I’m not stupid.” She rolled her eyes before leveling a bored expression at me. “Eddie kicked off one of her shoes, making sure it hit my door so I would see the men who took her. I didn’t call the police because I figured you would be here in a matter of minutes and look, just like magic, poof! Here you are.”
“How did you know I was coming?”
“Because Eddie is my bestie, and she tells me everything. From what she says, I think you are an overbearing asshole, but she likes you a lot. And the one thing you can always count on with overbearing assholes is, they have a protective streak. Who the fuck else would have her arrested for dating another man?”
“Why would she kick off her shoe?” I didn’t have time to address any of the shit she said. I knew Eddie had to consider her a friend, and she’d given me enough information to go on. Still, none of this was making any sense.
“There is this old story about a female reporter who was investigating the mob. She told her brother that if she were ever abducted, she would try to leave a shoe behind so they would know what had happened to her. She was abducted and left a shoe.”
“Did they ever find the reporter?” I asked, not sure why the answer felt so important at the moment.
“That reporter didn’t have the district attorney personally looking for her.” I wasn’t sure if the look in her eyes was confidence or a challenge. Either way, it helped keep me focused.
“What more can you tell me about the men that took her?” I asked, staring her down and meeting her glare.
She gave me a single nod like she approved of my determination.
“I can tell you there were two of them. One was a redhead. They both had thick Irish accents, and they got into a new black sedan. No license.”
“What do you mean by no license? You didn’t get their license plate number? How could you not have gotten their license plate number?” I was yelling and rambling, but it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was getting Eddie back.
“No, I didn’t get their license plate number because they didn’t have one. There was no license plate, front or back, and there was nothing posted in the windows.”
“Still, you should have called the police. At least they would have been able to chase them down faster.”
“I doubt it.” She shrugged. “You arrived maybe five minutes after they left. The police don’t respond to calls in this neighborhood very quickly.”
I nodded, still pacing the small room, trying to figure out what my next steps would be. There had to be something I wasn’t thinking of. I needed help and I needed it immediately.
“You seem awfully calm about this.” I looked at Eddie’s supposed friend, who was casually leaning against the door.
“The way I figure it, Eddie will be fine as soon as you do whatever it is they want. She doesn’t have anything they could want or need. She doesn’t even have the power to be a blip on their radar. So this isn’t about her. It’s about you. They hurt her, they lose leverage over you. Ergo, this is all your fault, and you will get her back unscathed, or the guys who took her will be the least of your problems.”