Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 105429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Carter went first but held my arm tight. When we crossed the few feet for the car, he stepped to the side and guided me inside with a hand over my head. He slid in next. I expected more guards to follow. There was room for three more, but was surprised when he shut the door. It was only the two of us. It wasn’t long until we started moving.
It didn’t seem like we had gone far when the car jerked to a stop.
My heart flew into my chest. Not again.
Unlike last time, he didn’t wait to hear any information from the front. As soon as the car braked, Carter reacted. He had been sitting next to me. I had taken a relaxing breath. A few of the knots in my stomach had just loosened when he flew out of the car before I could even comprehend what was happening.
As soon as I had, the air outside was filled with screams, gunshots, and shouts.
“Gun!” someone yelled.
Another screamed, “Run!”
The next second, I heard a stampede. People ran past the car. The thud of people being shoved came next. “Get out of here.”
Someone barked out, “Move away from there! Now!”
“Ahh!” a girl cried out. Another thud came and her scream cut off.
That was all it took. I scrambled out of the car. I didn’t want innocent people to get hurt because of me. When I opened the door, more people were running past. A guy almost ran into me. He caught himself, bounced off the car, and rotated in a circle around me. He kept running.
“Get in the car!”
I looked around. Some of the guards were positioned around me, but half of them were gone. I saw Mike in the distance. He was fighting someone. Where was Carter? Panic started to rise when I couldn’t see him. Then I yelled out, “Carter!”
“Move it—” someone cursed. A strangled sound came from him next and I whirled to see that one of the guards had grabbed his throat. The guy was lifted off the ground and tossed aside. “Hey!”
“Get going.” The guard pointed down the opposite direction. “Now.”
The guy stood, ready to argue, but saw the other two guards. He ran where he was told to go.
“Emma!”
I craned my neck. Theresa stood inside a doorway, not far from where the car had stopped. Noah was in front of her with a restraining hand across her stomach. He was scowling as he watched the herd of people in the streets.
Bang! Bang!
“Emma! Get over here.” Theresa waved me over frantically.
“No.” The guard closest to me grabbed my arm and started to push me back into the car. “Get inside, Miss Emma. Mr. Reed is coming back.”
“But,” I looked to my friends.
“It’s safer.” His hand tightened.
“Emma!”
I recognized the voice. Everything in me tightened with tension. Carter. He was there, running back to me and waving me to the side. When he saw I wasn’t doing what he wanted, he yelled next, “Matthew, get her inside now!”
A woman screamed behind me.
“Carter!” Noah stepped out from their doorway. “Our car took off.”
He waved them over. “Get in the car. Matthew, get her inside NOW!”
The grip on my arm doubled and I was lifted in the air. As I watched, Noah and Theresa started to cross towards us, but then I saw something else. Horror rose in my throat and my eyes bulged out. I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t do anything.
Carter was covering the distance at a breakneck speed, but someone stepped out of another doorway. He was too far away for the guards to grab him, and not close enough for Carter to tackle him.
Scott Graham lifted the gun in his hand. It was small, but he lifted it with ease. He had done it many times before. Instead of the flashy Casanova impression he had given me before, a cold mask gripped his features. He was like Carter, a killer. Then he turned the gun towards me.
Everything stopped.
My heart stopped beating. I stopped breathing.
“EMMA!” Theresa yelled. A bloodcurdling scream ripped from her throat next.
He saw me, aimed, and his eyes narrowed. It was coming. It was a matter of seconds.
I readied myself. I stared at him, dead in the eyes, and waited. I was going to die. I knew it in that moment, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.
The guard whirled around in that moment, but Scott could still see me. He moved his gun to the side and steadied his hand once more.
All the sudden, Carter was there. He snaked a hand around his neck. Scott stiffened, but it was too late. Carter grabbed a hold of the back of his neck and twisted. It was a clean movement, lethal. His neck snapped and he let go of the body. It dropped at his feet. Carter didn’t pause. He sprinted over it and was next to me seconds later. He took me from the guard. Before I was shoved inside, I looked over again. Two guards had followed Carter. They swooped down and each grabbed one end of the body. Scott was thrown in a car before us, and it raced off.