Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 61900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
I know he won’t answer, but at least he might read it and calm down with time. I put my phone on the kitchen counter and go and check on Star. My crying turns into soft sobs, and I sit down on her floor, burying my face in my hands. I cry. I cry until I can’t cry any longer, then I text Delilah and ask her to come over and watch Star so I can go and find Hugh.
She arrives right away and hugs me before taking over so I can go out and try to fix this mess.
I don’t want Hugh to hate me, more than that, I want the chance to explain. I want us to be able to fix this, something.
I go the club first, but he isn’t there. Riggs told me he might be at a local bar, so I make my way in that direction. He isn’t there, either.
Frustrated, desperate and frantic, I keep trying to call him. I’m walking away from the bar and back to my car when someone comes out of the dark night and grabs me, pulling me into an alley. It takes me a moment to register what’s happening, one minute I was walking and then I’m being dragged away. When I do register, I try to pull my arms out of the grip of what is clearly a man. He’s too strong and when my body is slammed against a brick wall, I’m suddenly very aware of the mistake I just made.
Coming out alone was the dumbest thing I could have done.
“Let me go,” I growl, shoving my hands into the chest of the man standing in front of me.
It’s dark and I can’t see his face, but I can feel how close he is, and I know this isn’t going to end well if I don’t figure out how to get the hell out of here. I raise my foot as high as I can, stomping down on his foot only to learn he’s wearing boots. Heart racing, I start clawing, scratching, and screaming. Anything to get him to release me or to bring someone else’s attention to what’s happening right now.
His hand slams over my mouth and something cold and hard presses against my temple.
No.
Oh, no.
Please.
I scream into his hand, but it makes little difference.
“Here’s how this is going to go, you’re going to go to your little club and you’re going to tell them to back the fuck off. If they don’t, what happens the next time I get my hands on you will be far worse than this.”
Than this?
What’s this?
He steps back and for a minute, I stand in confused silence. Then, I feel the gun press to my stomach. Everything after that happens in slow motion, it’s hard to explain the fear that rushes through me and yet my body is unable to move. The man pulls the trigger, the gun is so quiet nobody would even know what’s happening.
At first, I don’t feel anything.
It’s like shock and fear have made my body numb.
Then, when the warm trickling of blood can be felt running down my skin, does reality kick in. Pain, red hot pain, unlike anything I’ve ever felt in my short life washes over my body. I fall to my knees, gasping and gurgling as I try to scream. The man disappears, as if he were never here. My hands move to the wound in my stomach and immediately they’re soaked with blood.
I can’t scream.
I can’t move.
I can’t think.
The pain is all consuming and my vision begins to blur.
With a spluttered cough, blood fills my mouth.
I’m going to die.
This is how I’m going to die.
I cry out, but my cries are gurgled. My voice is gone. My soul has been crushed. I lay on the ground wondering if it’s going to hurt. Death.
Will it be quick?
Then, Star and Hugh’s faces flash in my mind. Their beautiful smiles. The way they light up the room.
I can’t give up.
I can’t.
I roll to my side with a gargled scream, the blood is coming out too fast and everything is blacking in and out. I reach for my purse, which has fallen to the floor. With every single ounce of strength left in me, I pull out my cell phone and I dial Riggs.
“Maggie, did you find Hugh?”
“Riggs,” I splutter, the sound almost demonic.
“Maggie? Hey. What’s going on? Maggie, are you good?”
“Shot. I got shot. Near the bar. Ple...”
Darkness takes me.
And the world goes silent.
22
“Maggie, hey.”
My mind spins, coming in and out of consciousness.
“Maggie, can you hear me?”
Voices.
Distant.
“Maggie, if you can hear me squeeze my hand.”
A warm hand in mine. I want to squeeze it.
My body isn’t working.
What is happening?
“Maggie, you’re safe. If you can hear me, you’re safe.”
Safe.
Safe from what?
My mind swims and as my eyes flicker open, bright lights blind me. I blink and squint, wanting to reach up and rub them but my hands won’t move. It’s like I’m in a dream, and someone is talking to me, trying to get me to wake up from it.