Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 123155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
“What does red mean?”
His eyes met mine. “They’re in the house.”
Then he swung the door closed and the darkness surrounding me was absolute.
Slowly, I inhaled through my nose, ignoring the way my skin crawled. It was just darkness, the absence of light. I’d been in the dark before. It wasn’t anything that I couldn’t handle.
They were in the house. They were in the house. They were in the house.
The words played over and over in my head as Olive stirred and I began to rock back and forth.
It was happening again. I was hiding again. Just like the first time. Just like the last time.
I flinched as a loud thump came from somewhere in the house.
It was happening again.
I began to hum as more thumping and thudding and crashing reached my ears.
It was happening again.
Something slammed downstairs, shaking the floor I was sitting on.
It was happening again.
Memories I’d tried to bury flashed through my mind. Rose’s wide eyes as she stood frozen. The weight of her as I dragged her away. The feeling of bullets hitting the tree against my back. The feel of her fingernails digging into my arms. The burn of a bullet passing so close to my shoulder that it cut a hole in my t-shirt and left a welt on my skin.
Gunshots.
I couldn’t figure out if they’d been part of my memory, or if I’d actually heard them.
It was happening again.
I rocked faster. Hummed louder. Olive began to squirm against my hold on her.
Footsteps overhead.
Then, like someone flipped a switch, there was nothing.
No fear, no memories, no fight.
Blissful, nothing.
Chapter 10
Mark
I memorized her face, the fear in her eyes and the tension in her jaw and the way her lips had flattened into a thin line as she braced herself. Then, I closed the trap door between us and took a few precious seconds to make sure that the seam in the carpet was invisible. After I knew she wouldn’t be found if the worst happened, I was on the move.
I didn’t have time to get dressed, but I threw on a black hoodie over my bare chest, hoping for at least a little concealment considering the way my pasty-as-fuck skin practically glowed in the dark. The light in the closet went out and I let out a breath, knowing that Wilson had cut the power. I hadn’t heard anyone else moving around, which I expected, and I had to assume that everyone knew what was happening.
I didn’t need sight to grab a pistol from my bag and quickly add a suppressor. There was no need to scare Cecilia even more with sounds of gunfire. Then, just in case, I pocketed my switchblade. I’d had the thing since I was a kid, and while it wasn’t something I’d had to use often, it worked in a pinch.
I quietly made my way to the door and opened it wide, immediately seeing a shadow in the darkness.
“Woody,” Casper breathed.
“All set?” I asked. His shadow nodded.
“Cam’s stayin’ up here in case one of ’em gets past us.”
“Won’t happen,” I murmured. Then I shut my mouth and led him to the top of the stairs.
If I knew my team, they were already positioned around the first floor, and I listened for any whisper of noise that would tell me where the intruder had entered the house. For Cecilia’s sake, I hoped that we could end this shit quickly and quietly.
As we reached the bottom of the stairs, a lanky shadow emerged on our left and I lifted my hand to keep Casper from hitting him.
“Rock and roll,” Wilson breathed, his shadow becoming clearer as he stepped closer. Then he started singing, the sound barely audible.
Ignoring him, I took the lead as we made our way toward the entryway. The front door was slightly cracked, and I let out a slow breath as I moved in that direction. The living room was the only place between me and the door, and I really fucking hoped that the motherfucker was in there. If he wasn’t, that meant he was somewhere behind us.
Wilson went low and I went high as we cleared the room.
“Shit,” Casper said under his breath.
We spun back toward the front door and I silently closed it and slid the deadbolt home. Leaving it open had either been sloppy or easy access for whoever he’d left outside, and I sure as fuck wasn’t going to make it easy for them to send in reinforcements.
Just as we’d rounded the corner and hit the dining room, a flash of light came from my right and I swore as the bullet hit my shoulder and knocked me back a step.
“Mine,” Casper said, returning fire. The thud of the body hitting the floor sounded at nearly the same time as his gunshot.
“Kitchen,” Wilson said, taking the lead. We followed him, and found Lu on the floor and Forrest slicing the throat of another man.