Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 74655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
“And what information are you looking for?”
“N-N-N-Names. Places. Phone numbers.”
“And if they catch you?”
“I t-t-t-t-tell them I’m homeless and I was looking for money.”
“And you never what?”
“Tell them you’re my father.”
“And if they capture you, or get suspicious?”
My bottom lip trembles. “It’s my o-o-o-own stupid fault.”
“Exactly.” He nods, releasing my shoulder. “It’s your own stupid fault. Be smart, that’s what this family is all about. You get smart, you do the job, I might keep you around. You don’t, I’ll make you wish you were never born. And trust me, Charlene, you don’t want that. I’m a very mean man.”
I know.
I know you are.
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?” he growls.
“Yes, Sir.”
He nods. “Get out. Keep practicing. Tomorrow, you go to your first house. And remember, Charlene, we don’t have time for tears, or sniveling. Get tough, or I’ll make you that way.”
I swallow and turn, rushing out the door.
I’m afraid for tomorrow, so deathly afraid.
I don’t want to do it, I don’t, but I have no choice.
He’s going to make me.
He’s going to turn me mean, just like him.
Just. Like. Him.
-4-
NOW – KODA
“How’s it goin’?”
I glance over at Charlie, who is sitting on the side of the porch, legs dangling off. She’s staring off into the darkness, not a care in the world. It’s becoming more and more apparent to me that she’s not afraid of much. I know why. I know the life she’s led. Nothing out here could frighten her more than what she’s already seen. I’d say I feel pity, but I don’t. Everyone has a story—you either choose to embrace it or let it eat you alive.
Charlie is strong.
I’ll give her that much.
But she doesn’t need pity.
She needs to give me information.
I need to end this.
For more reasons than she’ll ever know.
“First night, already fuckin’ long,” I mutter to Malakai on the phone.
“She behavin’?”
“She’s mouthy but not difficult. Won’t talk.”
“Tell her how important it is that she talks?”
“’Course I fuckin’ did. She thinks if she talks, we’ll get killed.”
Malakai hums. “Whoever is after her she obviously knows is deadly.”
Yeah.
Fucking deadly.
A deadly secret.
One she’s holding close to her chest.
We all have our own demons. Our own secrets. And our own battles.
I glance at Charlie again.
No doubt our demons have danced. More than once.
“We’re no closer down here,” Malakai tells me. “We’ve got men out everywhere, tryin’ to find more information. Treyton is dead, which means we need to find new leads. His threat to our club is now gone, but whatever happened when he had Charlie, whatever information he shared, has created a whole new world of problems. Because now she’s being hunted.”
Hunted.
Yeah. Fucking hunted.
“Yeah,” I grunt. “I’ll keep lookin’. I find a lead, I’ll let you know. All we have, so far, is her name. Until she talks, that’s all we have to go on.”
“I’ve got people keepin’ ears to the ground, tryin’ to get word on the street, whispers. Someone big is out there, runnin’ this show, and whoever it is wants Charlie. My guess, it’s a family member, or an ex-boyfriend.”
Right.
“Either way,” I say, clenching my fist, “we’ll get to the bottom of it.”
I fucking hate this.
My demons are eating me from the inside out.
And I can’t tell a damned soul about it.
“Yeah, we will. Few of us comin’ up on the weekend, go over information, have a meeting. Do Charlie good to have female company, no doubt she’ll be sick of you by then.”
“Send a fuckin’ woman up, Malakai. If I can’t get out of this fuckin’ hell hole, I need to get my dick wet.”
Malakai chuckles. “Always about the pussy.”
“Comin’ from someone who has regular pussy.”
He grunts. “True. I’ll send Sugar up. She knows the way. She’s got a sweet ass. She’ll do the job.”
“Don’t give a fuck who it is, so long as she’s got a useable pussy.”
Malakai snorts. “Harsh, brother.”
“Like you haven’t had the exact thought,” I grunt.
“Too right. I’ll send her up.”
“Good. Check in later.”
“Be nice to that girl, Koda. She did a good thing for our club.”
Yeah.
“Later.”
I hang up the phone and crack another beer, staring at Charlie again. She’s deep in thought, hands resting on her lap, staring into the darkness with no expression on her face. Scared? She should be. A hit like that, people will come after her, at all costs. It won’t take them long to track her down. That’s what I’m here for, but I can only hide her for so long.
Eventually, it’ll catch up to her.
And she’ll be standing on the edge of hell, more than willing to fucking jump to escape it.
~*~*~*~
THEN – KODA
“Who the fuck are you workin’ for, Braxton.”
Arms crossed, I glare at my brother who is sitting in his hospital bed, attached to more tubes than I’d like, staring at me with a pale, sunken face and a body that is far too thin for his build. How the fuck did I get so wrapped up in my own life that I didn’t notice he was sinking so heavily? What the fuck is wrong with me?