Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 117494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
“They’re probably in Fallen Crest. Tell Machete to go north.”
“Roussou?”
I shook my head. “No. We steer clear of there.”
“Callyspo’s a ghost town, so the next town up is Crete Lake.”
I nodded. That sounded fine. “Have him book a cabin—no hotel Kali could find her sister at.”
“You think she would do that?”
Roadie had fallen silent, listening to Stripes and me.
I noted that, and gave Stripes a nod. “Yeah. I do.”
I reached for my keys.
“What are you doing now?” Stripes asked.
“I’m going to try to head Kali off, get in her head and send her home.” Those were lofty goals, and from the grin on Stripes’ face, he knew it too. I gave him a slight nod before starting my bike and heading off.
A part of me hated that Kali was here, but another part didn’t. The part where my dick got hard the second I saw her—that part was thrilled she was here.
I was going to let both parts out to play once I found her.
12
KALI
I was coming out of the room when a hand on my stomach pushed me back inside.
“Wha—” Alarm and fear spiked in my chest, and my blood seemed to freeze, until I looked up and recognized the face staring back down at me. He had a hood pulled up over his head, over his cut, but I could see up close and personal the fury he kept a tight handle on.
Shane King. Though he felt more like Ghost right now.
He shut the door behind him, locked it, and threw the deadbolt—all before I managed to think maybe I shouldn’t be letting this happen.
I made a move to get past him, but he growled, “I think not.” His arm wrapped around me. It was like hitting a cement wall, and he walked me farther into the room. When I felt the bed behind my knees, he shoved me down. My legs folded. I was dumbfounded by how quickly it had happened.
Then he began moving around the room. He checked the window, the patio door, and the door that connected to the adjoining room. He waited, listening, but there were no sounds.
It hit me then. He thought Aly and Harper were in there.
I almost started laughing.
“What?” he asked. His voice was soft, and I couldn't suppress a shiver as I felt it wrap around me in the room.
“This is a motel. A two-star motel. You think I’d bring my friends here?”
“Where are they?”
“At some fancy hotel. New. Built on a golf course.” This motel was the outlier in this town, like how I felt. Fallen Crest was rich. I couldn’t figure how big it was, but when I spotted a Lamborghini and a Ferrari at the same intersection, I knew this town wasn’t anything like Frisco. Millionaires lived here. “This place is nuts.”
“What do you mean?” He went back to the front door, checking the locks before looking in the bathroom. There was no window there. No way out.
He came back, and I shrugged.
“There’s a dying town thirty minutes away from here, and then there’s this one. Doesn’t seem right that they let that town get the way it is. I saw the bones of it. It wasn’t big, I bet, but there was a school. Kids used to be bused there. Where do the kids go now?”
“Here?” He frowned. “Who gives a fuck?”
“I do.”
“We want Frisco the way it is.”
I almost snorted. Figures. Good route for drug transportation. But I didn’t say anything, just nodded. “Why are you here?”
“Why are you here?”
“You know why I’m here.” I paused, and then asked again, because it wasn’t making sense. “Why are you here? I know you. I know my sister. I’d think you’d want me to find her and take her back immediately.”
A hint of a smile showed, but it was gone within a second. “You’re overestimating your ability to talk sense into Claudia. She’s exactly the way I remember her from school.”
Right.
The air in the room chilled. I didn’t like the reasons that came to mind about why he might be in this room with me. My gut clenched. This was about Connor. Had to be.
They’d showed up because of him. Shane was all about him. Any other reason, and he’d handle this differently—whatever this was. He wanted Claudia gone so… Did Claudia know something about why they were involved with Connor in the first place?
“Not like you.”
My mouth went dry. “What do you mean?”
“High school. How you looked out for Connor, endured your sister. How you took care of those friends of yours too. Took one look at you, knew I wanted you.”
“What?”
“Yeah.” He was looking right at me. “Stayed away because of your brother, but gotta admit, you’re the reason I first approached him in class.”
“What?!”
He grinned, it was so faint. “He took one look at me looking at you and told me to keep my pants zipped or he’d take a pencil to my dick.” He snorted. “Gloves has a crazy side. Think that’s why he and I clicked so well, and kept clicking even after he went to prison.”