Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Theo released a heavy sigh. “Just…be careful, River.”
River gave him a clipped nod then walked out.
River gripped at the steering wheel where he sat tucked back just off the two-lane road. The area was wooded and secluded, pines and oaks hugging the road, their spiked tips disappearing into the heavy clouds that hung low above.
He’d only counted three cars that had passed traveling either direction in the hour he’d been sitting there.
A river snaked through to the east of him, and he kept his attention focused on the high, suspended bridge that crossed the river, prepared for any sight of the silver Lexus sedan he was waiting for.
This was going to be quick. Make the transfer and get them the hell out of there. Time sensitive. The piece of shit was away for a business trip, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t keeping tabs on the woman.
Men like him always did.
When he heard the distant sound of an engine approaching, River sat upright and peered through the windshield. He was frustrated as fuck that he couldn’t see a thing around the trees.
Finally, a car wound the corner on the other side and came into view a hundred feet or so before the suspended bridge.
A silver car.
Anticipation lined his bones, and he sat forward even farther, squinting to try to make out the emblem on the car.
Only he realized the car was flying. Flying fast as it hit the bridge. Trepidation coiled through him when he saw there was another car behind it, some kind of black SUV, speeding just as fast. The driver of the SUV swerved into the oncoming lane, trying to pull up to the side of the silver car.
“Fuck,” River spat, and he grabbed his gun where he had it hidden on the floorboards.
Theo was right.
This job was about to get messy.
He unlatched his door and started moving, running that direction along the line of the trees.
The black SUV swerved again, and the silver Lexus veered to the right, coming up close to the edge, before it swerved back to the left. It bashed against the SUV, metal sheering, and it sent the Lexus sailing back the other direction.
“Fuck, no!” River shouted it like he could stop what he could already see playing out in his mind. The driver had no fucking experience to be driving like that.
He hit the right barricade, sparks flying from the metal grating against the car.
He overcorrected, and the tires squealed as he cut left. So sharp that he cut across the left lane behind the SUV and went straight for the left barricade.
The low metal barrier wasn’t enough to keep it in. He blew right through the barricade.
River’s heart toppled to his stomach when he saw the car fly over the side and into the river below. The SUV skidded to a stop, whipping around and stopping for the flash of a second before the driver gunned it, flying back in the direction they’d come.
River ran at an all-out sprint, fumbling down the bank. The tail end of the car stuck up, and he dove in.
Freezing cold water swallowed him, but he swam with all he had. He got to the back door and busted the glass with his gun. He managed to get the door open, and he gulped for air before he ducked under the water.
His eyes were wild as he struggled to process. To see what he could do. How he could fix this. Save them.
Blood drifted through the water, and long blonde hair floated around the woman on the far side.
But right in front of him was a child.
A baby in a rear-facing car seat.
He fumbled to get his buckles free, and he nearly gasped when he had him in his arms.
River swam with him to the surface, lifting him above.
But he didn’t think the child was moving.
Horror clanged through River, and he kicked his legs to propel them the short distance back to the bank of the river. He climbed up, gasping and shaking.
Freezing cold.
He laid the baby out on the wild grasses, his hands shaking as his fingers went to the child’s neck.
A pulse.
He had a pulse.
“Oh my God.”
River ripped his shirt off and tucked the baby to his chest to give him warmth, and he climbed back to his feet.
He looked back to where the tail end of the car was still tipped in the air and watched as it fully turned over and was swallowed by the river.
Guilt constricted. A death sentence. It rang in his ears and beat through his blood.
He struggled to breathe.
He’d failed these people.
Failed.
Suddenly, the baby wailed. Wailed in his arms. River choked and held him closer. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”
River jogged back to the car, ripped open the back door, and laid the child on the seat so he could pull him out of his wet clothes. He quickly buckled him into the car seat that he’d already purchased to be ready for the extraction, covered the child with a blanket, and got back into the driver’s seat.