Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 79749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
"I'll take care of her," I agree. "You know we could just pull Damien off the streets and you can work your magic on him to find out where Eli and the other kids are."
Hemlock pulls in a deep breath, but I'd be a fool to think he hasn't considered this option already.
"Is there anything you know about Damien Gaines that makes you think his pride would let him cave, even under my blades?"
I don't answer immediately. I really think about the man and his sick, sadistic ways. "Damien is the type of man who would not only die to keep his pride intact, but he's also the type of man who would put failsafes in place so that if anything happened to him, his people would be ordered to issue maximum damage to whoever was involved in killing him."
"I figured," he mutters, his eyes locking on something in the tree line. "When this goes down, we have to take the entire organization down."
"I know," I quickly agree. "But I'm at the point that I don't give a shit about their arrests or convictions. I don't care if ties are severed with other organizations before intel can be acquired. I want to get my son back, and I want Damien Gaines removed from the face of this earth."
"We're in agreement then, but our perspective isn't sitting so well with others involved."
"Push back from the feds?"
"Tons. They've threatened to arrest all of us for impeding federal investigations."
"Prison would be a horrible place for either of us," I mutter, not that the threat of incarceration would slow me down.
"They'd never take me alive," he says with one hundred percent seriousness.
I pull in another deep breath as I look out to the same place he's watching. "Same."
We stand in silence for only a minute longer before he turns toward the front door of the cabin. I follow Hemlock back into the house.
"What's going on?" Samuel snaps when Hemlock walks up to him and sweeps an arm under his, making him stand. "I'm not going with you."
"I can make you or you can go on your own accord. You pick," Hemlock says, staring the man right in his eyes.
"You can't hurt me. You're supposed to be the good guys," the man says, his feet carrying him toward the front door.
Hemlock's laughter at the man's words is sinister and filled with so many dark promises as they leave the small cabin.
Since I'm a man of my word, I head into the tiny kitchen and make Aspen a sandwich. We have some provisions here, but making a three-course meal isn't possible. Not that I'd waste the energy.
She's curled up in a ball on the bed when I enter the room this time without knocking, and she doesn't bother to lift her head when I walk closer to the bed.
"Brought you a sandwich," I say, knowing that despite the fact that she's probably hungry, it's unlikely she'll eat.
She doesn't reach out to me when I turn to leave, and I hate that there's a part of me that's disappointed that she doesn't. I don't need the complications that being connected to her for the rest of my life will bring, but there's no way around it.
"You're as safe as I can make you given the circumstances,” I say.
When she still doesn't lift her head or acknowledge me, I watch her chest rise and fall with a few more breaths before I walk out of the room. I don't know if her ignoring me is a form of manipulation, but the woman has every right to react to this situation as she sees fit. Since I'm nothing like Damien, I'm not going to threaten her or hurt her in order to flex power over her.
I leave the room, pulling the door closed behind me. Staring at everything in the small cabin, I let my eyes drift from the sofa to the kitchen table, and to the chair that Samuel vacated a few minutes ago. I walk toward the front door and flip the deadbolt, not that a strong boot wouldn't be able to kick the thing open.
I feel trapped, like a caged animal that needs to roam, but I know I can't leave. Sitting and waiting has never been one of my strong suits. I'm a man of action, and this is the first time since having to recover from my face being slashed that I've been sidelined while shit was going down. I don't know how to be this man, one who has no plan, no ability to help.
I'm twitchy with unspent energy, and the suggestions of what I could be doing that run through my head aren't any more welcome than my presence would be if I left her here alone and went after Hemlock. Putting my finger against her bottom lip was a mistake. The fire in her eyes that told me I could do anything with her that I wanted and she'd only beg for more is like a poison in my body. It's eating away at me, and I know if I don't find something else to do, I'll be right back in that room with her, refusing to let her ignore me.