Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“I know you think you know this guy. But according to you, you knew him less than an hour. How can you be sure?” asked the female officer whom I’d first spoken to.
“Not here,” I snapped, glaring at the officer. I wasn’t a teenager that needed to be set straight by a parent.
“Please give us a moment,” Mom said to the officer and the nurse, who gratefully had remained silent. She understood the HIPPA rules that said my medical history was my business.
“Okay. I’ll come by later,” the officer said. My only response was a pointed stare.
The nurse added, “I’ll be at the nurses’ station if you need me.”
I nodded at her and only turned back to Mom when we were the only ones in the room.
Mom’s eyes were filled with unshed tears. She was trying to be strong for me. “I’m okay, seriously. Better to have happened to me and not Tabby.”
Then I flung myself back in her arms. No way would I burden her with the details of my captivity that I wanted to forget. So, as she held me and we cried, I folded those memories over and over in my head like a sheet of paper and threw them in a mental box with all the shielding I could.
The next time I opened that box would only be to recount my story to a jury when they got that bastard Ruin. That was my mission.
But the first thing I would do was search for any information about Shawn, the man I would forever call my savior. He’d been the light in the darkness that had surrounded me.
6
MATT
It had been three long months since I’d been perp-walked out of that industrial compound and away from Tayla. What should have been in and out of prison turned out very differently. Instead of taking me to the secluded area where prisoners who were in danger of being killed inside like cops turned criminals, I’d been taken to gen pop, cell block C.
In other words, I’d been forsaken by the FBI. It had been a risk, me going into an op not sanctioned by top brass or anyone for that matter. But I hadn’t thought they’d completely leave me inside. I hadn’t done a day when I’d been arrested during the takedown of the kingpin. In fact, this time, I hadn’t been formally charged at all. By law, I should have been taken to county jail, not prison, and formally charged with some crime. But here I was. And my three-month stay hadn’t been a cakewalk.
A clang sounded at the front of my cell. The guard holding a baton. “Stanton, you have a visitor.”
I might have stood there for a minute like a deer in headlights only because I hadn’t expected anyone. As per my instructions, if on the off chance I ended up in jail, no one, including my sister or her in-laws, was to contact me. I couldn’t risk any of them being tied to my criminal persona.
“Come on now,” the guard spat.
A quick glance at my cellmate found him as curious as me. I turned back and walked up to the bars. They were opened, and I was let out. The guard pointed, as I hadn’t done this before and didn’t know where to go. I headed in that direction with him behind me. Hoots and hollers followed me as I walked down the stairs and then to the end of the block.
I was led through several halls and corridors and ended up at a door with no window. The guard used keys to open it. I shouldn’t have been surprised to see my handler on the other side of that door, but I was.
“You’re here,” I said, tongue in cheek with raised brows.
“Of course. I did as you asked and paid the guard for this visit,” she said, with emphasis on visit.
What she meant was a conjugal visit, which wasn’t allowed in the state of Illinois, at least right now. A glance at the guard and he nodded. Even though I’d paid for nothing, she obviously had.
“You have fifteen minutes,” he said, holding out his hand to indicate for me to go inside.
Though I was more than annoyed by her presence, I’d been working undercover for too many years not to let this play out. I’d learned to school my features and play the role I needed to in order to survive. So I stepped inside. The door was swiftly closed behind me. The telltale clicking of the lock followed immediately after.
“Why are you here?” I asked, as coldly as I felt.
Her bright smile did little to lift my mood or the drab decor of the small room. The size in shape was much like my own cell, except the bunk was replaced with a single twin bed. Still, everything was gray and lifeless. I guessed it was a room used by guards for downtime or if they were staying overnight for whatever reason.