Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 133688 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133688 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
“Why are you doing this?” I croak.
She opens the back door, then crosses her arms and stares at me. “Isn’t it obvious? You’re the ticket that will lead Noah directly to me. Honestly, I should've taken this route a lot sooner.”
“You don’t have to do this, Brittany. Just let me go, and we can pretend none of this happened,” I say, thinking about Noah and how Owen’s with my mother. They’ll all be looking for me if they aren’t already.
“Don’t think so. There’s no turning back now.” She reaches into the back and grabs a roll of duct tape.
The sound of her pulling it from the roll nearly pierces my ears.
“Please,” I beg again. “My son is with me.”
“I don’t give a fuck about your kid.” She rips the tape and slaps it hard over my mouth. I struggle to break free, but it’s no use.
“Nicolas, don’t you fucking let her get away.”
Moving behind me, Brittany tapes my wrists together, then wraps it around my thighs and ankles until I can hardly move. I try to scream, but it’s so muffled no one would ever be able to hear me. Tears stream down my face as I come to terms with what she’s done. Adrenaline courses through my veins, and I wish I would’ve let Noah accompany me like he wanted. But I was stupid and insisted he stay.
My phone buzzes in my back pocket, and Brittany grabs it and smirks. It’s Noah. She turns it off, then slams it on the pavement. The screen immediately shatters, and she picks it up and throws it in her vehicle.
“I’m gonna kill him,” she seethes. “Then this will all be over.”
Sweat forms on my brow as I try to scream through the tape. My stomach is so upset, and I’m scared that I’ll throw up with my mouth secured closed. This is the worst possible time to be sick.
“We need to get going,” she tells Nicolas. “They’ll be looking for her soon.”
With all her strength, Brittany punches me in the stomach again and brings her knee in too. “That’s for being a bitch toward me.”
I lose my balance and fall to the ground, where Brittany kicks me until I nearly lose consciousness.
“And that’s for fucking the man who killed Gabe.”
After a minute of her physically taking her anger out on me, Nicolas grabs me by the hair and throws me in the back of her SUV. After the doors slam closed, the engine rumbles, and we’re quickly speeding away.
I wonder how long it’ll take Noah to realize I’m gone. After I didn’t answer the first time, I know he’s already searching for me. I just hope to God he has Eric with him because I don’t doubt Brittany’s words for one second.
She speaks to Nicolas in a high-pitched tone, like she’s happy about what she’s accomplished. I try to turn my body to see out the window but can’t manage to twist around. My eyes burn with hot tears, and I try to take myself out of the situation until I hear Brittany tell Nicolas she’s calling Noah.
A lump the size of Texas forms in my throat as I hang on to every word she says.
“Noah,” she purrs. “How are you?”
I can only imagine what he said to her and wish the phone was on speaker.
“Ah. Okay. Playing hardball. Got it. Well, as you’ve probably figured out, I have your girlfriend.”
She’s silent for a moment. “We’re not playing macho man today, Noah. You’re not in control here; I am. Now you’re gonna listen to me very carefully and follow every fucking one of my directions, or I’ll kill her. And trust me when I say it would satisfy me beyond belief to end this cunt’s life.”
I wish I could see her reaction, but based on her tone, she’s unamused.
“So if you want your precious girlfriend back, I need you to meet me alone at the storage units outside of town,” she says. “You know which ones.”
For a second, I think she’s ended the call because she’s quiet. All I can hear is the hum of the tires against the road. She eventually speaks up and forces me back to this reality. “Because I want you to suffer for murdering the love of my life. This is only fair, Noah. There are consequences to every action, and this is yours. You took away the only man I loved, so I’ll take away the only woman you’ve ever loved. At first, I wondered how I’d be able to pull this off. Honestly, you made it too easy.”
The tears begin to fall again. I never wanted to put Noah in danger, and now, I’m the reason he’ll go straight to Brittany.
“I’ll tell Nicolas to let her live,” she says with a laugh, then continues. “Don’t worry about it.”