Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 36221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
“Remember what you said, little one. Stay in the car.”
I nod, not too happy about it.
“I need to stay focused. I can’t do that if I’m worrying about your safety.”
“I get it. You’re right. I’ll stay put. I promise. You do what you need to do to save my sister.”
“I love you.” He presses his mouth to mine in a hard kiss. “When this is over, I will be collecting.”
“About time.” I lean in for one more kiss. “I love you, too.”
I hand him over my phone, then pick Bentley up. I kiss the top of his little head. “Benny. Go get your treats,” I tell him. His eyes light up at the word ‘treats.’ I open the door and let him jump down. He takes off, knowing exactly where to go.
“He’s fast for as fa–”
“Hey!” I cut Leone off.
“Fluffy. For as fluffy as he is, I was going to say.”
I glare at him. “Go get my sister and bring my Bentley back,” I order him, ready for all of this to be over.
“On it,” he says before he’s out of the car. They all slip off to the left, disappearing from my sight. I crawl to the front until I’m sitting in the driver's seat. I roll down the windows a crack to see if I can hear anything. It’s dark out, but lights line the gravel roads. Only about one in three work, but it gives off some light. Most of the trailers have their porch lights off. Time drags.
When I hear a scream, I sit up straighter and look around. Then it starts again, only closer this time. I pull the seat up so that I can reach the pedals in case I need to move or something. Not that I know how to drive, but how hard can it be?
I put my foot on the brake before taking it out of park and shifting it to the D. The second I do, I see a man running toward me screaming. I can’t make out what he’s saying or make out his face. I squint trying to see better, but I make out one of the man's words. Cat.
I hit the button for the headlights and finally get a clearer look. It’s then I realize the man is running down the gravel road with a cat latched to his face. My cat.
I roll down the window and shout out at Bentley to see if I can get him to stop.
“Bentley! Go home!” I scream as loud as I can. He reacts immediately, releasing his clawed death grip of the man and jumping to the ground. I wince when Bentley does a small roll after he lands, but he’s up and darting in the direction of the trailer that we once called home. I don’t know what everyone's talking about. Bentley isn’t a devil. The cat listens to all my orders. I’ve never seen any other cat do that.
The man stops running and turns to look back the way Bentley went before he starts to lean down, his hand going to his ankle. It’s Carlov, and a pang of fear hits me, thinking he might be reaching for a gun. I let my foot off the brake and push it down on the gas as hard as I can. The wheels spin, gravel spraying up before I take off.
Carlov jerks back up, his hand empty. I’m headed straight for him. Thankfully he didn’t have time to grab whatever he was reaching for. He tries to take off and run between two trailers, but it’s too late.
For some reason, Leone’s words pop into my head about not wanting me to see what is going to happen to Carlov, so I close my eyes right before I hit him. When I feel the impact, I hit the brakes. Something loud hits the hood, but I keep my eyes closed.
“Zoey!” Leone bellows my name. I search with my hand and find the stick thing and put the vehicle into park. My door flies open. “Zoey.” Leone's hand grips my chin, turning my face toward him.
“I didn’t have time to put my seatbelt on,” I rush to say.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but can I open my eyes now?”
“Yeah, little one. Open them but keep them on me.” I open them to see Leone. He’s got Bentley in his other arm.
“Is everyone okay? Xanny?” I ask, hoping she’s not hurt too bad.
“Everything is fine, little one.” He leans in to give me a kiss that has me forgetting about everything that just went down. Until I feel a small tap on my face that brings me back to reality.
“You did so good! I knew you could do it.” I break the kiss, reaching out and taking Bentley from Leone’s arms. “I swear. You’ll get treats when we go back to our real home,” I promise him.