Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 146666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 587(@250wpm)___ 489(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 587(@250wpm)___ 489(@300wpm)
Who the hell was this Devil?
Was he the guy that had been there in the shadows that night? He’d certainly been driven by something evil as he’d alerted Matthew and his friends to her presence.
Something tickled at her memory, but she couldn’t seem to grasp hold.
There was a knock on the door, and the other doctor with the kind eyes popped his head in. “The x-ray machine is all ready for you whenever you want it. Are you guys all good? We’re going to shut most of the place up for the night.”
“We’re good, thanks, Oliver,” Hack said. “I’ll make sure the place is locked up.”
Oliver glanced over at her. “You take it easy, Miss Greer. Lots of rest, fluids, and good food. All right?”
“Yes, thank you.”
The door shut and Hack turned to them all. “I need to get Greer’s ribs x-rayed and then take her home. So we better make this quick.”
Cash and Ralen glanced at each other. Both of them were still young, but they had this weary look about them. As though they’d seen and done too much in their lives that they could no longer see good.
It made her so sad for the brother she’d once known.
But when he’d found her, he’d sounded so upset. So broken.
Maybe he still cared about her.
“Who is Ortega?” she asked.
Both Cash and Ralen stiffened.
“What?” Hack asked.
“Ortega. You guys were talking about him when you found me. It sounded like he helped me . . . was he the first guy that found me?”
“There was someone else?” Hack asked in a strangled voice.
“Yes. Oh, I didn’t tell you the rest.” She rubbed at her forehead.
“Tell us what else happened,” Duke directed. “Then Cash can tell his story.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Cash said.
“We deserve to know,” Aidan said. “We’re the ones that mourned you. That thought you were dead all these years, Cash. Do you know how that affected us?”
Cash swallowed heavily and looked at Ralen, who nodded.
“Fine. Fuck.”
“Are we sure this place isn’t bugged?” Ralen asked.
“I don’t know why anyone would bug the clinic,” Hack said.
“I suppose that’s true. It’s as safe as anywhere.” Ralen gave them all a grim stare before he turned to her. “Tell them the rest.”
“Someone attacked me when I was in the backroom of the restaurant,” she said. “That’s where I got all the bruises. They were . . . they were trying to strangle me when I realized that they really were going to kill me.” She grew silent, aware that Hack had grown even more tense.
“Fuck. Fuck,” Cash said, running his fingers through his hair.
“I . . . I knew he was going to do it. And I didn’t want to die. So I managed to bring my leg up and I slammed it into his balls.”
“That’s my girl,” Aidan said.
Hack glared at him, but didn’t say anything.
“Then I headbutted him. He dropped to the ground and I ran. I didn’t think I was going to be fast enough. He nearly caught up to me, but then he tripped over some stuff in the alley. Then I ran across the road. A car nearly hit him, slowing him down. I didn’t have my handbag. Oh, no, it’s probably still there!” She looked at Hack frantically.
“I’ll send someone to get it,” Duke said, pulling out his phone.
She told him exactly where the building was before he sent a text message.
“I dashed off down an alley to hide. I knew he was going to find me. And I couldn’t run anymore. I started to drift off. I think I fell asleep, but I remember someone talking to me. He said he’d get my brother. Then I think Cash must have arrived and the other guy said he had to leave. He called me Bebé . . .”
“Greer?” Hack asked, looking at her in concern. No doubt he thought she was losing her mind. Sometimes it definitely felt that way.
“DaddyO used to call me Bebé online.” She glanced over at Cash. “This guy . . . his name is Ortega, isn’t it? Was he DaddyO?”
“One of the guys you interacted with on that site?” Hack asked.
“Yes, but one of the nicer guys.”
“First time Ortega has ever been called nice,” Ralen muttered.
“Who is he? And how did he find Greer?” Aidan asked. “And why would he have been interacting with her?”
“Well, um, you guys aren’t going to take this well,” Cash muttered. And for the first time since he returned, he looked like that seventeen-year-old boy he’d once been. It made her heart ache.
“Tell us,” Aidan urged.
“You know how you were saying you had a stalker who did nice things?” Cash asked her.
“Yes, but what . . . wait, you don’t think my stalker was Drew? The guy who had the wall of photos?” she asked.