Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 60676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
“Ma’am, are you okay?”
“I ... I don’t know,” I croak, my feet hitting the ground as I try to stand, only to tumble into the man’s arms.
“Whoa, stay still. You could be injured. I’m calling for help. Please don’t move.”
He helps me sit on a small fallen log on the side of the road and then he calls for help. A few other people have stopped, but I’m not paying attention. I’m trying to figure out what the hell just happened. One minute I was driving, the next my brakes weren’t working. How do brakes just stop working? It doesn’t make any sense.
“They’re on their way,” the man tells me. “Are you okay?”
“I think so,” I murmur. “My brakes stopped working ...”
Frowning, the man offers to take a look for me. He tells me he was a mechanic when he was younger and goes over to the car which is smooshed against the tree. He can’t get under the hood, for obvious reasons, but he does manage to maneuver around to check. When he returns, his brow is furrowed. “Someone cut your brake line.”
My eyes widen and my heart skips a beat. Did I just hear correctly? He said someone cut my brake line. I don’t understand.
“I ...What?” I whisper.
“The line is cut. You could have been killed.”
Staring down at my trembling hands, I think about the note on my car. Someone cut the line because someone wanted me to crash this car and die. This isn’t just stalking anymore, this is serious. Someone is actually trying to hurt me. Someone wants revenge for a situation that I had nothing to do with, and it doesn’t matter what I do, I can’t seem to fix it.
“The brakes were working for a bit ...” I whisper, looking up at the man.
“The liquid would have slowly come out with each push on your brake, and eventually, they just stop working.”
This is so well planned.
Someone wanted me dead, and they very nearly succeeded.
15 – Ciara
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Serenity asks, her eyes wide with concern.
I nod. “Yeah, I’m just a little shaken up.”
“Whoever did this to you is going to feel my wrath,” Addison mutters to herself. “This is out of control.”
Pressing my fingers to the wound on my head that thankfully didn’t require stitches, I think about the night, and I’m still just as confused as I was before. I don’t know why this person is so adamant on seeking revenge when there is no proof I killed Alyssa. Not a single drop other than the fact that I happened to find her. So why are they so obsessed with me?
“We need to get to the bottom of this,” Jackson mutters, arms crossed as he stands in front of where we are sitting in the garage.
I have Mercy sleeping in my arms, and even though I know I should take her home and put her down, I just don’t want to let her go. Not yet. Danny is playing with Skye and Max, the two of them sitting on the floor surrounded by toys, and Ava is off in dreamland. This is my family, and, tonight, someone tried to take me from them.
I’m done being nice.
I want to know who did this.
“Damn right we do,” Spike grunts, pacing around, his jaw tight.
He didn’t take the news well; I don’t blame him. It was scary as hell.
“I don’t think you should go back until we figure this out,” Cade offers, his voice less clipped but still tight.
My eyes swing to his. “No, that’s not happening. I’m not bailing out because some idiot is trying to scare me.”
“They’re not just tryin’ to scare you, Tom Cat, they’re tryin’ to fuckin’ end you,” he argues, his gaze narrowing as he pins me with it.
“Well, either way, I’m not running. Whoever this is needs to be found, and the only way to do that is for me to be there. If I run, they will just find another way. This matters to me.”
“Cade’s right,” Spike murmurs, his eyes pinning me. “You can’t go back.”
Anger bubbles in my chest. “Well, I am going back.”
The flash of his glare tells me he doesn’t want to argue, but the fact is, I’m not hiding from this. I need to find who did this, and I’m not going to stop until I do.
“Not arguin’ with you, Tom Cat, I’m tellin’ you ...”
“And I’m not arguing with you. I will be going back, Danny. End of discussion.”
The room falls scarily quiet, and it’s Jackson who decides to speak.
“Maybe her goin’ back is a good thing, because we can get eyes on her and her surroundings and figure out who is doin’ this. If they don’t suspect we are there, we might figure out who this is.”
“I agree,” Serenity chimes in. “Send her back, let it seem like normal, and we can be watching. Whoever is doing this is doing it when she’s out so we need someone there to keep an eye on the situation and see when someone arrives.”