Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
“All’s quiet. Same as always. They raised a fuss the first few times I blacked them out, but once they got used to their network coming back up, they quit worrying about it. Made a couple calls to the company, who charged them a bunch of money to go to each site and check on things. After that, they sent one of old man McCoy’s boys out, and he’s not the most thorough tool in the box. Last three times it’s gone out, no one bothered to check.”
“Good. Where is everyone now.”
“Far enough away you’ll have at least an hour before anyone could possibly show up.” The man snorted. “Bit of a ruckus goin’ on with one of his girls. Not sure what, but it’s keeping everybody busy.”
“So, we ready?” I was anxious to get moving. While I had confidence in the operation, something else was bothering me.
“Get into position. Once you’re ten minutes out, I’ll throw the switch.” Ripper had everything bugged at Salvation’s Bane, including all our vehicles. He said it let him know when one of us was in trouble. I figured he was just a control freak.
“Guess we’re good to go, then.” I signaled to Poison and Lock. “Move it out.” My two MC brothers were in the truck pulling the trailer while I was in a separate truck we’d had waiting when we started scouting two months ago. Last thing we wanted was for the two vehicles to be seen together before the heist.
It was just past four in the morning. The darkest part of the night. The moon was covered by clouds. The night was still. Even the nocturnal creatures were settling down for the day to come.
There were two routes into the place where we were going. Poison and Lock had taken a different route than me. Mine took me past the McCoy family home. Remembering that place from my early childhood made me want to fire my gun at the windows as I passed. I hated that fucking place. Old man McCoy was a fucking bastard. Always was. Being a Hatfield, I’d never actually been in the house, but I knew some of his kids. The boys were all bullies. Some of the girls, too. His wife had died a few years back, I’d heard. And now he was starting a whole new brood of kids to mold in his image. That massive house represented everything in Williamson I hated.
I’d gotten about six miles away from the house when something caught my attention. A small form huddled on the side of the road. I almost missed it. Looked like a boy or a small woman wearing a backpack. The figure was in an orange jumpsuit, which was the only reason I’d seen it.
I started to just go on. We didn’t have a lot of time here. But, Goddammit, I couldn’t just pass this person by.
“Guys, I’ve got a problem. Keep to schedule. If you don’t hear from me in five minutes, abort.”
“What’s going on?” That was Ripper’s voice. Of course, he was monitoring.
“Not sure. Switching on my body cam so you can see what I’m seeing. Get an ID on the guy.”
“Guy? What guy?”
“There’s someone on the side of the road. Could be someone in trouble,” I said.
“Could be a fuckin’ trap. What the fuck, Styx?” Ripper didn’t get upset too often, but when he did, he tended to go nuclear.
“Just keep an eye out. Give me five minutes. I’ll either leave him or load him in the truck.”
“Fuck!”
“Don’t give yourself a nosebleed, Ripper. If it’s a trap, I’ll fucking kill the bastard.”
“Take an earwig. I want to stay in communication every fuckin’ second, Styx.”
“Roger that,” I said, putting the truck in park and stepping out. Though the truck’s headlights shone brightly, I snagged a flashlight along with the gun at my hip. If this was an ambush, I wasn’t getting caught with my fucking pants down.
The figure held up a trembling hand, blocking the light of the vehicle from her face. And I could tell by the small, delicate hand it was a female. I shined my light around the area but didn’t see anything. Just to be safe, I turned my body, letting Ripper get a good look around in case I missed something. With his computer enhancement shit, he’d see danger long before I did.
“Don’t see nothin’,” Ripper murmured. I could hear him typing and flipping switches. “Can’t say a hundred percent, but I think you’re alone.”
I eased toward the figure huddling in the ditch. “Hey, there,” I called. “You good?” No response. “Girl?” Still nothing. The hand blocking her face from the light still fluttered violently. That’s when I noticed the blood on her fingers and streaking her hand. “You OK?” The hand dropped, and there was a slight whimper as she lay still once more.