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)
“Ripper?” I had a sinking feeling this girl was in a world of trouble. There was no way I could leave her. At this point, I was praying for an ambush, because I absolutely could not afford to be held up by someone in real distress. And I was certain that, if this woman was as hurt as I thought she was, she’d need medical attention.
“You’ve got four minutes. Get her in the truck.”
I knelt down and looked into one startlingly blue eye. The other one was swollen shut. Dark auburn hair fluttered across her forehead in the breeze, and I brushed it aside gently. She flinched back but didn’t move away from me.
“Girl, I ain’t gonna hurt ya. But I can’t stay. I can get you to help, but you gotta trust me.” I could hear Ripper talking in my earwig, but he sounded muffled. Like he’d left the mic active but was talking to someone else. The girl just looked at me. Of course, she looked terrified, but she didn’t offer any resistance. “I’m gonna pick you up. Put you in my truck.” Still, she didn’t say anything. “Fuck,” I swore to myself.
“Two minutes, Styx,” Ripper snapped. “Get movin’. I’m workin’ on a plan for the girl, but you’ve got to get on the fuckin’ road.”
Carefully, I lifted her from the ditch. She whimpered, but didn’t fight me or say a word otherwise. In fact, she didn’t move other than to breathe. “She needs medical attention,” I murmured to Ripper.
“I see that. Try to get her to talk, but if we’re doin’ this, we ain’t got much time.”
“Can Poison and Lock get the car out of the barn without me?”
“Yes, but you’re their interference if they’re spotted.”
“Barn?” The girl spoke softly, like her throat hurt. I tried not to think it was because she’d screamed as she’d been hurt. Because, now that I had her more in the light, I could see she’d been beaten.
“Yeah, sweetheart,” I said, the endearment rolling off my tongue when I hadn’t wanted it to.
“You’re after the Maybach. Aren’t you?”
“Fuck,” Ripper swore. “You’re made. Everyone, get the fuck out.”
“Just hang on, Ripper.” I set her on her feet by my truck as I opened the passenger-side door. She managed to stay upright but leaned against me. Though her weight was slight, I could tell the only thing holding her up was the arm I had clamped around her back holding her against me. “You know about the car?”
“Marshall McCoy’s my poppy,” she said, her words slurred through her split lip.
“Mother fuck! Goddammit! Drop the bitch and get the fuck out!”
In my head, I knew Ripper was probably right, but there was no way I was leaving this girl in this kind of shape. Even if she was some kind of decoy, someone had beat the shit out of her, and I wasn’t letting her go back to them. “You know I can’t leave her, Ripper,” I murmured. “She’s hurt.”
“She’s probably fuckin’ bait!”
“What’s your name, girl?” I said, setting her in the truck. She clutched a backpack in her hands but looked at me fearfully. I reached behind the seat and pulled out an emergency blanket. It was warm out, but she looked like she was in shock.
“Jolene McCoy,” she answered, though she didn’t look at me. She kept looking at her lap. The name made me do a double take at her. I knew Jolene McCoy. At least, I knew of her. She was just a child when I left, but she was the only member of that whole sorry bunch, other than my half brother, worth helping. And if anything I’d heard about her over the years was to be believed, she was the last person who deserved this kind of treatment. That thought right there sealed this girl’s fate. Because she needed a strong man in her life to protect her tender heart, and I was a ruthless enough bastard to take on the job and excel at it.
“Who did this to you?”
She shrugged, obviously not going to answer.
“How bad you hurt?”
Again, she shrugged, but she added, “I’ll live.”
“I’ll get you help, but I’ve gotta take you with me.”
“If you’re taking the car, do what you gotta do. It’ll piss Poppy off something fierce.”
I grinned. “You got an issue with the old man?”
“I hate him,” she said softly but with more than a touch of venom. “I hate all of ’em.”
“Do you want me to take you to the hospital now?”
“No.” She shook her head, then winced, pressing one hand to her temple. “Just get me out of this fucking town. I never wanna see this place again.”
“Get to the site,” Ripper said. “I’m making arrangements for a change of plans once you get the car. You can drop her off there.”