Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 71814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
“Couple hours away,” he said.
“Thank you, Zachary,” I told him before hanging up the phone. I’d got what I needed.
Now, we had to go on a small road trip and get our girl back. We had to finish what we started, and we needed to figure out what had sent her running in the first place.
“We should hit the road soon. I’ll let the others know,” Kit stated before heading off to make the call and grab his things.
Gabe nodded in agreement.
“We can take my car. We need to bring her back no matter what,” he said with determination in his voice before following Kit.
Garrett, Kieran, and I remained in the bay, our minds silently racing until one of us finally spoke our thoughts aloud.
“Do you think she got scared?” Garrett asked, concern filling his face. I couldn’t remember ever seeing him so uneasy before.
“She’s one of the bravest people I know. I think it’s more than that,” Kieran replied as he shook his head, his brow furrowing in thought.
Was she tired of us? Had we overwhelmed her?
Whether she felt fear or not when she left town without a word, fear was the exact thing that I felt when I thought about losing her for good.
Chapter 23
Zoe
The faint smell of cleaning products filled my nose as I stared up at the ceiling of my hotel room, the bed stiff and hard beneath me. At least the room was clean, but the bleach made my stomach churn even more than it was already doing.
I’d left Rockview without saying goodbye. I had turned my back on the crew and had given up on my mom and all her hard work.
A runner. A coward.
That was who I was, and I hated myself for it.
I didn’t even say goodbye to my dad!
Tears burned my eyes as I shook my head at myself. Everything about this was so impossible. I wanted to finish this case so badly, but when I read those threatening words and remembered how my mom was so easily taken away from me, I couldn’t bear the thought of the same thing happening to the crew.
But I also wanted justice. My mom and everyone who had been negatively affected by the fires and the cartel deserved justice. I had a chance at getting all of them that, but I’d failed.
I kept getting dragged back and forth, guilt and disappointment swallowing me whole. Had I made the right decision?
Before I could go around and around again, I heard a knock on my door. My eyes snapped to the door as I sat up on my elbows. I could only guess that it was housekeeping, but… it was nighttime. Since when did they clean hotel rooms at night?
Maybe someone was knocking on the wrong door.
I planned on ignoring it, but there was another knock. A more insistent one. With a sigh, I swung my legs out of bed and crossed over to the door, lifting up on my toes to look through the peephole.
A gasp broke from me as I stared at a slightly distorted version of Gabe, Garrett, Matty, Kieran, and Kit standing out in the hallway. I unlocked the door and flung it open, seeing relief wash over their faces.
“What are you doing here? How the hell did you find me?” I demanded.
“Your chatty boss,” Matty replied, making me groan.
“You guys can’t be here,” I told them as I shook my head.
Matty stepped even closer to the point where I could smell his cologne.
“Tell us to leave then,” he insisted, his eyes locking with mine.
The sound of my rapid heartbeat thumped wildly in my head, blocking out any other sounds as me and the guys stared at each other. I was petrified about them being anywhere near me, but I didn’t want them to leave.
Now more than ever, I needed them. I just didn’t want them killed as a result.
Swallowing hard, I turned away from them and retreated back into the hotel room to sit on the bed. As much as I wanted to spill the truth, my throat kept locking up. Telling them anything would put them in even more danger.
“What made you run off like that?” Kit questioned as they followed me inside and shut the door behind them.
“I… just needed to leave,” I murmured as I kept my eyes on the ground, able to sense them getting closer to me.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Kieran insisted. “You wouldn’t just ditch us without saying goodbye. Right?”
His words felt like a shard of ice in my chest, pain radiating through me as I frowned. “I care about you… so much. I had to leave. It was the only way to keep you all safe.”
“What are you talking about, Zoe?” Matty asked before crouching down in front of me and taking my face in his hands. He gave me a pleading, desperate look that I never thought I’d see on his face. “Please.”