Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 114647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
“What happened?”
My head was hurting from our conversation and my aching mouth, but if James was willing to talk, I would listen. I did let go of his beard though, and he buried his nose into my hair.
“She’s been attacked. She’d filed with the lawyer she contacted that I was the father, and left my information down in case of emergency. Well there was an emergency, in the form of him nearly beating her to death at a stoplight, and I have power of attorney now that she’s clinically brain dead. Her ex-husband found her, I’m assuming, but the man was never apprehended. She’s not doing well at all, and they haven’t gotten any brain activity from her in over three days. They’re only keeping her alive at this point because of the baby.” He said sadly.
“Jesus.” I whispered.
“Yeah, that’s only the beginning. We have the other thirty-four women to worry about that we’ve relocated. Unless Teal fucked up, which I know damn sure she didn’t, we’ve got a leak. They’re about ten people besides ourselves that know that information, and the locations of all of them, as well as their new identities, aren’t even kept on record.”
“Who makes the new identification for you?” I asked.
“IDs?” He clarified.
At my nod, he answered. “I don’t know. That’s something that Sam’s taken care of. I do know that we have more than one man who does it. We change after every three women. However, Sam’s already aware of what’s happened, and he’s looking into it. If it turns out that it was the man we went to for Teal, we’ll have to relocate the other two women just in case. I have a feeling that Teal’s ex was looking for her specifically, and he has a lot more reach than she’d told us about. She knew that, knew that he’d find her. That’s why she went to so much trouble to name me the father.”
“Fuck.”
“I agree,” James rumbled, sounding sleepy.
However, in the next instant, his body tensed, and I knew something was wrong by the way he froze against me. All his muscles tensed
“Mr. Allen? I’m Roderick, would you like me to help you...”
I don’t know how it happened, nor what happened, but in the next moment, the report of gunfire echoed throughout the tiny hospital room. A nice little hole, the size of a penny, entered into the man’s chest almost exactly where James had been shot just a few short weeks ago.
The gun in James hand lowered slowly, and screaming started in the hallway.
Somewhere in the aftermath of James shooting the man, Sebastian showed and pried the gun from James’ hand. Wiping the gun off on the black t-shirt he wore, he fired once more into the man in nearly the same place, ejected the clip, removed the bullet from the chamber, and tossed them all into the bathroom before closing the door.
“Knew he’d come here, stupid bastard. Just meant to be here in time.” Sebastian smiled at the two of us.
James cursed and made it to his feet slowly before peering at the man who was bleeding out on the floor.
I took a closer look at the man on the floor and finally noticed the numerous tattoos on the man’s forearms, neck and head. “What the fuck?” I asked.
Oh, and did I mention the huge ass shotgun?
“Now’s not the time for that, Shiloh.” James said distractedly.
Jesus Christ, I really had to work on this talking thing. Then again, I would think that two grown men would think more of me than to say ‘want to fuck’ in the middle of this kind of dilemma. I mean I was kinky, but I wasn’t into doing it with dead people in the room.
“Everybody on the ground! No excuses. Get the fuck down.” A man’s voice called from the hallway.
Was that expected of me? Because if it was, I’d hurt myself. So would James. However, that turned out to be an unnecessary thought when Sebastian scooped me up from the bed and laid me gently down on the ground, following me down once he had me there comfortably.
“Keep your mouth shut.” Sebastian whispered.
James’ body hit the floor beside us way less graceful than I would’ve thought, and he grunted in pain, which was the only thing that kept me from punching my brother in the gut. Son of a bitch thought he was funny, too, if the smile on his face was anything to go by.
My perch on the floor was all kinds of precarious.
I couldn’t lay my face down because my jaw hurt too badly. I couldn’t use one of my hands because it was in an L shape plastered against my body, and my foot was stuck underneath me.
I had no traction to do anything to try to get comfortable, and when men rushed into the room, some dressed in police uniforms, and others dressed in hospital security uniforms wielding guns, it became very uncomfortable, very fast.
“Get off her, you piece of shit. She should still be in bed. She’s about four hours post-surgery on her leg and jaw, if you hurt her any more than she is right now, I will have your goddamn badge.” James snarled from beside me as he was restrained by another officer.
The hands on my back lightened, and I was supremely grateful.
“Help her in to bed. She’s no threat to you.” James snarled again.
I couldn’t see him because of the officer standing beside my head, but I could see Sebastian as he was rolled over onto his back, cuffed arms underneath him. He had a twinkle in his eyes, as if he had a secret.
“Alright, boys. Back away from these men and my daughter. I’m Silas Mackenzie with the CIA. My credentials are...”
My father’s voice surprised me, but the man’s boots at my face twisted in surprise, accidentally kicking me in the process.
And you guessed it. Right in the kisser.
The burst of pain flashed through me, vomit rose in my throat, poured out of my mouth, burst through my clenched teeth, my nose, and maybe even out my ears.