Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 89840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
“Jo, it’s not like that, I promise you,” he pleads. “I love you, okay? I loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you.”
“That’s funny because you never used to play football by the gym until I started going there. Just like a man to pop up when a woman is finally trying to do right by herself.” She scoffs. “Michelle told you to come to me. She told you to use me. I know she did because she confirmed it when I DM’d her. I told her I’d report the money she withdraws from your account as fraud, and she got scared. She told me everything!” Jo picks the gun up again and points it at his face.
“Jo, please! Just let me out of these cords and we can work it all out. I—I won’t send Michelle anything else. I can end it all. I promise you.”
Jolene stares at him a moment, and it’s almost like she wants to believe him. But then she picks up her phone, dials 9-1-1, and puts it on speaker. When he hears the voice on the other end answer the call, Jolene screams to the top of her lungs. “HELP! This is Jolene Baker! I—I need help, please! My husband—he has these girls and now he’s trying to kill me!” She’s hysterical, eyes round, veins popping out of her neck. “Please get here now! I’m in a cabin—uh, I think it’s on Briggs Lane! Please he’s going to—” Jolene ends the call, and she’s calm again.
“What the hell?” Dominic mutters. “What did you do? Why would you say that?” he shouts.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Jo says, pushing out of her chair. It’s like she didn’t hear him at all. “A friend of mine is on his way to this cabin right now. He’s coming because I gave him a call and told him I was worried about you and needed his help.”
“Who is this friend?” Dominic snaps.
It almost looks like she smirks, but he can’t tell in the dark. “You’ll see. Brynn and Shavonne are the women you abducted because they have information that can ruin you. My friend will arrive and see the chaos and blood everywhere, he’ll punch you in the face and knock you out again. Shortly after, the police will knock the door down and find my friend holding me to make sure I’m alive. When I come to, I will tell the police everything that happened. That I was worried, so I found you at this location. I saw what you’d done to those women, how you drugged and chloroformed them, so I called my friend to let him know I was scared and needed his help to de-escalate the situation. I tried to stop you, but you knocked me out and hurt me really badly. You were in the middle of cleaning the bloody mess you’d made with Boaz—the man who assisted you but then turned against you—while I was out cold, until my friend arrived, which caught you by surprise. You two got into a fight, and he won.” Jolene steps around him and moves through the cabin to check the windows. Just as she does, headlights flash through the house.
Rage courses through Dominic and he rocks in the chair. It tips over and he lands on his side with a hard slam. Jolene turns to look at him, watching as he fidgets and kicks his feet while calling her all kind of terrible names. Footsteps drum up the stoop, then the front door opens.
When he sees Samuel Sanchez, he knows.
This setup was arranged a long, long time ago and now it’s over for him.
SIXTY-FIVE
JOLENE
“Jo, hi,” Sam says as he enters the cabin. He’s dressed casually—jeans, a T-shirt, and Nike running shoes. My heart thumps double-speed at the sight of him. I want to sink into his arms, let him hold me for the rest of the night, but we have to finish what we’ve started.
“Hi,” I whisper.
Sam walks past me, his footsteps heavy as he makes his way toward Dominic. Dominic is fuming, breathing raggedly through his mouth as he shakes and jerks in the chair.
“Ah, I hate to see you go down this way, old friend,” Sam sighs.
“Fuck you!” Dominic hisses.
Sam blinks at him, then he sighs and moves around the back of Dominic’s chair to pick it up. When Dominic is upright again, Sam stands in front of him.
“She’s just using you,” Dominic snarls. “Don’t you see that?”
Sam’s head tips before he shifts his gaze to me. “Now?”
I nod. “Now.”
Taking a step back, Sam reels his elbow backward and slams a fist into Dominic’s face. Dominic grunts, but doesn’t pass out the first time, so Sam punches him again, and this time, Dominic’s head drops while blood dribbles from his mouth.
Sam flings his hand, hissing from the pain. I rush to him, taking his hand and kissing his knuckles.