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)
His eyes meet mine, and with his good hand, he rubs my swollen eye. “Look at you,” he murmurs.
“I’m fine. Police should be on the way.” Just as I say that, I hear a thunk in the back of the house. Sam leads the way down the hallway, where Shavonne and Brynn are. Brynn is lying backwards in her chair, staring up at the ceiling with a grimace as she jerks this way and that. When they hear us enter the room, they freeze.
“What the hell is going on?” Brynn demands. “This wasn’t in the plan!”
I step around Sam to help Brynn back up in her chair. “We just need you to stay like this for a few minutes longer, okay? Trust me.”
“No, I don’t trust you!” Brynn snaps. “Who was that guy earlier? What did he do to us?” She’s referring to Ricardo. He didn’t want the women knowing who he was, or to remember his face, hence the ski mask. That was the deal I’d made with him. Brynn was so angry, shouting at me about being a liar and manipulator just like Dominic, so Ricardo chloroformed her first. Then he went for Shavonne, who couldn’t scream with her mouth taped. “It will be okay!” I’d screamed before Ricardo could do her bidding.
But I see in their eyes now what I did wasn’t okay.
“He didn’t hurt you, I promise,” I assure them. “He only did it so my plan could work. I did it so we wouldn’t have any loose ends. The police are on their way, and we have Dominic trapped. Once they get here and see this terrible scene, he’ll be put away.”
Brynn swallows. “Did you . . . did you record his confession?”
“Yes.”
“And he mentioned John Bolton?”
I nod. “Yes.”
Her eyes water a bit, but she pushes those tears away and shifts her gaze to Shavonne. Shavonne only stares back at her friend, still mildly confused. She looks like she wants to throw in the towel and go back to whatever corner of the world she calls home.
“I need to see him, Jolene,” Brynn insists.
I glance at Sam, who shifts on his feet. “Brynn, you’re all tied up. How am I going to make it look real if—”
“If one of us isn’t tied, it’ll make it look like he wasn’t done with his plan and got interrupted by Sam.”
I sigh as she stares at me, eyes pleading. If I let her out of the cords, that will undo all the work Ricardo did. The plan was to have them “trapped” and to make it look more authentic. But I realize perhaps my plan would be too perfect if they are.
“Please, Jolene,” Brynn begs.
I swallow, then turn to Sam. “Sam, bring something to cut her out of the cords.”
Sam wastes no time finding a rusty old knife and returning to cut at the bungee cords wrapped around Brynn. When she’s freed, she stands up and immediately leaves the room. I follow her out while Sam stays put in the bedroom with Shavonne.
When Brynn walks toward Dominic, he turns his head a fraction. It’s a weak attempt of looking up, but he manages. Brynn walks behind him and grunts as she brings his chair upright again. I press a hand to my mouth as she breathes raggedly, facing the man who ruined her life.
Seconds tick by and she doesn’t say a thing as she stares at him. I shift on my feet and glance out the window, knowing the police are on the way.
“Brynn?” Dominic murmurs and her eyes widen. Despite it being dark, I see the tears filling her eyes.
Then a shrill scream fills the cabin as Brynn brings her elbow back and slams a fist into Dominic’s face. He cries out as she yells, “That’s for hitting Shavonne!” She throws another punch—one strong enough to make his nose bleed harder—and shouts, “And that’s for trying to kill me, you ignorant, evil piece of shit! I should kill you right now! You took everything from me and I have nothing to lose!”
Dominic whimpers as blood drips onto his shirt and over the cords around his body. When Brynn takes another step forward, he flinches, but she doesn’t hit him again. Instead, she bends down so that her lips are close to his ear.
As sirens screech in the distance, she says, “I hope you rot in jail, Dom. And when you die, I hope the devil wraps his evil hands around your throat and dunks your head in the flames. I hope he burns your soul when he realizes that, even in hell, you’re not worthy.”
I walk up to her as she takes a step away from him.
“Brynn, come on,” I whisper. “We have to get you back in place.”
She blinks, then nods, turning her eyes to me. She doesn’t need my help getting back to the room, but I follow her anyway. She sits in a corner and says, “I’ll curl up here, pretend to be unconscious.”