Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
I laugh. “So I should… what? Let you go and keep me and my dream alive?”
“It wouldn’t be the worst answer to this problem.”
“Well, that’s a very nice story, Clover. And you delivered it with confidence. But it’s got one fatal flaw.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Oh, it does. Because your dramatic, fairy-tale rescue hinges on your boss, Clarissa. And if you were so confident that she would get this whole liberation scheme rolling, you would’ve stayed put. You had plenty of water to last you a week, maybe even two if you rationed correctly. Food was never going to be the thing that killed you down there. So again, it’s a nice story. Something that would work in a movie or a book. But this is real life and you don’t believe it.”
She thinks about this for a moment, then sighs. “Fine. I hedged. The odds of you letting me live as a prisoner in a bunker were slightly higher than the ones that depended on Clarissa finding time to care about me after her big promotion.”
“Well, admitting that is very mature of you.”
“There’s no point in lying to you, let alone myself. I have no power here. And even though I gave it a shot, you’re not gonna let me go. You don’t seem like a man who reevaluates bad plans.”
I stop walking again, turning to look at her. “It’s not a bad plan. It’s the only one that keeps you alive.”
“So you can kill Collin Creed before he kills you?”
“Look. I get that you grew up with him or something. So maybe you were friends. Maybe you think he’s a good guy, or whatever. But he’s not. You have no idea who that man is. None, Clover. You have no idea the things he’s done.”
“And you do?”
I don’t answer her. Just start walking, making her stumble.
CHAPTER 11 - CLOVER
There’s about thirty minutes of silence after this Collin conversation. Enough time for me to stumble seventeen times and fall three.
Finally, Riggs says, “We’re here. Stay put while I pack up my camp.”
He and Collin really do know each other.
This is some kind of personal vendetta. Or maybe not. Maybe it’s just an order from whoever runs things down where he comes from. But it makes a lot of sense that there’s animosity between them over some… mission gone wrong, or whatever. Collin is part of some secret military thing and this Riggs guy is too.
I push my blindfold up a little bit, looking at him. “Did he betray you or something?”
“Who?”
“You know who. The only ‘who’ we were talking about.”
“It’s not important. Just forget about it.” Riggs doesn’t look at me when he says this, so he doesn’t notice that I’m peeking past the blindfold and this gives me time to study him. He’s wearing a muscle shirt today. It’s olive green in color and it’s so tight, I can see every one of his stomach and chest muscles rippling under the fabric as he gathers things up and stuffs them into a pack.
His head turns, catching me. “What are you doing?”
I was checking him out, I realize. But I’m not going to say that. So I just shrug.
He’s mad though. Because he growls words at me. “Push the blindfold back down and don’t look up again or the whole deal’s off.”
I give him a good eye roll, but do as I’m told.
Then I just sit there, listening. But I got a good enough look at him to picture what he’s doing. I’m keeping track of where we are. If Riggs thinks a little blindfold is enough to confuse me in my own woods, he’s just kinda stupid. I spent eighteen years in these woods. Well, probably more like ten because obviously my parents didn’t let me go traipsing off into the woods when I was a toddler. But I was an outdoor girl for sure. And after I got the ponies, Lowyn and I would ride these woods all day, every day, in the summers. We’d have stayed out here forever and gone completely feral if we weren’t expected home for dinner at seven-thirty every night.
So the moment Riggs put that blindfold on me, I started taking mental notes. I pictured the whole walk in my head. And even though I only got a two-second look at him and the surrounding area, I know exactly where we are. I didn’t even need the peek to know that. I know every boulder, every old tree, and every single creek in these woods.
I’m going to escape. I don’t know when or how, but I’m going to escape. I’m sure Riggs figures he’s this big, strong, capable man—and he is, I’ll give him that—and he’s been here a few weeks, I guess, so he’s got a handle on these woods too. But he doesn’t know all the hiding places. He didn’t play hide and seek in here for years on end when he was small like I did.