Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Mae knew better than to protest. This was the fine edge she was walking. “Yes, they are. Ian Taggart should be here any minute. He won’t leave me here.”
Julia turned, her eyes rolling. “Well, which is it? Does he believe you or not?”
She forced herself to stand, her hands in front of her. They were turning faintly blue. “Whichever one means you go and deal with the problem instead of using whatever the hell that is on me.”
She knew exactly what it was. Julia was holding a cattle prod in her hand. But anything to keep her talking.
Ian and Erin had taught her how to take a punch, but neither one of them had ever sparred with her while holding a cattle prod. Also, they tended to not bind her hands so tight she couldn’t feel them.
They had taught her how to break those bindings, but then the fight would really start, and she needed to buy time.
“I think you were telling me the truth the first time.” Julia flicked the prod on, the sound charging the air around them. “I don’t think you know how to lie.”
Julia had never seen her play Sheriff of Nottingham. MaeBe had lied her way to a win more than once.
She held her hands in front of her—another mistake that guard had made. “My boss will be here soon.”
“I don’t think he will. I don’t think he would risk his baby girl for your instinct. And it was instinct because John died. John was loyal to me. John has been with me for years.”
It was time to throw her off. MaeBe braced for some pain, but it would be worth it. “The way Kyle was loyal to you?”
Julia’s eyes flared. “Don’t talk about him unless you want me to use this on you.”
She really didn’t, but she didn’t think Julia was going to call for tea while they had this discussion.
“What do you think you’re going to do with him? Are you going to keep him in a cage? That’s your version of love?”
“You have no concept of what happened between me and Kyle. You can’t understand us. You’re so far below us, it’s impossible for you to know what love means between two soul mates. He’s killed for me.” Her lips curled up, eyes going soft as though the memory brought her great pleasure, or perhaps this was Julia’s version of comfort. “You have no idea the amount of blood on his hands, and he did it for me. Not you.”
“I would never ask him to get blood on his hands.” She suddenly felt a pulse of sympathy for this woman. How hard must it be to go through life and not be able to understand what it meant to be in a genuinely loving relationship? It didn’t matter if Julia had been born without some essential part of her soul or if she’d been robbed of it by an uncaring monster of a father figure. It was still sad that they were here, that Julia was about to die and she would have never felt real love. There was no marriage and kids and game nights and family holidays at the end of this for Julia Ennis. There would be no Taggart army rushing in to save her. There was no one for her except mercenaries she had to pay and people she had to keep in cages to amuse her.
“Then you don’t know him at all because he loves it,” Julia insisted. “He loves this work. He’ll come around.”
“No, he won’t. That’s another one of your delusions,” MaeBe replied, and she didn’t mean it unkindly. Behind Julia, the guard hadn’t quite completely closed the door. She watched as a familiar figure moved across her line of sight. The woman moved quickly and didn’t make a sound. She was there for a moment and then gone, only the hint of curly red hair poking from under her black cap. Erin.
Her team was here, and all she had to do was give them the few seconds they would need to secure the outer area and they would be here for her. She would be shocked if the guards weren’t all either dead or incapacitated.
She was minutes away from rescue.
“I’m not the one living with delusions.” Julia edged around the table, that lightning stick in her hand.
MaeBe backed up. She didn’t want to yell out because she didn’t know where the team was or what level of secrecy they were still working at. Erin would have noted that door. She wouldn’t have moved past it if she hadn’t needed to. They were making sure Julia was the only one left, and then they would deal with her.
Julia’s face seemed locked in a frown. She picked up the small radio left on the table and pressed the side. “Ken, I’m going to need you to come back in here and secure our prisoner.”