Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 122097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“You’re asking the wrong person. But they do own a security company. It kinda makes sense to have protection dogs and private phone lines, or whatever. My point is, it was a mistake and it won’t happen again, so… we’re good, right? I can go home and tell Jim Bob we’re good?”
“Go home?” He laughs yet again. “Why would you wanna go home, Lowyn?”
“Oh, I dunno.” I sneer at him. “Maybe because I have a life.”
“You’re not goin’ nowhere, Low. Not yet. Not until Collin and I have a little chat. So you’re gonna come with me—”
I take off runnin’ down the hill. I don’t waste any breath arguing with him, I just book it. I don’t even look back. It’s a long way and I’m not really a runner and he’s got a horse, so I know this is dumb. But there’s no way in hell I’m just gonna give up without even tryin’.
He passes me on the horse, making the giant animal turn and then rear up just a few feet in front of me. I put my hands up, stumblin’ back, and then I fall on my ass.
The next thing I know he’s on the ground and got me by the arm. Then he starts tyin’ my hands together with a piece of nylon rope!
I pull away, getting free before he can finish. But he’s reaching for me again. “Stop it!” I’m yellin’, trying to kick him.
But he just grabs my foot and stares at me. “We can do this the easy way, or I can throw you over my fuckin’ shoulder and cart you back up this hill myself.” He bends down and leans forward, so close to me. “Choose. Because I’m not fuckin’ around here. He’s working for the government, Low. And I know what you saw when you left me.”
“What?” It comes out as a tiny whisper.
“I’ve always known. It never occurred to you that I had cameras all over that house?”
I don’t know what to say. I just blink at him.
“You know what we’re doin’ up here. And you know it’s illegal. If he’s here to spy on us and report back—”
“He’s not!”
“How would you know?” He yells this. Right at my face. His eyes blazing. And it’s certainly not mischief I see in there. Certainly not.
Then he must realize that he’s losin’ his temper, because he lets out a breath, releases my foot, and stands back up, offering me his hand.
I don’t take it, but I do get up, dustin’ off my ass as my mind whirls around with this new information, tryin’ to force it to make sense.
He’s wrong about one thing. I did see something, but I didn’t know what it meant. And even though Grimm did tell me they’re working for the government—the military specifically—that’s all he knew. I don’t know what they’re doin’ up here. I just know I don’t want any part of it.
“He’s here to suss us out, don’t you understand?”
I shake my head. “I asked him that, Ike. Straight up, I did. It was one of the first things I asked him—‘Do you work for the government?’—and he said, ‘No.’”
Ike scoffs. “Do you really think he’s gonna tell you if he’s working on some secret operation for the government? You don’t know what a SCIF is, so let me explain what it means that he has one. He’s either getting secret information or givin’ it. So which is he? The guy gettin’ the secrets? Or the guy givin’ them?”
I don’t say anything. I can’t really know what Collin is up to, but he’s definitely up to something, Ike’s not wrong about that. It’s just… I can’t picture it. And even if I could, I don’t want it to be true. I want him to be here for me, not Ike Monroe.
I deflate a little and this must satisfy Ike, because he takes a step back and runs his fingers through his hair, looking off into the woods. Then he must remember he’s got a horse—who is standing quietly close by like none of this is happening—because he gets it and walks it over to me. Then he offers me his open palm. Not so I can hold his hand, but so he can give me a leg up.
I look him in the eyes and shake my head. “I don’t wanna go up there, Ike. I don’t wanna know what it looks like these days, I don’t wanna know who’s up there… just let me go back and I’ll send Collin to the bottom of the hill and the two of you—”
“No.” He says this very firmly. “Now get on the horse, Lowyn. Because if you don’t, I’ll just put you on the fuckin’ horse myself.”
I’m not gettin’ away. Not right now, anyway. So there’s really nothin’ left to do. I put my knee in his hand and I swing my leg over the horse’s back as he lifts me up.