Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Colt looked down the binoculars and glared. “No, they’re not relaxing. They’re not busy. They’re waiting for something.”
“Another delivery.”
“But why would they need another delivery?” Colt growled. “No, something else is going on here.”
He moved from each man, seeing at least three check their watches. Why? Colt pulled out his cell phone and dialed his father.
“What is it?”
“What are they waiting for?” Colt asked.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Colt.”
“I’m telling you, these guys are waiting for something. They are standing around, checking the time. They don’t need another delivery and their gate is closed. There’s no sign of Daemon, but his bike’s in the lot. What is going on? Did the guys see any kind of meeting? Any unusual kind of guests, anything?”
“No, nothing.”
Colt didn’t like this. He had a sick feeling in his gut.
“Check on Gabrielle,” Colt said.
He hung up his cell phone, which he had put to silent, so the ringtone wouldn’t carry.
“Dude, you’re freaking me out. What’s going on?” Ox asked.
“You know that feeling you get when you’re traveling late at night, that something is about to happen because it’s too still to be all right?”
“Yeah, and then usually it’s because there’s an ambush … ah, I see,” Ox said. The moment it dawned on him, Ox pulled out his gun and spun to his back, holding out his weapon, ready to fire.
“No, it’s not us,” Colt said.
He didn’t have that feeling. His cell phone went off.
“Gabrielle is fine. No one other than customers have gone in and out of the shop.” Colt looked through the binoculars in time to see more checking of their watches.
“I’m not wrong about this. Something is going on, they are waiting … Rosalie.” Colt hung up his cell phone, and immediately shimmied away, and stumbled down the hill, heading toward the alcove where he put his bike. He found Rosalie’s number and pressed his cell phone to his ear. No answer. He next called Al at the diner, and that kept ringing. Petal was next. She had insisted that she put her number into his cell phone. He’d tried to stop it, and when she didn’t answer, he knew in his gut that something had gone wrong.
“Dude, what the fuck?” Ox asked.
“I’ve got to get to the diner,” Colt said.
“Why?”
“Rosalie. She’s in trouble.”
Ox frowned.
“I don’t know how I know, I just do.”
“You know this makes no sense. If Daemon wants to use his daughter, hurting her or killing her would not be a solution.”
“But he wants to punish her for taking away Gabrielle, herself, and Petal. I just know it. I don’t have time to explain.”
He straddled his bike and took off, not caring if the club heard. Colt knew he was right. He fucking knew it.
Riding as hard and fast as he could, he could only focus on getting to Rosalie. She had to be okay. He didn’t give a fuck about anything else. It took him twenty minutes to arrive at the diner and he saw several cars in the main lot. The lunchtime rush had ended. Colt parked his bike and rushed toward the diner. Petal was in the far corner and he scanned the crowd, seeing several of the customers looking terrified.
“Where’s Rosalie?” Colt asked.
Petal looked up, frowning. “What?”
“Where’s Rosalie?”
“Er, she had to go and take some trash out back.”
“When?”
She looked up, annoyed, and then she looked at the clock, and frowned. “Thirty minutes ago.”
Colt didn’t wait, he rushed through the kitchen, and he spotted Al at the stove.
“What are you doing back here?” Al asked. “Get out, I’m working here.”
Colt ignored him and stepped through the pantry, and then he saw the door wasn’t quite shut, and he walked out. There was no sign of Rosalie. He pulled out his gun.
“Rosalie,” he said. He didn’t like it when people called her Rose, it made no sense to him.
“Rosalie.” He called her name again and this time, he heard a moan.
Rushing to the sound with Ox at his back, he moved behind the trash bins and there he saw her, on the ground. Blood covered her face, and he spotted one of her arms at an odd angle. He already saw the signs of bruises on her thighs. During her attack, her dress had ridden up.
“Oh, fuck,” Ox said.
“Rosalie,” Petal said, panicking. “Shit, fuck, Rosalie.”
Colt went to her first before Petal got there. Rosalie had started to moan and it looked like she was coming to.
“Rosalie, baby, I’ve got you,” Colt said.
He tried to support her head as he didn’t know the extent of the damage.
“Pull her dress down,” Colt said.
Petal had sunk to her knees and tried to preserve her friend’s modesty. Removing his leather cut, he handed it to Petal, but put the jacket over her thighs.
She was sobbing and Rosalie had stopped moaning. He checked her chest and it was rising and falling. The pain must have made her pass out.