Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“But Vinnie, I can’t just leave him. He’s my father. I have to go to the hospital with him.”
“You could be in danger there. Let the police handle this.”
“My mom is going in the ambulance with him. I’ll follow in the car.” She sobs even harder, her voice breaking. “Vinnie…I’m scared.”
“Raven, do not go to the hospital. Please. Stay put. I’m sending someone for you.”
“All right.” She gulps. “All right, Vinnie.”
As I hang up the phone, my mind races, spinning different theories and outcomes. Bellamy is no saint. Any number of people could have done this, but doing it in his own home? That takes a lot of balls.
I open the door to the room where Mario and Serena are waiting. Mario instantly sits up straighter.
“What is it?” he asks.
“It’s Bellamy,” I say, straightening my jacket and turning for the door. “Someone took a shot at him.”
Mario’s eyes widen in surprise. “A shot? At Bellamy?”
“Yeah. I have to go.”
He narrows his eyes. “Your loyalties lie elsewhere, Vincent.”
“Damn it!” I nearly pull my hair out. “I’ll do my duty. I’ll take over the organization. You’re free now to be with your love. I’ve given my love up, but I have to protect her, Mario. I won’t let her end up like Serena.”
I leave then, hastily making a call to Elmo. “I need you to get on the horn and call your best man,” I tell him. “Closest to the Bellamy ranch. He needs to go pick up Raven. Then meet me at the secure location in San Antonio.”
“I’m on it.”
A moment later, I’m in the car with Fred and Elmo. “All set?” I ask.
“All set. Slade is on his way to her.”
“Slade?” I cock my head. “You sent someone named Slade?”
“He’s the best. He’ll get her there quickly and safely.”
“Good.”
“What’s up?”
“Someone took a shot at Raven’s father. Right in his own home. The cops are swarming right now, and I don’t have a clue who may have done this. All I care about is Raven. Getting her out of there.”
“I understand.”
My mind races as the car swerves through traffic.
“I hope Slade gets to her before the police lock everything down,” I mutter.
Elmo looks at me, a grim understanding in his eyes. “Don’t worry, Vinnie. Slade’s never let us down.”
Despite Elmo’s soothing words, my heart pounds like a jackhammer. Time seems to stretch and warp, every second crawling by at an agonizingly slow pace.
Eventually, we pull up to the secure location—an inconspicuous three-story building tucked away in a run-down part of town. From the outside, it looks abandoned—part of its disguise. Inside is a state-of-the-art security system and enough firepower to hold off an army.
As I step out of the car, Elmo reaches for his phone and reads a text. “Slade got Raven. They’re en route.”
Relief washes over me, but it’s short-lived.
“She safe for now, Vinnie,” Elmo says, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “Slade won’t let anything happen to her.”
I nod, trying to focus. We have to prepare for what comes next. Whoever shot Bellamy won’t stop there.
We enter the building and head straight for the operations room. Screens display live feeds from various locations around Austin while some show news channels reporting about Bellamy’s shooting.
“Anything?” I ask, scanning the screens.
“Not yet,” Elmo replies, his brow furrowed. “I’m monitoring police scanners and all of our sources. Nothing concrete so far.”
“Keep looking,” I tell him, pacing back and forth like a caged animal.
Hours pass with no break in the tension. Every minute seems like an hour, until finally—
“Vinnie.”
I turn.
Raven. Two men flank her.
She runs into my arms.
39
RAVEN
“Anything?” Vinnie asks the men at the monitors as I hold onto him for dear life.
“Something’s coming in.” One of the guys adjusts his headset. “It’s… Repeat that please?”
Pause.
“You sure?” Another pause, and he turns to Vinnie. “Report is coming in that Bellamy’s gunshot wound to his head was…self-inflicted.”
My heart plummets to my stomach. My pulse was fluttering so fast, but now it feels like it’s not beating at all.
Surely I didn’t hear those words. My father would never harm himself. Never shoot himself. He’d never leave Mom. Or me. Or my brothers and sister.
“Confirm that, please,” Vinnie says.
“I need confirmation,” the man wearing the headset says.
Pause.
The man pushes his headset into his ears for a moment before turning to us. “Confirming. The trajectory shows that the bullet’s entry point was consistent with self-harm. Bellamy…shot himself.”
A wave of nausea rolls over me, and I grip Vinnie tighter, as if he can shield me from the harsh reality. The room spins around me. I want it to stop. I need it to stop.
Vinnie wraps his arm firmly around me, a steadying force in my whirlwind of despair. “Reconfirm,” he demands, his voice steady despite the tumultuous news.
“We’ve received images from local security cams. Forensics have already processed them,” the guy at the monitors says. His face is pale beneath the fluorescent lights. “It’s definite.”