Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 85183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
I lean back against the nearest tree, hiding myself from sight. My breathing is erratic, my pulse hammering in my ears like a freight train. My hands shake as sweat slicks my palms. The sound of punches being traded stops, and I glance around the tree. Someone is on their knees with a gun pointed at their head.
Shit! I need one of them to say something, because if Jude is the one on the ground, then this is my opportunity to kill Joe.
"I've waited for this for so fucking long, and I must say, it has been well worth the wait," Joe growls. It's then that I realize Jude is the one on his knees, and I feel sick. "You are so fucking weak. Your father would be disgusted."
I point the gun, my hands shaking violently, but I can't get a good shot because he's circling Jude like a lion.
"I'm going to kill you; then I'm going to go find that whore and cut your fucking baby right out of her stomach."
This is it. I close my eyes for a second and block out everything as I try to slow my heart rate. I hear Jude's voice in my head. Joe is fifty yards away from me, that's twice the distance of any shot I've made at home, but I can't miss. I can't. Focus, breathe in and out. Staring down the sight, I aim at the shadowy figure pointing a gun at the man I love, the man ready to kill my everything. I inhale, pause, and squeeze the trigger. The gun explodes in my grasp, and I can barely make myself look up. If I failed, we're both dead.
There's a loud bang, and I wait for the pain, for the state of nothingness. And then Joe falls forward, his heavy body crushing me to the ground. Warm blood pours over my chest. I hear footsteps running through the woods, then Tor screaming. "Jude!"
I shove Joe's body off of me. Trying to shake the state of confusion I'm in.
Tor runs toward me, dropping to her knees when she reaches me. She's crying and shaking with a gun in her hand. I sit up, grabbing onto her and pulling her to me. "Shh. I'm fine, doll." I rub my hand along her back as I stare over her shoulder at Joe's lifeless body.
"You shot him?" I ask in disbelief. I never even saw her. He's dead. Joe Campbell is finally dead, after all these years of chasing what seemed to be a ghost, he's gone.
"He was going to kill you," she says, her voice trembling. I take the gun from her and lay it on the ground beside me.
"Shh, Tor. Calm down." I stroke her face, swiping away the tears with my thumbs. "It's okay. It's all okay." She won't stop shaking, and I'm terrified this may be the thing that's finally going to cause her to have a mental breakdown.
She nods, her fingers clinging to my shirt. I kiss her forehead and slowly stand up. Everything spins around me, but I make my way over to Joe's body, snatching my gun from his hand. I stare at him, hate and rage fuming to the surface. I aim at his face and pull the trigger. I wait, and shoot again and again, until my magazine is empty and his face is unrecognizable.
This was the moment I lived the past fifteen years of my life for, and it's over, but nothing's changed. I always thought that in this moment I will feel justification, I would feel a sense of righteousness, but I feel nothing. I stare at him. I fucking hate him, everything he did to my family, to my Tor. Revenge is a debt that not even death can pay. I've spent my entire life seeking vengeance because I thought it would make me whole, but all it's done is cost me everything, except for her.
I turn back to Tor. She’s frozen in place, staring at Joe. The expression on her face makes me think she's realized that his death won't numb the pain.
"Come on," I whisper, grabbing her hand and leading her back through the woods.
Dawn is breaking as we climb up the ravine. As soon as we reach the top, my heart stops. "Fuck," I mumble beneath my breath as I drop Tor's hand.
I'm staring across the tall weeds at a highway littered with men dressed in black uniforms and bulletproof vests, guns aimed at us.
"Throw any weapons you have down, and lay on the ground."
"I'm sorry," I whisper to Tor as I pull my gun and toss it onto the highway "You just say you had nothing to do with this. Nothing. You look after our baby, Tor. You hear me?" I glance sideways at her, and she nods slowly.