Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 112736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Crap.
I’ll probably need both.
Beyond caring about the cost at this point, I load up the cart with bottles of cleaners, a mop, and boxes of garbage bags.
Then I start the long trek across the entire store to get to the hardware aisle. I need that shovel and a vacuum.
With each exhausted step I take though, I curse the store for the way it’s set up. They’ve purposely shoved all the crap you don’t need in the middle.
Levi sticks close to my side, nearly hugging me, as we roll past the rows and rows of cheap, disposable clothing and shoes. By the time we make it past the electronic section and reach the toy section, I’m so tired I’m seriously considering giving up on the shovel and vacuum.
I can always come back for them later…
My tired brain deciding that’s the best course of action at this point, I make a sharp left and head for the registers.
“Mommy,” Levi says and tugs on my sleeve as we make it halfway through the men’s clothing section.
“Yes?” I sigh, half-expecting him to ask me to go back to the toy aisles.
Levi drops his voice to a whisper and looks up at me, his expression worried. “There’s someone following us.”
Every bit of exhaustion I was feeling evaporates in an instant.
My first panicked thought is that Mikhail has somehow found us.
We need to run. Screw the cleaning supplies. We need to get the hell out of here.
Hands shaking, I’m about to push the cart away, pick up Levi and bolt for the door, when logic suddenly prevails.
It’s highly unlikely Mikhail or anyone associated with him would find us here. If there is someone following us, it’s probably that lady I pissed off earlier.
Dropping my own voice to a whisper, I ask Levi, “Where are they?”
Hugging my side tight, Levi turns his head to the left and I follow his line of sight.
There, a couple of aisles over, I spot the top of a man’s blond head. His face is tipped down as he examines something in his hands.
I watch him for a few seconds, waiting for his head to pop up so I can get a look at his face, but he seems focused on whatever he’s looking at.
I can’t tell if he’s purposely not looking up because he doesn’t want to get caught or if he’s completely innocent and I’m being paranoid.
Either way, it’s better safe than sorry.
“Okay, sweetheart, let’s go home,” I say to Levi and head for the registers, still determined to buy everything in my cart.
I don’t really have a choice at this point. If I leave without it and that guy is nobody, then this entire trip will be for nothing.
And I really need all this stuff so I can clean up the house or we won’t have somewhere to sleep tonight.
Heart still beating frantically from the spike of adrenaline I got earlier, I find the one checkout lane that’s open and get in line.
There’s two other people in front of me but thankfully they only have a few items.
Every so often I cast a glance over my shoulder but see no sign of the blond man.
Once we’ve paid, have everything bagged up, and I still haven’t caught another glimpse of him, I push the stranger completely out of my mind.
It was probably just a coincidence.
After starting up the minivan, I help Levi buckle up in his booster seat then load everything into the back.
Hitting the button to close the hatch, the exhaustion starts to creep back in.
In fact, after that little freak out I had, I feel even more tired.
My feet drag as I push the cart over to the corral.
I’m so wiped out, sleeping in the van for a few hours once we get back to the house is starting to seem like a good idea.
At least it’s clean.
Pulling open my door, I slide behind the wheel and start rubbing my eyes when I spot the blond man again.
Coming out of the store, he scans the parking lot with a phone pressed up to his ear.
Even from here, I can tell he’s big. Big and entirely too handsome for his own good.
I don’t immediately recognize him, but there’s something about him that puts me on edge.
Throwing the minivan into reverse, my tires almost squeal as I back out of our spot.
The drive to Walmart may have taken us fifteen minutes, but I manage to make back to the house under ten.
Ten long minutes of checking the rearview mirror.
Parking next to the house, I’ve seen neither hide nor hair of blond guy the entire drive here, but I’m far from relieved.
His face… The longer I think about it, just like the house, his face bothers me.
Have I seen him somewhere before?
Again, I could almost swear…
A headache begins to build behind my temples as my brain struggles to find a missing piece that may or not be there.