Total pages in book: 211
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
The woman moves closer and she messes with the napkins and doesn’t seem in a hurry to leave. It’s odd and I have this sense that she’s listening in, that she’s intentionally crowding us but I’m pretty okay with that right about now.
The man steps with me, maintaining a position that is far too close to me and directly in my path. “Who are you and what do you want?” I repeat softly. “Answer now or I’ll start screaming.”
“Is that the typical way you respond to people who wish to speak to you? Screaming?”
“You have ten seconds,” I say. “Ten. Nine—”
“Detective Wright,” he says. “Consultant for the FBI.”
I don’t even know what that means but I’m pretty sure it means he’s a liar. “Badge,” I order.
“Consultant,” he repeats, and reaches in his pocket to offer me a card. “That’s all you get.” My hands are full and he holds it up for me to eye.
“It looks real, but anyone can make a business card.”
“Call it in,” he says. “But do it after we talk.” He reaches down and takes my cups, walking to the trash and dumping them. He returns and hands me the card. “Do you know what you’re in the middle of, Harper?”
Harper.
The way he uses my first name bothers me. Don’t FBI agents usually use your surname? “If you’re in a rush to talk to me in private,” I say, that very idea setting off warnings, “don’t waste time speaking in code.”
“Everything is not what it seems and if you don’t open your eyes, and see with them, your stepfather won’t be the only one in the hospital.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s a fact and a warning. Open your eyes. Look beyond the obvious. Your time is up.”
Male voices sound and one of them is Eric’s. “Eric!” I call out, and the man in front of me growls low, guttural. He grabs my arm and pulls me to him. “Bitch, you should have waited to hear me out. You should have let me help you. You should have fucking listened to me. Now there’s a price to pay.”
Chapter eighty-five
Harper
Just when I am certain fight is my only way to get away from the bearded man, the woman who’d crowded me by the coffee supplies appears beside us and grabs his arm. “Let her go. Now. We have to go.”
Wait, what, I think. She’s with him?
The bearded man, the FBI consultant, if I believe his lie, hesitates, but he releases me and then cuts right toward a stairwell. I whirl around, desperate to ensure no one else is coming at me, my gaze catches on Eric, the sight of him running toward me, a mix of relief and panic. He’s too far out to be impactful right here and now. And this is a now situation. The woman darts past me and I reach for her arm but fail. I don’t even think. I charge after her. I have to catch her. She has answers we desperately need to end this nightmare. I take off running, but I’m not far when Eric catches up to me, and yanks me around to face him. “What the hell are you doing? Stay here.” He’s barely spoken the words before he’s launching himself forward.
I don’t stay. I spy Savage and shout his name, waving as I hop around like a fool. “Savage! This way!” Eric disappears around a corner. I start running after him, afraid of losing sight of him.
I actually catch up right as he enters the stairwell, but I make it no further. Savage grabs my arm and now he’s yanking me around. “Stop. What the fuck are you doing?”
“Does Eric have a gun?” I demand. “Tell me he has a gun.”
“He has a gun. Talk to me. What just happened?”
“That man told me—”
Eric bursts through the stairwell door. “No one is there. They must have exited a flight up.” He eyes Savage. “Get someone looking for them. A tall man with a beard and a short brunette.”
Savage grabs his phone and makes a call while Eric crosses the space between us with lightning speed and pulls me to him. “What the hell happened?”
“This man came up to me and he claimed to be FBI. Or a consultant for the FBI. He gave me a card and I’m paraphrasing here but he warned me that I needed to open my eyes. That everything isn’t how it seems and if I didn’t figure that out, people would die.”
Eric scowls. “Holy fuck, why did I let you come to the coffee shop alone?”
“You didn’t. I went with Mia and—”
He kisses me, his hand coming down on my head and his tongue licks into my mouth, the taste of fear on his lips. “You go nowhere without me until this is over. Do you understand? Nowhere without me.” His voice is low, rough, guttural. “Nowhere, Harper. Do you understand?”