Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 23918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
“Please, it’s not too late. You can let me go and no one will ever know. I won’t tell them it was you who took me.”
“Shut up.” He shoves me to sit on the side of the bed and pulls out a set of handcuffs from a drawer, slapping one on my wrist and the other around the drawer handle. “Do not fucking move.” He walks off to the bathroom. Looking around the room, I search for a weapon, anything I can use to protect myself. Seeing a pen with the hotel’s name on it, I snatch it up, look at the phone, and lick my lips. It’s a long shot, but if I’m lucky, I might be able to get some help. Taking the phone off the cradle, I press 911 slowly, trying to be quiet while my heart beats so hard I’m sure it will pound out of my chest.
Coming out of the bathroom, he looks at me then the side table where the phone is. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” I shake my head. “Please let me go,” I beg, hoping 911 has picked up and they can hear me.
“I’m never letting you go.”
He starts to come for me, and I know it’s now or never. Swallowing, I make my move, taking the pen and stabbing it right in his upper leg. Blood starts seeping out as he howls like a wounded animal, dropping to his knees, and his gun falls to the floor.
Grabbing the gun, I jerk my hand cuffed to the handle and the drawer comes flying out, hitting him in the head and stunning him. I run screaming toward the door with the gun in one hand and the drawer in the other. Getting the door open, I start running toward the forest. The only thing going through my head is my baby.
“Get back here. Emmaaa!” I hear from him, right before I turn and see him pull the pen out of his leg.
I don’t wait. I run. I run and run till my lungs burn, till I can’t breathe anymore, through bushes, around trees, all to the tune of him shouting my name. Seeing a cabin in between two huge trees, I run toward it, hoping, praying I can rest for a minute and catch my breath. Hurrying up the steps, I bang on the door.
“Help me please!” I turn my head, looking to see if I can hear where Ryan is. With no answer, I try the handle and turn the knob, falling into the house. I breathe in a sigh of relief, but it’s not for long because the next thing I know, I’m tackled from behind and my world turns black.
“You need to slow down or you’ll kill yourself before you get there,” Nion says calmly while I zigzag in my red Ferrari through traffic.
“Any news?” I look over at him, wondering if he got another update. The last information we received before I ran out of the house was that the car was found in the parking lot of a motel. There was no one in the car, but there was blood, lots of blood, and a blood trail to the forest next to it. “Get back on the phone with the detective on the scene. I need answers.” I jerk my hand through my hair while praying that everything is okay.
He nods, knowing he can’t argue with me right now. It’s like I’m a bull and the man who took Emma is holding the red cape. Baiting me. Fucking Christ, if he hurts one hair on her head, I’ll kill him.
By the time he gets through to the detective, I’m already arriving on the scene. The parking lot of the motel is full of cop cars, and two stop me from going closer. Opening my door, I leave my car there.
“Sir,” one of the police officers says to me, “you can’t go in there. It’s a crime scene.”
I don’t even acknowledge him while I run toward the door of one of the rooms that has bloody prints on it. My hands run through my hair, pulling it in my fists, tears starting to burn my eyes. “Emma,” I whisper out. My hands fly to my knees while I attempt to stay calm, trying to catch my breath. Standing upright, I look around. “Where is she?”
All eyes come to me.
“There is a trail all through the forest. We have the dogs picking up their scents.” They stop talking when someone’s phone rings and he picks it up. “They found her.” His eyes zero in on me. “EMT is on their way to her.” He closes the phone and I feel Nion at my back.
“Take me to her.”
“We will, but prepare yourself because, as of right now, she’s not responding.”
My chest heaves, my breaths so hard my chest aches each time I exhale.