Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 146666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 587(@250wpm)___ 489(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 587(@250wpm)___ 489(@300wpm)
“Fuck,” Cash said.
“You got something to say?” Sav asked. “Do you know something about this?”
“How would he?” Greer asked. “He’d disappeared two months before.”
“Were you involved with the Devil’s Kingdom, Cash?” Sav asked.
“What? No. But . . . Ralen and I were getting tight with some other guys that were low level in a different gang.”
“Not the fucking Rykers?” Duke snapped.
“Yeah.”
“They’re the reason you disappeared?” Sav asked. “They get you messed up in something?”
“No. Not exactly. They thought this guy was the rat?” Cash asked.
“Yes,” she said.
“Did they kill him?” Ralen asked.
“Yes,” she whispered. “They did.”
“How did they catch you?” Sav asked.
“There was a noise.”
“You made a noise?” Ralen asked.
“No, there was a noise. There was someone else there. Standing off in the shadows.” Her breath came in faster pants.
“Easy, baby. Don’t upset yourself. We don’t have to talk about this right now,” Hack soothed.
“I think we do,” Cash said. “If we want to figure out who hurt her.”
“You don’t think this was a random attack?” Duke asked.
“No. And neither do any of you,” Cash replied. “Who was there, Greer?”
“I don’t . . . I don’t know.”
“Enough of this,” Hack snapped. “I won’t have her getting any more upset.”
“Hack, I need to know,” she insisted.
“Not if it’s going to upset you. I won’t have it.”
“Then she might not be safe,” Cash said. “We need to know who hurt her.”
“He’s right,” Sav said grimly.
Hack let out a growl of anger. He fucking hated this.
“I need to figure it out,” she said, looking upset and tearful.
“I have an idea of how to help,” Hack said reluctantly. “But it might mean reliving what happened, and I don’t want you to have to do that.”
“Just . . . help me. Please. I need to know. Even if it hurts. Even if it’s terrifying.”
Hack sighed. “All right. I need you to relax. Close your good eye, Ladybug. Just stay calm. Take a breath and let it out slowly. That’s it. Another breath in. Good girl. Now, take yourself back to that room. What can you smell?”
“Blood. Dirt. Mold. Sweat.”
“Right. And what can you hear?”
“His cries. His pleas. He doesn’t want them to hurt him anymore.” A sob broke free. “He says he’s innocent. Loyal to the Devil.”
“Fuck,” Sav muttered.
Hack shot him a look.
“What can you see?”
“Matthew. He’s smiling. He’s enjoying causing him pain. Two of his friends. They always creeped me out. Stared at me like I was a piece of meat. They’re helping hurt the man.”
“Look around. Can you see anything else?”
Her breathing came quicker, her distress clear. Fuck, he wanted to stop this. His hands curled into fists, but he forced himself to hold back. It wouldn’t help her if he stopped things now.
“I can see him.”
“Where is he?” he asked, ignoring everyone else.
“Standing off to the side. In the shadows. Watching.”
“Do you know him?”
“N-no.”
“Can he see you?” Hack asked.
“Yes.”
“What does he do?”
“He . . . he knocks something over. There’s a noise and then everyone turns to look. But he disappears and they see me. He’s the reason they see me.”
“Motherfucking asshole,” Hack said. “He threw you to the fucking wolves!”
She took another sobbing breath. “That’s what h-happened. They turned and saw me. I tried to run. Matthew grabbed me, he dragged me out to his car and told the others he’d take care of me. While they . . . while they dealt with the rat. Then he took me back to his place.”
Hack’s hands were still clenched into fists, but he forced himself to relax, to reach out and brush her hair off her face as she stared up at him. “It’s all right, baby girl. He won’t hurt you ever again. He’s dead.”
“But who the fuck was this other guy?” Cash snarled.
He and Sav looked like they were close to losing it. Duke wasn’t in a much better state. The only one who appeared calm was Ralen.
“Why would he have been watching?” Ralen asked. “Was he with them?”
“I don’t think so.” She scrunched up her nose then winced. “I don’t think he wanted them to know he was there. I tried to tell Matthew about him, but he told me to shut up. That I didn’t know anything. That I was trying to ruin everything for him. Catching the rat was his way in with the Devil.”
“The Devil,” Sav repeated grimly, looking over at Duke. “Do you think . . .”
“Fuck, I don’t know,” Duke said. “We could ask him how likely it is that it’s the same Devil.”
“The same Devil?” Cash asked. “What do you mean? Do you know the Devil?”
Sav turned on his younger brother. “Do you know who the Devil is?”
Cash was pale as he stared around at them all. “Yeah. I do. He’s the reason we left without a word and never returned until now.”
59
She had no clue what was going on. But the fact that Aidan, Duke, and Hack all looked slightly terrified was enough to have her stomach rolling.