Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85569 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85569 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
I watched the door lock before I left. Just as I was strolling through the living room, however, the hairs on the back of my neck stood. Just then my phone began to ring, but I didn’t really need to pick up to understand what was going on.
They were here.
The last place I wanted to deal with them was inside the house. First, I sent Anya a text.
ME: The video feed is going to go down for a few minutes for maintenance. So don’t worry if the screens go blank.
ANYA: Okay, Daddy.
As soon as I got her message, I remotely switched off the video feeds. No need for Anya to see what was going to happen next. Then I grabbed my duffel bag and rather than exit the house, I sprinted upstairs. They followed and one of them spoke, quite confident and leisurely I might add.
“This cat and mouse game you’re playing,” he said. “You know how this is going to end, right?”
I disappeared into the secret panel door and waited for them to come up the stairs. When I heard their footsteps just outside my hiding place, I hit the remote and triggered the first booby trap. It hit one of them. The one that escaped screamed like a girl with shock and fear. I popped out and fired one shot. My gun had a silencer and it barely made a sound. The axe booby trap had got the bigger guy squarely in his head and cleaved cleanly through his brain. I recognized him, Looney Lenny. I had shot the other in his shoulder. I did not recognize him. He was dark-haired and in his thirties. He staggered backwards, shocked and in so much pain he couldn’t help but grunt like a stuck pig.
“You just killed one of the Don’s best men, you’re a dead man walking,” he shouted as he stumbled and fell on his back.
I stood over him.
“You won’t get away with this, you fucking monster,” he cursed.
“Monster?” I asked. “If I was such a monster, then why I am of a mind to send you to the hospital now? Unlike your … partner, you still have a fighting chance … but that will depend on how you respond to my questions.”
He continued to groan, the blood seeping out of his shoulder onto my new floors. It was going to be a bitch to clean.
“What is it? What do you want to know?” he muttered. He was becoming pale with blood loss.
I smiled darkly. “Where’s that old fool?”
He shut his eyes at the pain and he relayed the information to me. “His house. He’s at his main house, okay?”
It was just as I expected. “Thanks,” I said.
He was looking at me with wide eyes. All the earlier adrenaline-rush-bravado was gone. I stared down at him and considered sparing him, but then, I changed my mind and pointed the gun straight at his head.
“No … no, no, no,” he pleaded.
But it was too late. My heart had turned to stone. I pulled the trigger. “Back to hell, where you belong.”
Chapter 52
Montana
I paced the kitchen floor restlessly. What the hell was happening in our little town? Something bad. And it was connected to Cole. I could feel it with every fiber of my soul.
“What’s going on, Montana? How did you end up in a fight at the festival? It's all everyone’s going to be talking about for the next month or two. Or maybe even forever.”
“Dad, that's not it.” I groaned and continued to pace.
The phone rang and my dad ambled off to answer it. He returned a few minutes later. The adrenaline was rushing through my veins and I was still pacing the floor like a caged tiger.
“Your aunt called,” he said. “She wanted to know if you’re all right. Apparently, Jeb’s son had to be sent to the hospital in Stormy City. Damn kid says you kicked him in the nuts. He’s demanding compensation. This could have gone very, very badly for you, Montana. How the hell did things get to this? Can you please tell me what’s going on?”
I stopped then and stared at him, too much in a bad mood and confused state of mind to feel apologetic.
“What happened? He attacked me. That’s what happened! He made a sexual threat, and then he grabbed my hand till it hurt and wouldn’t let me go. What did you want me to do? Give in to him?”
Dad looked shocked then red-faced with fury. “What about all those other men?”
“I have no idea where they came from, but they were with him. If those other men had not arrived and beat the living shit out of the first lot, who knows what would have happened.”
“We have to report this to Sheriff Johnson,” my father said angrily. “How dare Jeb’s son attack my daughter. Who the hell does he think he is?”