Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 62923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
“About time you said something,” Remi muttered, but a soft smile curved his lips. “Tonight was fun, yeah? Oh, the things I’d planned on us doing when we got back to the hotel.”
“Yeah, tonight was fun. You’re always fun.” Ryder felt tears threaten to fall from his eyes.
“I am, for absolute sure, a big fat rolling ball of excitement; never a boring moment, right?” Remi said. “Too much excitement?”
“Never!”
“Rat girl! What the fuck are we doing?” Remi demanded irritably, dropping the conversation between him and Ryder.
Then he was quiet, and Ryder watched as, after a few seconds, his mouth opened in amazement. “Oh, shit! 3724 Lazy L Road! Did you get it? That’s the address on the mailbox! Oh, fuck! That’s the address! That’s where we are!”
“Jeremy?” Ryder asked.
“Oh, hell, yeah; I heard him!” Jeremy answered. Elation oozed through the phone lines. “There’s no fucking way the captain can fire you after this!”
“Come on, rat girl! Let’s get back to the car; help is on the way!” Remi giggled with excitement and then raised his hand to cover over his mouth, like he was embarrassed. In the process, he tugged his hand away from Mary, breaking their connection.
“No!” she screamed. “Stay with me, Remington!”
She grabbed his hand back, but Ryder could tell by the look on her face that she’d lost him. Her eyes quickly raised to look at Ryder. “Don’t let go, Ryder. You’re the only connection now. You’re going to have to pull him out. He can’t be there when that train hits the car.”
“We have the address, though. The train isn’t going to hit the car,” Ryder argued, but kept a death grip on Remi’s hand.
“Seven minutes,” Remi said quietly. “We’re back in the car and the timer says seven minutes. You’re sending help, right, Ryder? Help’s on the way, right?”
He sounded desperate again. “Kris is losing her shit right now. We can hear the train whistle; it’s so fucking close. Is it early? Should we be able to hear the whistle already?”
“The closest car is seventeen minutes out, Ry.” Jeremy said quietly. “There’s nobody close enough to get there. He said seven minutes, didn’t he?” His fingers started typing again. “I’m going to try and contact the railroad, but I don’t think I’ll be able to get through to them fast enough.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Ryder muttered in disbelief. Remi had done everything, and they still weren’t going to be able to get to Kris in time.
Mary nodded at Ryder as a tear slipped down her cheek. “Bring him out, Ryder. It isn’t safe.”
“You did so good, baby,” Ryder said as he leaned over to kiss Remi’s forehead. “So fucking good. I need you to come back to me now, okay? Come back. Help’s on the way.”
“Can’t leave,” Remi answered with a frown. “I can’t leave her. I know she doesn’t know I’m here, but I can’t just desert her.” He raised the hand that Mary had been holding and moved it like he was touching someone. “I wish I could comfort her, but she doesn’t feel my touch. I want to be able to tell her it’s going to be okay.”
“I need you back here with me now, Remi,” Ryder said. He tried to keep the panic from his voice but knew he hadn’t been successful. With his phone still on speaker, he could hear Jeremy talking to different people as he desperately tried to come up with a solution…when they all knew one didn’t exist.
“What’s wrong, Ryder?” Remi asked quietly. “I can hear it in your voice; tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing’s wrong, Boy Wonder. Come back to me,” Ryder urged.
“Five minutes, Ryder. Where are they?” Remi demanded.
“Tell him you love him, Ryder,” Mary demanded. “Tell him you love him, and you need him with you.”
Ryder’s eyes snapped up to look at Mary. Her gaze softened.
“You do realize you love him, right? Men can be so silly about these things. You’ve loved him since you first saw him. Why deny it?” Her gaze dropped to Remi. “He’s going to need all your love. This will hurt him. Badly. He worked so hard to save this girl’s life. He’ll blame himself.”
Mary was right; Ryder was in love with Remi…always had been. He was so tired of trying to fight it.
“Remi, I love you, baby. I’ve been wrong to try and keep us apart. I was afraid, but I’m not any more. I love you. Come back to me, Remi. I can’t live my life without you in it.”
“Four minutes,” Remi whispered. “They aren’t going to make it, are they?” Tears slipped from the corner of both his eyes. “How dare you tell me you love me right now? I’m going to kick your ass for that…so not fair.”
He turned his head and Ryder knew he was probably looking at the girl in the car, the one about to lose her life regardless of how hard he’d tried to save her.