Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
“To da boss,” he stammered.
“And where is the fucking boss?” When he didn’t immediately answer, I slammed my fist into his gut, and his chest heaved. “I’m getting tired of the bullshit, man. Real fucking tired. Don’t make me break out the sheers.”
He looked from me to Grim, who was now standing in the doorway with his arms crossed, watching. Waiting. Ready to step in and do whatever I couldn’t.
“Da house,” the driver finally gasped. “Boss is at da house.”
“That’s more like it.” I dropped the prod as I pushed. “Where’s the house?”
“Rahling Road.”
“What’s the number?”
“I know not. I just drive.”
“Shep can get the number,” Grim interjected.
I nodded, then followed Grim back to the bar. As soon as we walked in, I made my way over to Rooks and demanded, “I need the address to the house.”
“I know the area, but I’m not sure about the exact address. I’d need Dad’s ledger to find out for sure.”
“We got no ledger.”
“I don’t know what to tell ya.” Rooks shrugged. “I can’t do much without that ledger or having access to Dad’s computer.”
“Well, today’s your lucky day.” Shep stood and pushed his laptop across the table as he said, “There’s your access.”
Rooks looked down at Shep’s laptop, and after studying it a moment, he looked back at Shep and asked, “You did this?”
“With a little help from your sister.”
“But how?”
“The how doesn’t matter,” I snapped. “Goddamn it! Find the fucking address, so we can go get Tallie!”
“Okay. Okay. Just give me a minute.” Rooks starts hammering away at the keyboard, and it wasn’t long before he announced, “29 Rahling Road.”
“About fucking time.” I grabbed Rooks by the arm and pulled him to his feet. “Let’s move.”
“Hold on.” Rooks gave me a look. “Before we go flying out of here, how did you know they wanted to see me?”
“Doesn’t fucking matter.”
“But it might.”
Grim stepped over and replied, “They left a message.”
“Where?”
“At your folks’ place.”
“Where at my folks’ place?”
“In the detective’s hand.” I snarled, “The one they shot in the fucking chest.”
“Yeah, of course they did.” Rooks let out a breath. “What did this message say?”
Grim scowled as he answered, “Send the brother.”
“What the fuck does any of this matter,” I growled. “They want you, and we’re taking you to them. End of story.”
“You might wanna rethink that.” Rooks let out a slow breath and rubbed his hands over his face like he was already nervous about what was coming. "The Volkovs are men who say what they mean and mean what they say. If they told you to send me, then that’s exactly what they expect. No more, no less."
"And you think we’re just gonna let you waltz in there alone?" I glared daggers at him. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“You don’t have a choice.” Rooks turned his sharp gaze on me. "If they see any of you, this thing will go sideways fast. I know how they work. If I go in alone, we might actually have a shot at getting Tallie back. Otherwise, this will turn into a bloodbath. You can count on it.”
“Damn.” Knowing he was right, I blew out a breath and grumbled, “Fine, but we’re going to monitor every damn move you make."
“How are you gonna manage that?”
“You’ll wear a wire.”
Rooks cursed under his breath. "You don’t need—"
"Yeah, we do,” I cut him off. “You might trust these guys to play by some code, but I don’t. You go in wired, we sit close, and if anything feels off, we move in. No arguments."
Rooks looked around at the brothers and sighed when he saw that we were all in agreement. Finally, he gave a nod and muttered, "Fine. But if they so much as get a whiff that you’re out there, we’re all screwed."
"Then don’t give them a reason to look or it’ll be the end for you and them. Cause come hell or high water, I’m getting my girl back. Count on it."
20
TALLIE
Tallie,
I don’t know how to start this because nothing I say will make this hurt any less. You’re gone, and everything feels wrong. I keep thinking I’ll turn a corner and see you standing there, smiling at me. But you’re not here. And every damn part of me misses you.
I don’t care what your father says. I don’t care what plans he’s made for you. None of that changes a damn thing. I love you, and I’ll wait for you. I don’t care how long it takes.
One day, we’ll find our way back to one another, and it’ll be just like we always talked about. We’ll have the little house in the country, far away from all this bullshit. We’ll have those goats you wanted and baby cows. We’ll have that porch with the swing. We’ll have it all. I don’t care how long it takes to get there. That’s our future, Tallie. Ours.