Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 64362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
“That’d be Emmett with the signal to leave,” he said. “No more time.”
I opened my mouth to tell him to stop dragging me around when he took a book from the shelf and pulled it out slightly. There was a faint click, and Brady moved us back as the bookcase began to swing open. I stared at it, wide-eyed.
What the hell?
He forced me to move with him into the dark passageway that had appeared. Once we were inside, the bookcase began to close instantly. I could barely make out anything in the darkness, but Brady moved us through the narrow passage quickly, turning without slowing. He had to have every inch memorized to keep this pace without light to see the way.
“Stop pulling so hard,” I hissed at him.
“If ye obeyed requests, I wouldn’t have to,” he replied.
“More like demands.”
“It’s just ahead,” he told me.
As if I knew what was just ahead. He’d told me little. I didn’t know where we were going.
“How are we going to disappear?” I asked, almost having to jog to keep up with his pace.
“Eamon wasn’t the only one with a double life,” he replied. “Steps here. Be careful.”
Steps? How was I supposed to see them?
He slowed some for my sake, I assumed, as we went down a flight of stairs, then continued a bit longer before he stopped.
“Stand still,” he told me, then let my wrist go.
I could barely make out him moving, and it seemed like he was climbing up a short ladder. Then I heard a faint creaking sound as an opening appeared over our heads and the moonlight flooded the space. It was wider than I’d realized. The narrow passage must have changed at some point.
Emmett appeared above us as Brady moved back.
“Go on up,” he told me.
Not wanting to stay down here any longer than necessary, I went to the ladder and climbed the three rungs. Then Emmett held out a hand to help me out. Reluctantly, I gave it to him, and he lifted me up and onto the grass before letting me go. I looked around to see we were in a thicket of trees. It had to be somewhere on the property.
“Take this,” Emmett said, handing me a raincoat.
It wasn’t raining at the moment, but the cold, damp air warned that it would return soon. My heels sank into the moist ground as I waited on Brady to climb out of the hole.
He grinned brightly at Emmett. “Not the best ending to the evening.”
Lore smirked at him.
“Let’s go then,” Brady said, swinging his gaze to me.
“How far are we walking? These shoes aren’t ideal for a wet, soppy ground,” I complained.
“Aye,” he said, frowning down at them. “Not far, but I can carry ye.”
He took a step toward me, and I almost fell on my butt, trying to back away from him.
“Don’t even think about it,” I warned him. “I’ll take them off if I have to.”
He shrugged. “Suit yerself then.”
Both men began walking, and I managed to walk on my tiptoes enough to keep my heels from being sucked into the ground. Brady glanced back to make sure I was following several times while he talked in hushed whispers to Emmett. Thankfully, he had told the truth about it not being a long walk. A basic black sedan—nothing elaborate or flashy about it and definitely not a luxury line—sat on a deserted road that appeared to be wide enough for only one vehicle.
Emmett reached it first and opened the back door. Brady waved for me to get in first, and once I did, the door closed behind me. I watched as Brady walked over to the driver’s side, and Emmett climbed into the passenger seat. That was different.
When both men were in the car, Brady started it up and then glanced over at Emmett. “Who am I?”
I frowned. What kind of question was that?
“Edmund Harris. Age thirty-two, shopping for homes with yer fiancée. Yer from a, uh, Fultondale, Alabama.” Emmett shrugged. “I think I said it right. But yer fiancée has a sick grandfather who she wants to move close to. Yer a software engineer. Yer fiancée’s name is Annabeth Jones, and she was a fifth-grade math teacher, but ye decided it’s time for her to stay home and have a baby.”
Brady looked back at me and grinned. “Well, I’ll be damned,” he said with a Southern drawl so authentic that I gaped at him. “I’d have rather been from Tennessee. I like that accent better. It’s a hella lot more fun, but Bama will do. Can I get a Roll Tide?”
What. The. Fuck?!
17
Tex
The call to meet with Marlana Newbury at Pepper’s bar came before sunrise, but I hadn’t been asleep.
I rarely slept. The sheets that I refused to have changed no longer held her scent. It was the only way I could lie in that bed without her there. Knowing I could smell her. Now that it was gone, I couldn’t stand to get in it. I’d slept on the sofa during the little bit of rest I had managed for the past five nights.