Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“We went to get tacos. Brought Valen. Followed the rules.”
“Yeah, get that. What happened then?”
“Bonnie got a text from her boss that said to come over for a minute. It was kind of on the way home. I figured it was no big deal.”
“I’m not mad at you. You’re not a prisoner here. Neither is Bonnie. But I need details.”
“I was trying to find somewhere to put the tacos. But Bonnie rushed out ahead of me and went inside. I didn’t get a chance to ask her what happened inside, why she suddenly knew something was wrong. All I knew was she came running out with a panicked look on her face, yelling for me to get inside. Then… gunshots.”
“Neither of you saw anything?” Fallon asked, looking between Valen and me.
He shook his head.
“No,” I said. “I was making my way toward the building. The shot came from the woods at the side.”
“Yeah,” Voss said. “There was a stand in the trees.”
“New?” I asked, wondering if this fuck was just an opportunist or if he’d been plotting.
“Seems like it.”
“What kind of bullet was it?” I asked, looking over at Voss.
“Not a rifle,” he said. “Small caliber. Seems like it was just an easy way not to be seen. Found a Ghillie blanket on the ground too. He was well-hidden. Wouldn’t have seen him if you weren’t looking for him. Maybe not even then.”
I felt a little better about that.
No man wanted to think he was being unobservant. Least of all someone with my history. And, of course, when I already knew there were targets on our backs.
“Bonnie didn’t say anything on the ride back here?” Fallon asked.
“She was too busy trying not to have a panic attack. Did Courtney say anything?” I asked, looking at Valen.
“Yeah, she filled in some blanks. She said she was surprised to see Bonnie.”
“But she texted—no?” I asked.
“That’s what Courtney told Bonnie. She hadn’t texted her. She hadn’t texted anyone. Her phone was missing. That was when Court said Bonnie looked like she’d seen a ghost and ran outside.”
She’d put the pieces together.
That was my girl.
So much smarter and braver than she gave herself credit for.
“Any chance there is surveillance footage at the grooming place?” Fallon asked.
“Already asked Courtney about that. There is. Facing down from the door and into the lot. But that’s it. Can’t really blame her for not wasting a feed on the woods,” Valen said with a shrug.
“Still. Go over it. See if there are any reflections or anything. Did you see anyone?”
“I was busy putting the SUV between Sully and Bonnie and the bullets,” Valen said, shrugging.
“You did the right thing,” Fallon said. “This fucking guy really has it out for you,” he said, looking at me.
“Has Hailstorm been working on my list?” I asked, suddenly really fucking over this shit.
It would be one thing if it was just me.
But this was the second time that Bonnie’s life was on the line. I wanted this done. I wanted this guy’s name. Then I wanted to pay him a little visit.
This could be all over after that.
Bonnie wouldn’t have to live in fear.
We could go back to normal lives.
Or, well, a new normal.
Because, suddenly, I didn’t imagine myself entertaining a group of women in the hot tub, doing body shots off of them, taking them to bed.
All I could see in my future nighttime activities was showing Bonnie more fun.
Then taking her to bed and falling into each other until we were both too tired to move.
Maybe I should have been feeling conflicted about that, bothered that the entire trajectory of my life had changed.
All I felt was a certain kind of rightness, though.
I guess that after watching so many of my brothers go through this exact transformation over the years, I kind of knew how it was going to go. And that they were all, invariably, happier with their women than they were before.
Why fight happy?
Especially when that happy came with fun, cozy crafts and that look of wonder every fucking time she looked at me.
“Yeah. But I’m gonna go call Chris now, tell her what’s going on. She’ll light a fire under her peoples’ asses, get some answers for us. Hopefully.”
“Good. I want this over with.”
“You and me both,” Fallon agreed. “Danny doesn’t like being on lockdown. Not with that many kids getting cabin fever. How’s your shoulder?” he asked.
“It’s fine. Known worse,” I said, shrugging.
“Let me get a look,” Nave said, coming in from the backyard, shouldering past Dezi. “Yeah, that’s not bad. You’re gonna leave it open, right?” he asked, looking between my makeshift doctors.
“Yeah,” Callow said. “Don’t wanna trap any possible infection.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen that happen,” Nave said, eyes far away for a second. “You don’t want that,” he added, looking at me.
I was reminded of the bullet wound scar on his stomach. And the fact that we didn’t know how it got there, what he’d been doing all those years away from Navesink Bank.