Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 339(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 339(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Before I could question him, he continued. “The guard who drove you here is moving in from behind the parking lot to take care of the problem. I’m going to watch from the rear entrance in case he needs help. Promise me you’ll stay here.”
“What?” No way in hell was Ford going after those men. “You can’t go out there and—”
“I’ll do what’s necessary to keep you and your Gran safe.”
“Ford, don’t put yourself in danger.”
“I’ll be fine.”
No, he wouldn’t, not if… “The back door is set to alarm if opened.”
He shook his head. “Not anymore. I turned it off.”
“You…how?”
“I told you I have a lot of skills you don’t know about.”
“I’m coming with you.”
He sighed, but he didn’t try to stop me. We watched the guard slowly move around parked cars as he approached the men who were watching my Gran’s room.
Police sirens sounded nearby.
“Shit, did someone here call the police?” I asked.
“No, I did. Everything is under control.”
I stared at him. “You control the police too?”
“I told you, Miles has contacts everywhere. This particular problem was one that could be handled easily. However, our contacts can’t solve the whole situation for us.”
The men in the car remained focused on the building as the guard neared their location, but just before he reached them, they noticed his approach.
The taller man who sat the driver’s seat leaped from the car and fired a gun at the guard who clutched his chest as he fell backward.
Ford opened the door and took off.
“No,” I yelled, but he didn’t slow down.
The sirens were much louder now.
The passenger from the car jumped out and charged Ford, I rushed out to help him. I couldn’t stand there and let him fight for me. He might have plenty of unexpected skills, but I knew from holding him down the night before that super strength wasn’t one of them.
Before I reached him, he’d gotten the man in a chokehold. I froze as I watched him tighten his arm around the man’s neck. The guard hadn’t moved, and the driver had escaped over the perimeter wall.
I glanced back at Ford who now had the other man on his knees, his arm still cutting off the man’s air. Was Ford going to kill him? Should I try and stop him?
The man stopped fighting and went slack in Ford’s arms. Ford let him go, and he dropped to the ground.
“Is he…?”
“No, he’s just unconscious.”
We both turned toward the guard who had risen to a sitting position. I was shocked to see that there was no blood on his shirt, just a hole. He looked like he was struggling to breathe though.
“Are you okay?” Ford asked.
The man nodded. “Just…wind…knocked…out.”
“Police and paramedics are on their way.”
He shook his head. “I’m fine.”
That was when it hit me that he was wearing a Kevlar vest.
“Should we try to…?” I pointed to where the driver had escaped.
Ford shook his head. “I’m sure they have an endless supply of goons, one escaping won’t matter. We’ll see what we can get out of this one.” He pushed at the unconscious man with his foot.
“Won’t he be taken to jail?”
“He’ll be taken somewhere.”
I frowned. “What are you going to do?”
“What is Carter going to do is the question. Interrogation is not my area.”
A police car slid to stop beside us. An officer rushed out along with a man in plain clothes.
“Everything okay here?” the detective asked as the officer knelt by the injured guard.
“He’s just stunned,” Ford told him. “He was shot, but he’s wearing a vest.”
“Is this the one who shot him?” The detective pointed toward the still unconscious man.
“No, the shooter escaped. This was his accomplice. He didn’t get his weapon out in time.”
“And he passed out?” The detective asked.
Ford nodded. “Yes. He’s obviously not cut out for this line of work.”
I looked back and forth between the two of them. Ford had had the nerve to act all superior when I’d offered him a bribe, and now this. What the fuck kind of business where they running at Montgomery Enterprises?
The detective turned to the uniformed officer. “Go on in and speak to the manager. Make sure everything’s settled, everyone’s calm, and they know there’s nothing more to worry about. The situation is under control.”
“What exactly do I say if they want to know why these men targeted the facility?”
The detective turned to Ford.
“They were under the impression one of the residents had a lot of valuables with her. They won’t be back.”
The officer looked from the detective to Ford. “You heard him, go on.” The young man jogged toward the front door of the facility.
“If you don’t need anything else from us, we’re going to go.” Ford said.
The man at Ford’s feet stirred. The detective pulled cuffs from his pocket and bent to close them around the man’s wrists. “I can find out anything else I need from Carter.”