Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
The parking lot is still half full. Although it’s late by my standards—and I told Gabe I’d be done a lot earlier than now—it’s still a young night in vibrant downtown Lexington. My Jeep is parked in the middle row and I wave to one of my board members as she exits the lot.
Keys in hand and my mind now consumed by thoughts of what Gabe and I will be doing once I get to his house, I get a prickling sensation on the back of my neck as I get closer to my vehicle.
Something feels off and it’s nothing more than instinct as I look around the well-lit lot. I don’t see another person and no obvious signs of danger, but still… my senses are causing unease within me.
I quicken my pace, unlocking my vehicle remotely so I can jump right in. Just as I reach for the door, I hear footsteps close by. I whirl around, my heart slamming against my ribs, just in time to see a man approaching me. He’s big, dressed all in black, but the most alarming thing is that he has a black mask over his face.
There’s no spike of fear or instinct to bolt as I realize I’m about to be robbed. I mentally prepare to hand over my keys and purse, knowing he most likely wants an easy score. I’m going to give it to him with no fight but those hopes are dashed when a black Suburban pulls up behind my Jeep. The man in the mask doesn’t even look at the other car, which tells me whoever is driving behind those tinted windows is no friend of mine.
He moves with terrifying efficiency, lunging so fast, I drop my purse and keys as my hands instinctively come up to ward him off. One strong hand is behind my neck and the other clamps over my mouth, stifling any scream I might think to utter. It all happens so fast and I’m so terrified, I’m frozen to inaction.
Leaning close to me, he growls, “Don’t you dare fucking scream or I will end you.”
That seems to knock me out of my paralysis and I reflexively scream against his hand but it’s muffled and doesn’t carry. The man’s hand grips my jaw hard, causing so much pain I feel like it’s going to fracture, and tears spring to my eyes. But now my sense of self-preservation has ignited and I kick him hard in the shin. Grunting in pain, his hand loosens its grip, but before I can scream, he crosses his arm over his chest and lets a backhand fly at me. It catches me high in my cheekbone, hard enough I stumble, one leg slipping out from under me. My knee cracks into the pavement but I ignore the pain, intent on running.
I don’t act fast enough though as he grabs me by the hair and painfully pulls me up, and when I’m eye to eye with the man, I freeze again as I see the end of a pistol hovering in front of my face.
“Now,” he says softly but with such ice in his words, my bladder threatens to release. The overhead streetlamp throws most of his face in shadow, but I see he has light blue eyes that are as frosty as his demeanor. “I’m only going to say this one time. You get in that Suburban quietly and politely, and you won’t get hurt.”
“Why are you—”
Crack.
He backhands me again. Same hand, same cheek, but I don’t go down. “Let’s try this again. You are to be quiet. That means no talking. Are we clear?”
“Bellamy,” a voice says from behind my attacker and I realize the driver’s door has opened to the Suburban. Another man dressed all in black with a face mask steps out. “Don’t hit her again.”
Fury flashes in those blue eyes and I can see he doesn’t like being told what to do. Just as I can see he likes hurting people… maybe even has an affinity for women in particular. Grabbing my upper arm and squeezing so hard I can feel it in my bone, he flings me toward the other guy. The driver catches and steadies me from falling and I note he has soft brown eyes.
If I thought that would make him nicer, I’d be wrong because he also warns, “Don’t make us hurt you. That’s not our objective but we will if necessary. Do you understand?”
I blink back tears welling from fear and the pain in my cheekbone, the edge of my eye starting to swell. I nod, afraid to utter a sound.
“Good,” he says, escorting me to the back door of the vehicle. He opens it, urges me in, and the monster with the blue eyes follows me. He sits placidly, staring straight ahead as his partner gets back behind the wheel. I’m mute, frozen solid, but I can’t tear my eyes off the gun that rests casually across my captor’s thigh with the barrel pointed at me.