Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 78696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Something I hadn’t known, and had told him so.
You read too many books. The government can do anything it fucking wants to.
“Hey, honey bee. I know you’re not going to like this, so I’m just going to cut to the chase,” my father said without preamble. “A little girl is missing in the woods behind our house. Their boat capsized when they hit an exposed tree stump in Lake Caddo.”
My heart plummeted.
I knew what he was going to ask me even before he asked me.
“I’ll be there,” I whispered.
I changed into a sturdy pair of jeans, knee length snake boots, grabbed my shotgun off the wall over the door, and strolled out of the door with my phone to my ear.
“Hello?” Remy answered, sounding groggy.
“I need to borrow your handheld GPS…and you if you’re here,” I said quickly as I hurried down the sidewalk to my car.
I loved my car.
It wasn’t the best in the world, now that it was over five years old, but it was mine.
I’d bought it used. Now it was what I would consider ‘well used.’
I yanked the door open, dropped into the seat, and immediately started my baby up.
“Yeah,” Remy said, sounding clearer. “I’m at home taking a nap. But I can go with you when you get here.”
I nodded. “I’m already on my way. A little girl’s missing in the woods behind my dad’s place…they think.”
“Shit,” he hissed. “I have to call the neighbor over to watch the girls, but I should be ready when you get here. The GPS is charged, thank God.”
He didn’t say a word about the fear he knew I was experiencing.
He would know.
Hell, everyone in the town would know.
But I knew those woods like the back of my hand.
My father had over fifty-five acres that spanned the length of Caddo, and Remy and I had explored them relentlessly when we were children.
In fact, other than my father, the two of us were probably the best bets at finding the child.
I just hoped I didn’t have to get near the water.
That really wasn’t something I wanted to do if I could help it.
At least it was daylight and sunny.
It could’ve been way worse.
Like raining…and being fifteen again worse.
The moment I pulled into Remy’s driveway, he was in my passenger seat, slamming the door behind him.
I backed out and waved to his girls as I nearly peeled out of the parking lot.
“Shit,” Remy said, pulling a shirt on over his naked chest. “You don’t have to drive like that when I’m not buckled in.”
I snorted.
This was a usual argument for us.
Remy didn’t like not being in control.
It must be a man thing or something.
A man argument I would never win with Griffin, because Griffin would’ve just manhandled me into the passenger seat before he rode anywhere in the passenger seat.
“Did your dad give you any more details?” He asked once he buckled his belt.
I shook my head.
“No. He was pretty short. Like usual,” I answered.
My father was a hardworking man at a steel plant in town.
He was the man that supervised the workers over night.
He’d been just a peon when he first started, but had graduated to the man that everyone feared, with not a little hard work and a lot of determination.
Which meant he should be sleeping right now instead of looking for a lost kid.
There was no way he wouldn’t have done his bit to help find the girl, though.
He was a good man.
However, after what had happened to the two of us, he’d gotten downright overprotective of not just me, but everyone.
When it came to water and boater safety, he was the man you didn’t want to catch when you weren’t following boater safety rules.
Idly, wondered if the person that’d been driving the boat that capsized had done something stupid.
“Let me borrow your fingernails to open this piece of shit to replace the batteries,” Remy said, handing the handheld GPS over to me. “It’s not turning on. Good thing I brought extra batteries.”
I took it from him, ignoring the way my body reacted to the word ‘batteries,’ and drove with my knee as I pried the back of the GPS open with my fingernails.
Once opened, I handed it back just in time to make the turn into my parent’s driveway.
I wasn’t surprised to see nearly half the town there.
The only ones that weren’t there were the ones that worked out of town.
And front and center, was Mr. Griffin Storm and his motley crew.
Even Alison was there, causing me to smile.
I really liked Alison, even though she reminded me of my mother more than most.
“Your man’s here,” Remy said, getting out.
He had his belt undone, and he tucked his shirt into his pants before doing the zipper and the belt up moments after.
My eyes, however, stayed on Griffin as he took in Remy, then me.
His mouth got hard, and he turned his back to me, pissing me right the heck off.
I staunched the desire to go to him, and instead walked to my dad who was talking to the Sheriff.
“Dad,” I called, hurrying to him. “You ready?”
He nodded. “Ready. You’re taking a small group. Glad to see Remy’s here. He can take another. I’ll take one as well, and the rest of these people can just spread out from there. Sound good?”
I nodded, and started to move towards the woods when I realized someone was behind me.
I didn’t have to turn around to know it was Griffin.
I could feel his body. It was like I’d stuck my finger in a light socket whenever he was in my general vicinity.
“We’ll stick with her since we’re not used to these woods,” Griffin’s deep voice said as he moved directly behind me.
I didn’t wait for my father to agree or disagree, only walked past my parents’ house and down the side yard into the woods.
I took an immediate left and followed the fence line.
“This trail will lead us around the outer edge of the property,” I told them.
The road was a little over a hundred yards away, but if we spread out, it should be covered quite well.