Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 105506 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105506 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
“Mommy issues.” I shook my head. “How predictable,” I scoffed.
Pain exploded in my cheek as he backhanded me.
I’d never been hit before. Sure, I’d been raped, but he’d at least drugged me first. A proper gentleman dirtbag. Being hit in the face hurt. My brain rattled in my skull, the pain serving as a stark reminder of how serious this situation was.
This wasn’t a game. This wasn’t some fucking true crime documentary I was watching with a bottle of cheap wine. I was living this.
I spat out blood and glared at him. “Not even man enough to punch me? Figures.”
I waited for him to explode, for what reason, I didn’t know. Maybe so he’d go into a frenzy and kill me quickly? Was I that ready for death? No. I was just more terrified of the alternative.
For a second, he looked like he might just end it all here. His face was pink with rage, his fists clenched at his sides, and his mouth was curved into a gruesome scowl.
But then it all just … went away.
In a blink, his hands relaxed at his sides, his shoulders slackened and his expression turned blank. Cold.
My heart was in my throat, and my skin began to crawl from his eyes on me. He looked like a reptile. Heartless. Soulless.
“No,” he answered calmly, reaching over to his unrolled set of torture implements. He picked up a knife that glinted in the light. “We’re going to do this right.”
CHAPTER
SEVEN
COLBY
I was coming out of my skin.
But I was doing a real good job of hiding it.
I was aware of every second that went by. Every second we didn’t have her was a second he had her. And we’d seen the crime scene photos, we’d seen what he did to women.
“We’ve got Wire on the line,” Hansen said as we sat down at the table.
We’d already gone to the fucking sheriff. Although we each hated the fuck, we needed as many eyes out looking for Sariah as possible. But the fuck was nowhere to be found. Luckily, the deputies were loyal to us and were already scouring the town for her.
They probably wouldn’t find her.
Wire, our hacker, was our best chance.
“Okay, so no leads on who took her, but I know why he took her,” Wire’s voice came through the speaker, talking rapidly as was characteristic to him. “Sariah Cardoso is also known as Daisy Sunderland online,” he continued. “She’s actually quite famous in the cam world. Has tens of thousands of monthly subscribers.”
My stomach bottomed out. I knew every person in the room was looking at me, but I kept my gaze on the phone.
Even though I knew nothing about fashion, I paid very close detail to everything she wore. I understood that she wore expensive shit. Understood that she had diamonds dangling off her ears. She drove a nice fucking car. Went to an Ivy League school and carried herself in a way that I’d connected with people who came from money.
“But her parents…” I trailed off. Both Violet and I had assumed her parents were rich, Sariah had mentioned it a couple of times. Why would we believe anything else?
“Her parents live in Utah,” Wire said. “Still paying off their thirty-year mortgage. Her dad owns a furniture store that barely breaks even. Mom is a teacher. They barely make enough month to month to stay afloat.”
I clenched my fists on top of the table. Sariah’s life was unraveling before my fucking eyes. These were details she should’ve told me. Details I should’ve coaxed out of her, preferably while she was naked.
“Okay, so she fits his victim profile,” Hansen grumbled, eyeing me.
“Yeah, she does,” Wire agreed. “She’s also been digging into this guy. Her hacker friend has found shit on him that not many people have. Impressive, really.”
“So have you got any fucking idea where she is?” I demanded, not needing to hear about Wire’s technological hard-on for another hacker.
“Negative,” Wire responded. “But I’ll find her.”
Hansen ended the call.
The room was thick with silence.
Yes, we’d find her.
But everyone in the room knew that time was running out to find her breathing.
Violet was in labor. I’d known about it for some time, yet she’d fucking made me promise to keep my mouth shut. That went against everything inside me. Everything that cared for Violet and respected her husband.
But I was barely able to think straight, and she’d tugged on my need to find Sariah.
I’d kept my mouth shut as long as I could.
Until it became really fucking obvious what was going on.
She was now refusing to go to a hospital.
Elden was like a caged fucking animal. Swiss was pacing. The woman, unsurprisingly, remained calm.
We were at church once again, with fucking nothing. No word from the sheriff. No leads on Sariah. Fucking nothing.
It had been hours.