Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
The guilt I carried for failing her, for failing our daughter, broke me in ways I couldn’t imagine. It had been ten years, and I was still stuck in time. I hadn’t forgotten. I hadn’t let go. I still blamed myself, and I had a feeling I always would.
I closed my eyes and pushed the memories of that night to the back of my mind, and it wasn’t long before I finally drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, I got up earlier than usual. The sun hadn’t even come up when I went into the kitchen and made a cup of coffee. I carried it out to the porch, and it wasn’t long before Cy, an old stray Siamese cat that came by from time to time, came over to me and brushed his body against my shin. I leaned down and ran my hand down his back. “Hey there, buddy. You missing our girl?”
He gave me one of his odd little curdles, and I knew I’d gotten my answer. “Yeah, I miss her, too.”
Cy followed as I went into the house and placed my coffee cup in the sink.
I was about to go down to my office when I stopped dead in my tracks.
She was awake.
I could feel it in my bones, and by the way Cy was pacing back and forth, he could feel it, too. I glanced over at the security monitor, and just as I’d expected, the woman I’d rescued was starting to stir. Her eyes were still closed, but it was clear by the way she was moving about that she was finally coming to.
I’d been waiting for this day, and now that it was here, I wasn’t exactly sure what to do. I remembered Doc telling me to let him know when she woke up, so I took out my phone and sent him a message. I hoped he and Viper would be able to get back to me quickly because I was feeling a little apprehensive about going down to that basement by myself.
It was like Cy could read my mind as he looked up at me with those big, blue eyes and meowed. “Yeah, yeah. I know.”
He didn’t move. He just sat there silently staring at me. “I just need a minute.”
For a moment, I thought he actually understood what I was saying, but I knew that wasn’t the case. I shook my head as I muttered, “Yeah, I know. This whole thing might bite me in the damn ass.”
Without procrastinating any longer, I walked over to the front door and let Cy out, then headed downstairs. When I walked into the med room, I was surprised to see that she was fully awake and looking at me with panic in her eyes.
I couldn’t blame her for being startled. She’d just woken up from three gunshot wounds to find herself locked away in a small, concrete room with the likes of me. A man she’d last seen in Antonio DeLuca’s office. Her breathing was ragged and her eyes wide as she squirmed back on the gurney and gasped, “Who are you?”
“You’re okay. No one’s gonna hurt you.”
“What is this place?” Pure panic marked her face as she looked around the room and shrieked again, “What is this place?”
“It’s just a room in my basement. Nothing more.”
“You have an infirmary in your basement?” Before I had a chance to answer, she added, “Are you a doctor or something?”
“Or something.”
“I don’t understand. What’s going on?” Her tone grew more frantic with each and every question. “Who are you? What do you want with me?”
“The name’s Billy, and you got nothing I want.”
My response was brusque and caused her mouth to clamp shut, but she quickly shook it off and asked, “Then, why am I here?”
“I’ve been asking myself the same thing.” I had no doubt that she was hoping for an explanation, but I had none to give. I still knew nothing about her, so I asked, “You got a name?”
“You don’t know who I am?”
“I wouldn’t be asking your name if I did.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right about that. I’m Everleigh Freeman.” She lifted her hand and turned her wrist, revealing her IV. “Did you do this?”
“No, that was Doc.” I motioned my hand toward her back. “He was the one who patched you up.”
“Oh.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked down at the nightgown she was wearing—the one I’d borrowed from Kiersten’s room. “Did he do this, too?”
“That was me.”
“Oh.” She nervously raked her teeth over her bottom lip, then looked up at me with those beautiful green eyes and said, “I don’t know what to say. I’m just so confused by all this. I don’t know if I should be scared out of my mind and fearing what’s to come or grateful that you saved me.”