Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 18216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 91(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 91(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
I grit my teeth. “Absolutely.”
“Game face, angel,” Roarke nods as he and Jensen yank their masks back on.
Jensen wraps his arm around my neck. It’s not tight, and I’m leading him, but it looks rough, like he’s got me in this headlock.
“Now,” he whispers.
And I scream. Loudly—this horrible, bloodcurdling scream like something out of a slasher movie. I almost laugh as I hear gasps from the other side of the door, but I keep it together.
Oh, they’re all out there, alright.
Roarke half rips the door off its hinges when he yanks it open, and suddenly, we’re facing Melissa, Thad, Kelly, and a few of the guys from Thad’s frat.
“The fuck is going on in—”
Thad’s eyes go wide as Roarke brandishes a wicked looking knife.
“Upstairs, dipshit,” he hisses at the frat douchebag. “Now.”
“Hang on,” Thad scowls. “Look, there’s nothing up—”
Roarke sinks a fist into his gut, doubling him over as he turns to Melissa.
“Upstairs,” he hisses. “Right the fuck now.”
“It’s…” She stumbles, her face white. “It’s just my room up there.”
“We know.”
Roarke turns, menacing me with the knife. “Do it or she’s in trouble.”
Melissa swallows, her eyes darting to me before she turns back to Roarke.
“She—take her.”
I stare at the head of the sorority, and I hear Jensen mutter “give me a break” under his mask.
“That’s some cold shit, lady,” Roarke growls at Melissa before he smiles wickedly. “Oh, and we already have taken her. You wanna be next?”
Melissa pales even more, whipping her head back and forth. “The room…it’s up those stairs. But there’s nothing in there!”
She calls after us as they start to drag me away, but they ignore her, the three of us moving for the staircase and stumbling up it.
“There’s nothing up there!” she screeches again, panic in her voice as she runs after us.
“I’m calling the cops assholes!” Thad roars.
“Go ahead,” Jensen spits back.
Thad doesn’t move. He pales too.
Oh, they’re getting it. They’re starting to understand that the shit is about to hit the fan here.
“Hey, hang on.”
Thad starts to run up the stairs after us.
“What are you—”
Jensen’s boot has Melissa’s bedroom door smashing off its hinges, and we all go piling in. They push me aside, and when they go for Melissa’s bed, she shrieks as they lift it and shove it over. Roarke’s knife slips under the seam in the carpet, lifting it easily before Jensen’s boot comes into play again, smashing in the thin wooden door under it. They scrabble, tossing the wreckage away before they bend and lift, muscles rippling as they both yank the mid-sized safe out of the floor and heft it to its side.
“Wait, you can’t…” Melissa’s shaking, her eyes wide and her whole face pale.
“Combination,” Jensen growls. “Now.”
She numbly shakes her head. “No, no way—”
Roarke is up and across the room in a quarter second, slamming Thad into the wall and then shoving the blade against his neck.
“Twenty-seven, thirty-eight, six!” the douchebag sobs out.
Jensen turns back to the safe, spinning the dial until there’s an audible click.
Bingo.
He cranks the heavy metal door open, and pauses.
“Holy fuck,” he whispers, his brow arching. But whatever’s surprised him, he shakes it off. He pulls out the mesh sacks he’s had tucked in his jacket and starts to stuff them with giant stacks of money.
“You can’t just steal my money!”
Roarke bristles, tugging the mask up over his face just enough to show Melissa his hardened grin.
“Don't worry, sweetheart. We’re not just taking the money.”
Jensen coughs, yanking out two little black hard drives from the safe. And when her eyes drift over, Melissa’s whole face goes white.
“She—she made me!” Thad bellows in a panicked voice. “It was all her idea!”
“Shut up, Thad!” Melissa screeches back. “Okay, I’m calling the cops.”
“Don’t bother.”
Jensen stands, shoulders heaving, and I know there’s rage behind that mask.
“We’ll call them for you.” He nods at Roarke, and then turns to me. “Let’s go.”
They grab me, hauling me up as I scream. This is part of it, that they kidnap me away from here. It’s my exit strategy from this place. See, I’m registered under a fake name at the University anyways, since it was all just going to be for one semester. In fact, I’m already registered back at the state school near where we’re setting up a house.
It’s small, but it’s cozy, and it’s on a ton of land. Plus, it’s near the hospital for Evan, and it’s got a lot of space for Ellen’s painting, which she loves. And lots of privacy, for the three of us.
And that's all we need.
“Let’s go, Candy,” Roarke growls loudly. “You’re gonna be our little treat for the road on the way to Mexico.”
“Melissa!” I shriek, putting on my best panicked face. But she just looks at me, her face pale.
“I—I…”
“Do something!”
I’m just hamming it up now. Hopefully, this gives her nightmares later. But even if it doesn’t, I know jail will.