Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75701 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75701 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
I lunge forward, wanting to save her, but my instincts stop me. Despite the shock of seeing her like that, something in me reminds me that I’m outnumbered and have no weapons.
Standing in front of her are two men. The shorter one looks to be about my height, and he is dressed in an ill-fitting navy suit and white dress shirt. In his hand is a wicked-looking knife the likes I have only seen hunters use and perhaps a few of the Hellions MC brothers wear strapped to their thighs from time to time. The angry man’s brown hair is perfectly sculpted and seems at odds with his dress clothes covered in dark red spots. It horrifies me.
The second man is much taller with darker hair and a bodybuilder frame. His thick muscles are only covered by a black T-shirt and black cargo pants. If the first guy is supposed to be the “brains” of the duo, then this guy is probably “the brawn.” It doesn’t escape me that he has a gun strapped to his waist, and there is no telling what other weapons they may have on them. The two of them could have easily come out of some poorly made mob movie.
“You should have done what we asked, Suzie,” the man growls at her. “Now, because you didn’t, I’m standing here, covered in your blood, when I have better things to do. Not to mention, I’m gonna have to trash this suit. You have any idea what it cost me, bitch?”
I gasp as he runs his knife across her stomach.
Suzie looks toward me, her eyes meeting mine at the same time her tormentors spot me.
“Run!” Suzie chokes out in a yell before the man in front of her brings his knife up and slits her throat. Her eyes never leave mine.
As the blood runs out of her, and the life leaves her body, I finally react.
Not thinking, I drop my phone in my haste as I turn and take off into the woods, my survival instinct kicking in. I run like my life depends on it because it does.
Suzie, my Suzie Sunshine. My best friend, my confidant, my baby sister is dead. Her life was snuffed out in a manner too horrific to imagine, let alone witness. Nothing will ever be able to erase the sight of my sister’s blood running so freely that it poured like a waterfall from her open throat and soaked into the ground beneath her feet.
My mind races, and my body kicks into overdrive as I continue deeper into the woods. The branches cut into my skin, but I don’t stop, don’t slow; I just run.
Before I know it, I am deep into the national park and nowhere near the trail. My ankles and knees jar harshly as I run on the uneven terrain. I even trip a few times yet somehow manage to keep myself from falling. The branches of the trees around me tear at my hair and clothes, scratching me raw, not that I’m going to complain about those scratches … ever. A little scratch is nothing compared to the horror my sister just died from.
I don’t know how long I run. I just go, sending a silent thank you to above for all the training and conditioning I do in my job.
When my muscles start to burn from overuse, and my lungs feel like they are going to explode, I stop as cautiously as I can. Listening, I don’t hear footsteps behind me. Therefore, I decide to rest and gather my bearings.
Leaning against the large tree beside me, I slow my breathing as my body comes down from the endorphins and adrenaline rush. As fatigue fills me, I drop to the ground, rest my back against the trunk of the tree, and hang my head.
Tears fall freely as I think of what I witnessed.
What was my sister involved in? Why did they have to kill her?
Thinking of the pain she endured, I want to cry out, but fear silences me.
I fist the leaves around me, letting her dying eyes haunt my mind. The agony, the pleading, and the apologies she was silently sending me all wash over me.
Time has passed in a blur. Night has now fallen, and the woods are far too dark for me to safely traverse. Exhaustion consumes me, and I find myself drifting to sleep against my will.
Chapter
4
~Hammer~
Fire. I feel a fire inside me.
Pain. This is a pain like nothing I have ever felt before.
The beeping noise beside me is giving me a headache. What the fuck did I drink last night? I have never had a hangover this bad.
Last night. My mind is blank.
Yesterday. My mind is blank.
I try to move my head. I can’t move.
Panic fills me.
I can’t move.
I struggle to open my eyes, to shift my legs, to move my hands, or to turn my head. I can’t fucking move.