Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 64910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Meaning, if we went down, she would go no matter what, because I wouldn’t have her where I needed her. Against me.
She gasped at the move, and then slowly, hesitantly, her arms went around me exactly how I wanted them to.
“Now, which way did I need to go?” I asked.
She started to lift her hand from my chest, but I held it steady.
“Just talk to me, beautiful.”
So she did.
Turn by turn, until we arrived at the Airbnb she was renting.
It was a nice place on a shady, tree lined cul-de-sac.
The worst house on the block was hers, and that was only because the yard needed mowed, and the weeds that were notorious for growing an inch in a day obviously chose this day to do it.
I pulled into the driveway and stared at the front door.
It was closed, but the glass windows on either side of the door had been boarded up.
This was obviously where she’d been assaulted.
Anger once again rose in my chest, and I stared at it for long moments.
Dory got off the back of the bike and slid to the ground, pulling off the purple helmet as she did.
Placing it on the back seat where her ass had previously occupied, she started toward the front door.
“No,” I called to her. “Let me go look first.”
She shot me a look over her shoulder, but I shrugged it off.
“It’s happenin’, darlin’,” I said. “I’m going to make sure that it’s clear before you get in there poking around.”
She stayed out on the porch while I made a round of the house.
The place was cute.
Way cuter than I would’ve thought she could find in a town as small as Accident, Florida.
Something in which I found an answer to moments later when I went back out on the porch to hear her soft voice saying, “I can’t believe it, either. I mean, this is the nicest neighborhood in Accident. How does this happen?”
“I’ll bet it was the little shit on the corner,” someone, a woman, said. “The thug that lives there was in jail.
“Wake didn’t do this,” came Dory’s soft reply. Always so soft. Even in anger like it was now. “He may have just gotten out of jail, but he’s the one who saved me.”
That was news to me.
“Baby,” I called as I headed back into the foyer to find an elderly couple on the porch. “You can come inside now.”
“You her young man?” the woman asked.
“The one that’s left her living by herself for the last four and a half months?” The male of the pair narrowed his eyes on me.
Dory’s lips twitched as she headed toward me. “Gladys, Fred. This is my husband, Bram. He’s been away for the last four and a half months.”
Liar.
“Nice to meet you,” I said to them both. “Thank you for taking care of her while I was away.”
“You’re welcome.” Gladys beamed.
“Well, it’s been a really hard day for her, so I’m gonna get her in bed,” I said. “Thank you for checking on her, though.”
After saying our goodbyes, we went inside of the house to find it cold and empty.
The place was great on the outside, but the inside was sparse, denoting it a BNB, and definitely not a place where someone lived often.
She walked to the couch and took a seat, her breath leaving her upon hitting the soft cushions.
“What guy were you talking about when I came out there?” I asked.
She looked at me stubbornly. “He didn’t do it.”
I took the seat at the coffee table and said, “I think I, of all people, know better than to say anything about anyone’s actions. How about you tell me exactly what happened, so I can have some idea of what’s going on right now.”
She blew out a hard breath that caused the frizzy hair on either side of her face to blow away from her face before saying, “I go on a walk every morning. I like to go before it gets too hot. Today, I walked out like usual, turned to lock the door behind me, and was hit from behind. One second I was standing, and the next I was curling in on myself to avoid blows. The man down the street was running when he heard me cry out. He came up and scared whomever it was away but was stuck staying with me rather than chasing him down.”
Secretly, I was glad that he’d stayed. I wouldn’t have wanted her to be alone.
“Has anything strange been going on lately?” I asked. “Has anything happened that would’ve provoked that?”
Had her brother been alive, I might’ve seen it coming. But since I knew he was dead…
“Nothing.” She shook her head.
I sighed. “Did anyone else see it happen?”
She shook her head again, her eyes getting heavy. “Not that the police officers knew of.”