Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
By that point, I no longer feared the men. They seemed like they were nice enough and if they were going to hurt me they would’ve already—plus, I didn’t think Otto would let them. I was more afraid of what was going to happen next, once they took the guns. I didn’t know why my dad had them, it must’ve been some mistake. My dad co-owned a nursery. He went to church every Sunday and Wednesday. He was a deacon for Pete’s sake. What would he do with a bunch of rifles? But part of me, deep down, knew that if he’d taken so much care to hide them he would be really angry they were gone.
I’d screwed up big time. This was probably the type of emergency that constituted using that phone I’d left inside. Now, they would never let me come home.
Chapter 6
Otto
“I want you to take Esther back to town,” my dad said, stopping me by the tailgate of Rumi’s truck. “Don’t take her to your house. Go to the clubhouse. I’ll call ahead and let them know you’re comin’.”
“Why?”
“She doesn’t need to be here for this part,” he replied calmly, glancing at the back of Esther’s head in the back window. “She seems real confused, bud.”
“She’s gonna freak if I try to make her leave.”
Dad looked at me for a long moment. “You get a good look at that cabin, son?”
“Not really,” I replied. I’d glanced around, but most of my attention had been on Esther and her round belly.
“There’s no electricity,” Dad said. He paused. “I also didn’t see a generator anywhere, Otto. So, no runnin’ water either.”
I don’t know how I hadn’t put it together. I guess I was just as fucking shell-shocked as Esther seemed to be. I’d been surprised and furious that she was living in the middle of nowhere with no electricity but I hadn’t even thought about the water situation. I was from the country, I knew that you needed electricity for a well to pump water inside. I’d just been too distracted to really see the situation for what it was. No well meant no toilet. No sink. No shower. She couldn’t even wash her fucking hands.
Rage pulsed through me.
“You think they left her out here to guard the shipment?” I asked, glancing at the cab of the truck.
“Unlikely,” my dad replied with a sigh. “All we had to do was ask nicely and she showed us where the damn things were.”
“This is a fuckin’ nightmare,” I muttered. “What the fuck is even happening right now?”
“Did you know she was pregnant?” he asked flatly. “The way you’re lookin’ at her, I’m assumin’ it could be yours.”
I jerked my head up to look at him. “I had no fuckin’ clue. I used a condom.”
“Well that’s somethin’ at least.” He watched me closely. “You think it’s yours?”
My laughter was hoarse and painful. “She hasn’t slept with anyone else.”
“You sure about that?”
“Did you see her?” I asked dubiously. “That dress is a little more extreme than what she usually wears, but not much. She’s a church girl. I’m not even sure how I fuckin’ slept with her.”
“We’ll talk about this later,” Dad said ominously as Uncle Will strode toward us.
“Mouth’s bringin’ Forrest out with him.”
“That’s good,” Dad replied. “He’ll figure that shit out.”
“We shoulda recruited that motherfucker when we met him,” Uncle Will said, shaking his head. “Coulda used his expertise the last twenty years.”
“Tried to.” Dad huffed. “He wasn’t interested.”
“Shame.” Uncle Will looked at me. “So, congratulations in order?”
“What?” I looked at him blankly.
“That girl’s either got the worst growth I’ve ever seen or she’s gonna have a baby,” he said dryly. “Yours?”
“Mine,” I confirmed, trying to wrap my head around it.
Shit like that didn’t happen. I’d been having sex for years and I’d always been careful. I didn’t get women pregnant. I was careful. Never went without a condom. Ever.
“That complicates shit,” Uncle Will mused.
“Told him to take her back to the clubhouse,” my dad said. “She doesn’t need to be sittin’ here in the cold while we figure this shit out.”
“She shouldn’t be out here at all,” Uncle Will countered. “How the fuck did she end up here? She tell you?”
“She hasn’t said much,” I replied. “Beyond askin’ me to call her dad so we could clear everything up and she could go back inside.”
“You’re shittin’ me.”
“Nope.”
“Hell, Molly isn’t even that naïve.”
“I don’t think she’s got any idea what’s goin’ on,” I said with a sigh. “She barely seems rattled. It’s like she thinks it’s some big misunderstandin’.”
“Christ,” my dad muttered.
“Woods are fuckin’ wired,” my brother Rumi called out incredulously, jogging toward us.
“Say what?” I barked.
“No shit, man,” he said as he reached us. “About fifty feet in. These are some paranoid motherfuckers.”
“Get her out of here, Otto,” my dad said, his voice vibrating with anger. “Go now.”