Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
“Theo.” Fear leached into her voice.
“She’ll be fine. She’ll be fine.” She had to be. I wouldn’t allow anything else.
I ended the call and dialed Piper again. When the voicemail answered, I rushed, “Need you to call me, Piper. Need to know you’re okay.”
I spun in a circle, not knowing what the fuck to do. Where to start. I just knew I had to find her.
I dialed Kane. It only rang once before he snapped, “What the fuck is happening?”
“Piper isn’t answering her phone. And fuck, man, Toga is here,” I grated, voice held low as I turned around in the living room.
“Toga? What the hell?”
They all knew how desperately I wanted to find him. Knew there were rumors of him reviving the Owls.
“I think he’s been here for a couple weeks. I think…” It scratched like sandpaper before I rushed, “I think he might have been the one in the SUV. Hunting me. Tracking. Looking for the perfect opportunity to strike. If he has Piper…”
I couldn’t bring myself to say it. To even think it.
“It’s okay, brother. We’ll find her. I’m heading to the bar now. I have Otto and Cash en route and on standby. River has the kids.”
“Thank fuck. Have everyone span out and look for Piper’s white Volvo. I’m going to see if Silas has a tracker on it. I’ll be back in touch.”
“Be safe,” he said.
I ended the call and turned back to Nelly.
Her face had gone ashen, and she lifted a hand to cover her mouth.
“Piper,” she quietly cried.
“It’s okay. We’re going to find her. She probably…stopped at a store.”
I wanted it to be true. But my gut told me I was only grasping for that horizon. That place where we were all supposed to finally be at peace.
Tears streaked down Nelly’s cheeks. “I need to show you something, Theo.”
“After I get back—”
“No, now.” She took the stairs faster than I imagined she could.
I bounded up them behind her.
She went straight for Piper’s bed and dragged a duffel out from under it. It was the one Piper had kept at her feet on my floorboards the night I found them wrecked in the snow. Refusing to let it out of her sight while I’d tossed the rest of their belongings into the bed of my truck.
Trepidation throbbed in my senses.
Nelly set it on the mattress and worked the code into the lock, and when it gave, she unzipped it.
I frowned at the sweaters that sat on top, but then I was getting slammed by a rogue wave of shock when Nelly pulled them out to reveal a ton of cash hidden underneath.
Stacks of it.
“She started dating the bastard one summer years back,” she rushed. “She was nineteen. Had her whole life ahead of her. I knew he was a snake the second I saw him. He didn’t even come inside, he just waited for her on the curb like he was too good for anyone. Or more like he just didn’t care. But I got the sense immediately. He was dangerous, and not just in a he would break her heart kind of way. I felt the wickedness coming off him.”
She blinked. “She was involved before she even knew what hit her. He had her act as a decoy when he robbed this poor, innocent man of all that money.” She gestured at the stacks. From a quick scan, I imagined it was at least half a million. “And the jewelry underneath.”
Alarm ricocheted through me as Nelly continued to rush through the explanation. “She didn’t know what he was up to. She had no clue, Theo, but she’s blamed herself for it for all this time. She tried to go to the police.”
Grimness took over her tone. “He sent someone to kill her, but this girl warned her about his intentions instead. Gave her this bag of money and jewelry and told her to get out of the city and never to come back. Only when Piper rushed home to warn the rest of us, Justin was already there. He had slaughtered our whole family. Her mother, father, and brother.”
Nelly’s voice cracked in pain.
In sorrow we must stand.
Horror spun through me.
Gripping.
Confounding.
I tried to remain steady.
No fucking wonder she didn’t trust anyone. No fucking wonder she carried so much grief. I was going to end this monster. End him so she would never have to be afraid again.
I needed to get out of here.
Find Toga.
Make sure Piper was safe.
But there was something about Nelly’s insistence that kept me pinned.
“I was living out in the guesthouse, and he somehow didn’t know I was there. He attacked Piper. Stabbed her twice in the back, but she fought him off and managed to get away. She grabbed me and ran with me to the car, all while that deviant tried to chase her down, shouting that he would find her wherever she went. And she’s been running ever since.”