Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 160041 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160041 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
Atlas’s eyes widen, and he drops the book on the floor, then swiftly picks it up again. “No.”
“Oh. Well, maybe he wanted to protect you,” Orion says.
Atlas’s nostrils flare. “You know what? Maybe he was right. I … I gotta go.”
He takes off before I can say another word, and I watch as he disappears through the library doors.
“That was an odd conversation,” Orion says.
“Tell me about it,” I reply.
I focus on the computer and search for the names until I find the guy I watched her take out in the alley. Paul Lockley. Nurse in the elderly care. Looks like a regular old dude, yet she butchered him like he was the shit stuck underneath her shoe.
He’s part of the Bones Brotherhood.
Just like all the others.
But why is she targeting them?
I search the next few numbers until I find Perry, the drug seller I brought to her.
He works as a pharmacist at a private hospital in Crescent Vale City.
Oh fuck.
My skin erupts into goose bumps.
They work at hospitals with sick people who can be easily displaced.
I feel sick to my stomach.
“This is it,” I mutter. “I was right. It’s a hit list. And she’s targeting the Bones Brotherhood.”
Orion steals my phone out of my hand and sends the picture I took to himself.
“Hey!”
“What? We’re in this together now,” he says. “For better or worse.”
I snatch my phone back from him. “I promised her I would keep it to myself.”
“She already knows I’m involved.”
I swipe down until I find another pic with different phone numbers, and I type in one of them to find a name.
Jim “Jimmy” Farrell. Taxi driver who works for a company that does daily trips … to the remote, private hospital.
“Holy shit.”
“What?”
I run my fingers through my hair. “It’s all connected. All of them.”
“How?”
“That hospital. They all work there or used to work there.”
My whole body feels like it’s on fire.
“Him.” I tap my finger on the screen. “This is her next target.” A smile slowly forms on my lips. “And we’re going to find him for her.”
Suddenly, my phone buzzes, so I take it out of my pocket and check the messages.
Aspen: earth to Xav, did you forget the family dinner is tonight? You didn’t check in when Mom asked for a time.
“Shit,” I mumble to myself. “It’s my sister. Family dinner is tonight, so we’ll have to reschedule.”
“Aw, bummer,” Orion replies.
Me: Great. Thx for the reminder.
Aspen: YW. U gonna bring Sunny and shock our family?
The mere mention of her name still makes me squeeze my ass cheeks together.
Me: Absolutely not
Aspen: Y? You got cold feet?
I don’t even have to be near her to know my sister is gloating.
Me: And who was it again that couldn’t admit to being in love with Levi for a whole ass decade?
Aspen: That’s different.
Me: Yeah, thought so
I snort to myself.
Aspen: I’m being serious tho. You should tell her.
Me: I don’t have a death wish. C U tonight.
I tuck my phone back into my pocket and take a deep breath. Guess our killer plans will have to wait.
Sunny
After finishing a few of my classes for the day, I head out of the main Spine Ridge University building together with Delilah and my other friends, but I stop in my tracks from the ruckus up ahead near the Tartarus House.
“What’s going on?” Delilah asks.
Frowning, I reply, “I don’t know.”
And I don’t like not knowing what’s going on one bit.
We speed-walk toward the Tartarus House, and I clench my bag tightly as I push through the crowd to see what’s actually happening there, but I stop in my tracks the second I spot the police tape being wrapped around the porch.
Several cops are marking off spots on the ground and taking photographs, and my otherwise calm demeanor in public is shot to bits.
Someone talked.
Dean Felix barges through the people beside me and stops right in front of two officers. “What is going on?”
“This is an active crime scene as of now.”
He frowns. “Why was I not informed of this beforehand?”
“Because we do not want to give anyone the opportunity to cover up.” A familiar voice makes all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Foley.
He casually strolls out of the rose garden with a notebook in his hand and a pen in the other, and the absolute gall of the smirk that slowly forms on his face when he sees Felix’s fury makes me fall only that much harder for him.
This fucker … he’s truly got a death wish going up against the Riveras.
“Since your campus is obviously not a safe haven,” he adds.
“Nonsense,” Felix rebukes, and he points at Foley’s chest. “You’d better have a good explanation for this. We agreed to active police protection, not taping off entire sections of the campus. This is outrageous, and you fucking know it.”