Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 70628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“Captain,” Buck says.
“Moreno.” From my father.
He’s wearing fatigues and army boots. Buck is wearing jeans and army boots.
I’m wearing shorts and running shoes.
Running shoes…
They sure as hell didn’t save me that day, but maybe they’ll save me today.
“Little tree,” Dad says, “Moreno and I are going in. You and whoever that is stay out here. Keep your gun on her.”
“I’m going in, Dad.”
“Your father’s right,” Buck says. “Let us go in first.”
“I’m not some soft woman you have to coddle.”
“We know that, little tree. Still, I’m your father. It’s my job to protect you. I failed you in the past, but I will do it today.”
I sigh. “All right, Daddy. Please… Please stay safe. Keep Buck safe. And yourself,” I turn to Buck. “Don’t you dare let anything happen to my father. Or yourself.”
25
BUCK
I knock hesitantly on the door.
“Moreno?” Luke’s voice.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
A click of the lock, and then the door opens.
Luke stands there, dressed in all black. He looks at Darnell. “Who the hell is this?”
“Aspen’s father.”
“What’s he doing here?”
“You can speak directly to me,” Darnell says, his voice low. “This concerns me as much as it does the rest of you. She’s my little girl.”
“He’s good.” I say to Luke. “He’s a former SEAL, like I am.”
“Which is more than you are,” Darnell says. “Being an ex-criminal.”
“Emphasis on the ex,” Luke says.
“I use the ex only out of respect for what you’ve done for my daughter. Once a criminal, always a criminal in my book.”
Jesus Christ. Darnell’s not helping himself, though I can’t fault his logic. I don’t like Luke either.
“Forget it,” Luke says. “There’s nothing we can do about it now. You know why we’re here. Get in here.”
I go in first, followed by Darnell.
“Aspen’s outside with Nancy Mosely,” I tell Luke.
“Okay. Good enough. I’ve got Pollack here.”
“Where’s Katelyn?”
“She’s back at the beach house, under constant guard.”
“I thought you said she’s the one who got him to talk.”
“She did. Via a secure channel on the phone. I wouldn’t bring her here.” He looks me over.
Is he fucking judging me? For bringing Aspen here? What the hell choice did I have?
“I don’t like that look you’re giving me.”
“I don’t like it either.” From Darnell.
“Look, you don’t have to like it. I don’t have to like either of you. We’re all here for the same reason: to bring these motherfuckers down.”
I guess I have no argument there. Neither does Darnell, apparently.
“Follow me,” Luke says.
We go into a back room.
A man sits tied to a wooden chair, his mouth covered in duct tape. He’s an older guy, nothing remarkable about him except for…
His eyes. They’re such a light brown that they’re almost yellowish.
“That’s Pollack?” I say.
“The one and only,” Luke says. “Or Ice Man, as Katelyn calls him.”
“Why does she call him that?”
“Trust me,” Luke says. “You don’t want to know.”
Chris Pollack is a middle-aged man, grayish and balding. From his build I can tell he was once muscular, but now? He’s let himself go.
Both of his eyes are bruised, most likely from Luke. Bummer. I would’ve liked to do it myself.
“This is the man who killed Gloria Delgado and Brian Hansen,” Luke says. “He admitted it.”
I walk up to him and force myself not to clock him in his smug little head. “You fucking son of a bitch.”
Pollack says nothing, of course. His mouth is strapped with duct tape. But he does flinch slightly.
Good.
“So what’s his connection to Greg Wallace?” I ask.
“He’s the one who ratted him out,” Luke says.
“Right,” I say. “That’s why you’re walking around as a free man, isn’t it, Ice Man? You turned canary on your friends.”
Pollack grunts against the duct tape.
“Yeah,” Luke says. “Apparently, he negotiated his freedom by turning over several of the men who went to the island. That’s why Wallace is in jail. He didn’t have enough money to buy his own damned freedom.”
“And neither did you, huh, Pollack?” I say. “You bought yours on the hides of your friends.”
He grunts against the tape again.
I walk toward him and rip it off, hoping it hurts like hell.
He coughs and sputters.
“Start talking.”
Darnell pulls out the Glock that he’s holding at his side. “That’s right. Start talking.”
“Already told him everything.” Pollack glances at Luke.
“We want to hear it again,” I say.
“And we want to hear it now.” From Darnell.
“I—”
Darnell hits him over the head with his pistol. “Let me make one thing clear. That little girl out there? Aspen Davis? She’s my daughter. I don’t know if you did anything to her on that island, and I don’t really care. I’m going to see you to your grave anyway. But not until you talk.”
“Why should I talk to you if you’re going to kill me anyway?”
“Because I might make you suffer a little less if you cooperate.”
I get what Darnell’s doing. Apparently Pollack already told Luke everything, but Darnell is full of rage, full of the need for revenge. Just like his daughter is.