Total pages in book: 181
Estimated words: 171979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 573(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 573(@300wpm)
“Well, you were right. They’ve been shut down completely. Anyone who was gambling there since the attack this morning is still trying to get their money out of the machines.”
“Good. I hope no one steps foot in the Horseshoe ever again,” she said with no remorse as she showed the same respect to Justice when the head of his avatar landed in her crosshairs.
“Dammit,” Justice huffed. “You got me.”
Grabbing a Twizzlers from the now half-eaten bag, she placed the end of the red twisted candy in her mouth and tore it. “Up for another one?”
A yawn could be heard through the mic. “It’s pretty late. I got work in the morni—”
“Oh, come on, Justice. We have to at least break the tie.”
“Fine,” he gave in. “One more. But I mean it; that’s it.”
Tearing off another bite of her stick, she began setting up the next game and taking out some of the health and other helpful items on the map to make it harder. They had been playing all afternoon and into the night, but she was going to make this one count.
She was about to press Start on the game when she first heard it. When she looked out the window, the flashing blue and red lights off in the distance told her she wasn’t imagining the sounds of the sirens.
“Is that police sirens?” Justice asked, now hearing them through her headset.
“Yep. What the—” Valerie stared out the other window in the room that faced the street. “Oh my God.”
“What? What is it?” He knew he was about to get some juicy intel based on her reaction.
She had to blink at what she was seeing to make sure she wasn’t imagining the scene. “They just parked between our houses. Holy hell, I think they might be going after Sal!”
“Are you serious? No way!”
Suddenly, Valerie swallowed hard at what she was witnessing now. “Um, Justice …”
“Yeah?” You could practically hear Justice sitting excitedly on the edge of his seat.
“They’re heading toward my front door—” Her voice came out a bit strangled with fear. “Not his.”
Stunned silence met her on the headset, followed by the knock on the front door that had her jumping out of her gaming chair.
“Valk … Valkyrie,” he called out when she didn’t respond as she took her headset off. Placing it on her desk, she could still hear his tone turning serious as he yelled over the mic, “Don’t open your mouth! Don’t say shit—”
As she walked to the front door, she tried to remind herself, Be cool. You didn’t do anything wrong. But why couldn’t she help herself from feeling like she did?
Upon opening the door, she somehow made her voice as cool as her thoughts. “Can I help you?”
It was the biggest and scariest cop who spoke. “Valerie Monroe?”
“Yes?” she managed to strangle out, her coolness running out quickly.
The cop took her wrist in a tight grip, and before she knew it, cold metal was tightening on her skin. “You’re under arrest for the cyberattack on the Horseshoe.”
“I’m what?” With all collectiveness completely lost, the cop kept speaking, giving her her rights.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for—”
The haze Valerie went under no longer let her hear the words the cop spoke to her. Everything spun and became blurry in the flashing blue and red lights, and before she knew it, she was being shoved into the back of a cop car.
All alone in the back seat, she couldn’t help but feel like a caged animal as she stared through the metal gates and right at Sal’s front door.
The flicker of light had her shaking her head. The glow of the light in the window had returned.
Her stomach managed to sink even lower. She realized he had witnessed the most embarrassing moment of her life, along with Katie most likely, and all her other neighbors.
Even though Valerie didn’t commit the crime she was being accused of, she no longer needed to worry about rewiring her house. She would be moving first fucking thing if she was lucky enough to get out of this mess.
She released a small sigh of relief when the driver’s door finally opened, hoping they could leave before the whole goddammed neighborhood woke up.
But, alas, her embarrassment had only just begun as the front door she was ominously staring at through the gates opened, and the only thing she could do was watch in horror as Salvatore walked right toward them.
THREE
MISTER FUCKING ROGERS
“’Sup Sal?”
Inwardly, Sal groaned. Buying what he thought was a peaceful house, on a peaceful street, in a peaceful neighborhood was starting to become not such a good idea. He should have known his neighbors on Prairie Drive would eventually become nosy as hell. It was why he had bought this house in the first place. His vacancy on the top floor of the Casino Hotel was feeling a bit crowded over the last few years, and his privacy was becoming nonexistent.