Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
I keep climbing up Hill Street, past Finch, and take a right on Lake, the area less populated.
And a little darker.
Lights from houses spill into their yards, and I see kids roasting marshmallows around a firepit, the adults with drinks in their hands.
Such a good town. Such a nice way to live.
I guess that’s what I should think.
Yet, all I can think about are Jared, Madoc, and Jax. They lived here and grew up in nice houses, but they didn’t always have nice people inside. My dad was rich and young and entitled with his first wife.
And my mom took her pain and drowned it in bottle after bottle.
None of this I’m supposed to know, but she made sure I knew exactly what her mistakes cost her.
She wrote her memoir and slipped me a copy years ago. She wanted me to learn through her.
All of them so scared of mistakes, so why am I dying to make one? I’d love to have a secret they’d all disapprove of because I’m tired of being quiet. No one hears my heart beat, least of all me.
I’m so lost in thought as I run that I hear the engine behind me rumble for half a minute before I actually register it.
I glance back, seeing a dark car coming up. Do they know their headlights are off?
I’m on the gravel, off the highway, but I inch over a little more to let the car pass safely.
Seconds pass, then thirty, and I look behind me again, still seeing it back there. Traveling slowly on an empty road, a lone figure in the driver’s seat.
I breathe faster, my mouth going dry. I take out my earbuds and cut right, back into a brighter section of town.
I beat the pavement, my legs burning as I hear the car speed up.
Shit. I glance behind me, seeing it there again. It’s following me?
Running, I make a sharp right down Pine toward Astrophysics. It’s the one place I know is open twenty-four hours.
I charge ahead, reach the gym, and then stop, watching the car tread slowly down the lane I turned. It passes me, and I look, but the windows are tinted enough that I only see the silhouette of someone driving. No one else appears to be in the vehicle.
An old, black two-door. I spy the make on the rear, not needing to read it to recognize the font. My brothers tested me on every family road trip.
Dodge. It’s an old, black Dodge. Maybe ’70s model.
It takes another right when it hits the corner, heading back up Hill Street, and I dash over one more block until I hit my shop. I really don’t want to be alone—I should’ve just gone to the gym—but I can’t bring myself to call my brothers for help. I’d never live it down.
What if I lived in a city with no family? Or I find myself in a situation with no one to help me? I have to deal with things on my own.
I scurry down the alley, unlock my shop as I jerk my head every other second to check for sight of the car, and dive inside. I twist the lock.
I walk across my kitchen, through the door, and into the storefront, looking out the window for any clue that I was followed.
What the hell was that?
I heave breath after breath, feeling like I have a basketball bouncing inside my chest. What would I have done if someone had cornered me alone?
Air pours in and out of my lungs until finally, every muscle it takes to breathe is too tired to keep up the pace, and I force myself to slow down.
I don’t think I should ride my bike home. It’s too far. I could try for an Uber, but this town doesn’t have many. They mostly operate on the weekends.
Shit. I wish I had an e-bike. Jax suggested it last Christmas when he was thinking about what to get me, but I resisted. They’re so expensive.
Dammit.
I could crash in Dylan’s bed since she’s at camp. Her parents’ house is only a block away. I’m sure Jared would love to know I’m tucked in safe behind his locked front door.
I turn to leave—to make a run for his house—but I look up and stop dead in my tracks.
A scream lodges in my throat as I gape at the wall in my shop. Thunder rolls overhead.
The mirror… It’s open.
Quinn
Rain hits the windows like darts, and I jolt, coming out of my trance.
“What the hell…” I breathe out, gaping at the wall mirror that’s open like an actual door.
I pat my leg, feeling for my phone. Quickly, I snatch it out of my leg pocket.
Between this and the scene with the old Dodge, I can’t catch my breath.
I unlock my screen, thinking. Jared? Jax? I could call them. They’re closer.