Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
He lifted her and the chair as gently as possible but paused when she hissed out a sound of pain. “I’m fine,” she said. “Just bruised. Please untie me.”
He set the chair on its legs and then took his phone out. He moved behind her, beginning to work on the rope as he held the phone to his ear with his shoulder and gave the police the information they needed.
“They’re on the way,” he said. “Your dad called them earlier, and I told them where I was heading. They’re close. They should be here in a minute or two.”
“How did you find me, Rex?” she asked over her shoulder, and her voice already sounded stronger.
“The app,” he said. “The one you installed on Cyrus’s phone so you could track him. It took me a while to hack in, or I would have been here sooner.”
“Cyrus’s phone?” she murmured.
“It was in your purse,” Rex explained. “Cyrus told me he put it there.” He was surprised Seraphina had brought Cami’s purse along. It seemed an unexpected nicety. Or maybe it’d simply still been on Cami’s arm when she’d surprised her in whatever way she had.
“Oh my God,” Cami breathed. “I didn’t know it was in there. I think it’s still in that limo. You hacked in.” She let out a small, delirious laugh. “Of course you did.”
He’d broken every speed limit to make it here. And then he’d abandoned his truck in the middle of the road when he’d realized there was no parking to be found. Because the flashing dot on the app told him Cami was within sixteen feet, but it couldn’t get him closer than that.
And then he’d seen the flickering light and known, he’d known it was her. Signaling him. He didn’t even remember the trip from there to here. He might have flown for all he knew.
Outside the window, Hollis’s voice caught his attention, and he glanced up at the screen. Jesus, that was big and bright. Why had they put her here like this to watch Hollis’s live campaign speech? It seemed more purposeful than just simply a makeshift holding cell. It was like a sick kind of box seat, just for Cami.
He unknotted the first knot, and let out a sound of frustration. He needed a knife or something sharp. Whoever had tied it had done a damn good job. He stood so he could glance around the room, some of which was blocked by the reception desk. There was an envelope on top that said Cami’s name.
He left it there. Whatever it was wouldn’t help him unbind Cami. He looked around quickly, but there didn’t appear to be anything he might use to cut her free, and he refused to leave Cami alone, even for a minute.
In the distance, he thought he heard the wail of sirens, but the rally was so loud, he couldn’t be sure.
He glanced at the door, half expecting to be ambushed. He kept his muscles primed to fight.
Another knot loosened and fell away, and Rex looked up at the jumbotron, his fingers continuing to work. The music and applause blared through the window, the volume obviously having been adjusted higher as the festivities came to a close. Media cameras near the front of the stage flashed, their microphones held high in the air.
Hollis’s radiant smile beamed at the screen as he took the hand of the woman Rex recognized as Felicia Barclay. Mrs. Barclay grinned proudly at her son, and together they waved at the adoring crowd. Rex remembered the woman well from that hospital corridor so many years ago, recalled how cold she’d been to a grieving girl.
“Seraphina,” Cami whispered. “She’s on the stage now too. Look.”
The last knot came loose, and Rex began to unwrap the rope that bound Cami to the chair. To the right of Hollis and Mrs. Barclay, Seraphina was climbing the short set of stairs to join him, her smile equally as bright.
The cameras turned, the on-air personalities vying for the perfect shot.
Hollis looked over his shoulder, an expression of surprised delight taking over his face when he spotted his fiancée. Mrs. Barclay saw Seraphina, too, and beckoned to her to join them.
Balloons began cascading from the makeshift ceiling of the constructed stage, and the three of them looked up, laughing and batting them away.
Rex watched along with Cami as Seraphina approached Mrs. Barclay and embraced the older woman, the camera zooming in on the younger woman’s expression. She looked utterly serene.
The hair on the nape of Rex’s neck stood up.
The police sirens were unmistakable now, a few blocks away, maybe less. They’d have to come on foot, however. There was no room to drive among the sea of parked cars.
Rex unwrapped the final layer of rope around Cami’s waist.
Seraphina and Mrs. Barclay pulled apart, the older woman tilting her head and laughing again as a balloon hit her cheek. She tapped it away as Seraphina reached under her blazer, pulled out a gun, put it to Mrs. Barclay’s temple, and shot her point blank in the head.