Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 151384 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151384 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
And she hadn’t even told them the full story yet.
“Your charm didn’t work?” she asked.
“No. I got nowhere. Tried it all. Smiling, charming, sweet, even mad and stern. Nothing.” Frustration filled his voice and even though she knew it wasn’t funny, it was still a bit amusing since he was used to getting his own way. “What’s going on? Is anything broken?”
“Thankfully, no,” she said. “Soft tissue damage and bruising. A sprained wrist. They said I’ll be in pain for quite a while. They’re keeping me overnight and will reassess where I’m at in the morning. But I’m going to have to take it slow for a while.”
“Baby, shit. I hate that I brought that bitch into our lives. And that she hurt you because of me.”
“Did you know she was delusional and psychotic when you hired her?” Immy asked.
“No! Of course not! I would never have hired her if I had known.”
“Exactly! So how could this be your fault when you didn’t know?” she pointed out. “So stop beating yourself up. I’m beaten up enough for the both of us, don’t you think?”
His face grew tight. There was almost a dangerous look to him. Something cold and dark. She stared at him in shock. Jenner could be bossy and demanding. He could be stern and he did have a temper at times.
But she’d never seen him look dangerous.
“That bitch deserved to die,” he said.
She swallowed heavily. She wasn’t sure she agreed with that. But she was gone.
“What do you think they’re going to do with Lauren?” she asked. “Will they just leave her there?”
Could they get into trouble for that? What was happening? And who shot her?
“Hey, whatever happens I don’t want you to worry about it, understand?” he said, cupping her face between his hands gently. “Your time for worrying about any of this has finished. We’re taking over now.”
“You can’t just tell me that I have to stop worrying and expect me to do it,” she pointed out.
“I just did, didn’t I?”
She licked her lips, staring up at him. What was happening here? “Jenner, about what you—”
The door opened suddenly, interrupting her. Turning her head slightly, she saw Sampson, Tobias, and Abe rush into the room. Abe moved immediately to her other side, running his gaze over her.
“Immy, oh my God.” His voice broke.
“I’m all right,” she told him.
Abe shook his head. “Don’t lie to me right now. I can’t take it.”
“Really,” she said. “It’s not as bad as it looks. Just a bit of bruising, some soft tissue damage and a sprained wrist. Apparently, I was very lucky.”
She wasn’t sure she felt all that lucky, but that’s what the doctor had told her.
“This doesn’t feel lucky. This feels like fucking shit!” Abe stood and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m so sorry my phone was off. I was dealing with some stuff. How long do you have to stay in the hospital?”
“Hopefully just the night.” She glanced over at Tobias, taking in the way his face was shut down.
What was going on?
Sampson looked much the same.
“What’s the matter? What is it?” she asked in alarm.
Jenner turned to face the other guys as well, but he placed a hand on her arm.
Sampson sighed. “When we went back to get Lauren, she was gone.”
“What?” she asked. “How could she be gone?”
“She really was dead, right?” Abe asked.
“Oh, yeah, she was fucking dead,” Sampson said. “There was no way she moved on her own. Everything was gone. Lauren and her car. There was no sign that she’d ever been there.
“But . . . but how?” she whispered. “How could that happen? A car and a dead woman can’t just disappear!”
“Well, a random man dressed in black doesn’t just appear out of the trees to shoot a woman, then leave, either,” Tobias said.
“He didn’t just leave,” she said. “And I don’t think he was random.”
“What?” Jenner asked, glancing down at her. “What do you mean?”
“I didn’t get a chance to tell you guys everything,” she said, shifting around to find a better position to sit in. “Lauren said she was taking me somewhere, to meet someone, but she wouldn’t tell me who.”
“You think it was that guy?” Tobias asked. “The one who shot her? He was an accomplice? That makes some sense. He killed her, then got rid of the body and car as evidence so she couldn’t be linked back to him.”
“But who the fuck is he?” Sampson asked.
“And why did he leave you alive?” Abe asked.
“I don’t know if he was going to,” she said. “I’m not sure. He was walking toward me as you guys drove up. I’m surprised you didn’t see him. I think your headlights hit him, just briefly. But in the next second, he was gone. But . . . surely he had time to shoot me?”