Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
I finally got to the park and stepped inside. It was dark, but they did have a path of lights that helped me to see. I had to rely on the fact that my wife wouldn’t be stupid and go into the dark. As I walked along the main path, I couldn’t help but tense up, waiting for an impending attack.
I’d been walking the path for a good ten minutes, when I found her sitting on the bench, near a light, her knees up to her chest. She looked so damn scared and vulnerable.
I checked the perimeter, and there was no one I was too concerned about. The Grid had an agenda, but they wouldn’t be stupid enough to attack her in a crowded place. Even if there were people waiting, they would do it at a less inconspicuous time. I made my way to the bench and sat down.
“I’m sorry,” Freya said.
“It’s fine.”
“I just ... I felt like I couldn’t breathe anymore. Do you know what that’s like?” she asked.
“Yeah, I do.”
She turned her head to look at me.
“My dad wanted to make sure his son wasn’t a weakling, and part of my training was having my head pushed under water and held there. I learned to hold my breath.”
“Wow,” Freya said. “My brothers did that to me. Not because they were making me strong, but because it entertained them.”
“Yeah, just so you know, they’re dead,” I said. “If they weren’t dead, I would hunt them the fuck down and kill them myself.”
Freya looked at me and nodded. “Is it bad that I don’t care?”
“No.” I shook my head. “You have a right to not care.”
“So much has changed. I miss your home. I would give anything to go back there. Even have you shouting at me again, and me trying to avoid you.” She smiled.
I winced. “Yeah, that was not my finest moment.”
“No, it wasn’t, but we all do what we have to.” She sighed. “I’m not trying to make you feel bad, I’m just, you now, trying to tell you what I would like. You know, I didn’t want you yelling at me when it happened, but now I’d give anything to go back to that time.”
“We will fix this,” I said.
“Victor, it’s been over four months. Longer than that if you include the time on the island. Six, seven months, and nothing has changed. You still had to kill someone today.” She sighed. “I’m afraid one day our luck is going to run out, and something bad is going to happen to you.”
“I won’t let it.”
“Victor, you can’t control everything.”
“You’re right, I can’t, because if it was me, I would go back home in a second, and I would kill every son of a bitch that came close.”
“Then why don’t you?”
I hadn’t heard The Butcher approach, but I did hear the unmistakable sound of a body thudding to the ground. I spun around and watched as The Butcher came out of the darkness.
“You just killed one of them?” I asked.
“Yep, she had been following you since you left the hotel,” The Butcher said.
Freya let out a squeal and rushed to The Butcher. I watched the two embrace. I had no idea how the two had become friends.
“I think Freya’s right, and what you just said is right,” The Butcher said.
“You do?” Freya asked.
The Butcher was looking at me. “Running like this is making us pretty stretched. If we put you back in Victor’s territory, it would make things a lot easier. Especially if you didn’t make a run for it. We could check the perimeter, and it would just be easier.”
“I thought this was easier for you?” I asked, looking toward The Butcher.
“It was, because it helped us check out other locations. Harris, right now, is gone. Ivan and I got a possible hot spot three weeks ago. It was close to Ivan’s island, but just as we were about to land, the whole place exploded, so we know Harris was there. He was on the move.”
“Wait, you’re saying Harris could have been close to us the whole time we were on the island?”
“That is a chance. Harris has private islands. We’ve been able to locate a couple of them, but he’s on the move, and with The Grid behind him, he is able to move a lot quicker than we like.”
I see this has pissed off The Butcher. Between The Beast and The Butcher, they were notorious for finding their targets. No one escaped their wrath. Yet Harris was proving to be a very trying target. I didn’t like it.
“There is only one clear choice right now. You go back home. You don’t fucking leave that house. Victor goes back to doing what he does best, and he leaves your protection detail to us,” The Butcher said.