Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 133975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
Certain no one else was coming up behind him, he jogged through the woods, uncaring of leaving tracks. Justin and King had a fifteen-minute lead, but they were casting around from trail to trail as slowly as possible to ensure their backup was in place. No one liked being the bait.
Waylon and his crew had two vehicles. They would already be at the peak where Keys had tossed the cell phone. They had to know he’d used that phone to call in his friends. For all they knew, he might have called the cops. Waylon would be feeling the same pinch of time that Keys was. If Keys were in Waylon’s shoes, he would pull out all the stops to find Lyric. That would be what he would think was his ticket to winning.
Keys stepped up his speed, cutting through the path to intercept Justin and King before they could reach the peak. He could hear them talking to each other, muttering about how there were no tracks, but the bastard had to have come this way. And how the hell had he ever gotten the drop on Merrit? Merrit was good. One of their best.
“Wasn’t that hard,” Keys said.
Both men swung around, and he shot them. Kill shots. Not fucking around, just killing them outright. There was no remorse. He never felt that shit, not when he took out scum. Did he think someday someone would kill him for the same reason? Believing he was scum? Probably. They’d be wrong. He had a code of honor, but that didn’t stop him from being a monster. He was one, and he owned it.
He didn’t pretend he was anything different than he was, not even for Lyric. Especially not for Lyric. He’d ease her into his world, but she would go into it with her eyes open, knowing what he was. He’d been pretty up front with her, spelling it out for her. She was Lyric, reacting unexpectedly. Sometimes he was afraid she looked at him with blinders on.
He went through pockets and then hauled their asses to the cliff and shoved them over. Let Waylon take the time to get their bodies before the vultures did. Not a good idea talking about beating and raping his woman. That just fuckin’ didn’t sit well with him.
He activated Kona’s radio. “Two more down, Waylon. Dumb play if you ask me. Needed something to do. Been bored out of my fuckin’ mind up here waiting for my brothers.”
Keys was already on the move. The radio most likely had a tracker in it, and Waylon and his crew would be able to pinpoint his position. He hoped so. He didn’t want them heading in Lyric’s direction.
There was silence and then Waylon swore at him, promising to skin him alive. Unfortunately for him, he said he would cut pieces off of Lyric, scalp her and then skin her. He’d hang the skin in his trophy room. That sealed his fate right there, not that Keys had ever had any intention to let him live.
“That’s a lot to take in, Waylon, boy. I think you have anger issues. This is just business, remember? Small dicks demand trophy rooms, I get that, but is it really good form to throw a fit in front of your men? You don’t want to get the pussy label. In my world, you would already be wearin’ it for that kind of tantrum.”
Keep him talking. That was what it was all about. Taunting him was one thing, but making it real, that was something altogether different and guaranteed the asshole would want to talk.
“In the interest of full disclosure and giving you a heads-up, I studied all of you. Gathered a lot of information. All of you were military, special training, that shit. Have your own homes, try to live free. But you have families to protect and that leaves you vulnerable. You think because you live in a tight community you can’t be gotten to. You’re wrong, Waylon. Even if you manage to get me, all of you are dead. Your families are dead. We learned to kill from the time we were toddlers. It’s in our blood. You don’t just stop that shit. You hone your craft and get better each time. You know what I’m talking about.”
There was a small silence. Yeah, he’d sucked the leader in. Waylon would want to know more. He was a believer.
“You trained in the military?”
“I said ‘toddler.’ You ever hear of assassin schools in Russia?”
First there was silence, and then Waylon exploded into every swear word Keys had ever heard and a few others that were inventive. Yeah, he’d heard the rumors of those schools. Sorbacov had tried to keep it under wraps, but word leaked out.
“No shit?” Waylon asked. “You really trained there?”