Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
God.
Would they go after Hope? She hadn’t even thought of that! Tension filled her. She had to get to her baby, now!
“They have no reason to go after her,” Slade reassured her quickly, as though he could sense what she was thinking. “We’re going to take you to her as soon as we’ve made sure it’s safe to leave. I promise. Spencer and Rock will not leave her side.”
Right. Right. Of course they wouldn’t.
Slade’s phone rang and Quaid picked it up, putting it on speaker.
“Speak,” Quaid barked.
“Well, hello to you, too,” Shepherd drawled.
“How the hell did those assholes get in here!” Slade barked. “Indie is with us! They had guns. She could have gotten hurt and they stole that pen drive from Billy before we could see what was on it.”
“You have Alaistair to thank for that,” Shepherd said.
“What?” Slade said in a deathly quiet voice.
She let out a small whimper.
“Shh, Boo. You’re fine,” Slade said in a softer voice. “What do you mean, Shepherd?”
“It was his code that was used to open the door. Stupid bastard probably doesn’t realize that I assigned everyone different codes for security reasons.”
Alaistair?
The guy that from the club? Their friend? He claimed to have met her before but she still couldn’t remember that.
Why would he help those guys?
“I will fucking kill him,” Quaid said.
“Want me to send someone around to his place to secure him?” Shepherd asked.
“Yes, do that,” Slade said grimly.
“I already have. Because I’m just that good,” Shepherd sang. “I also have those other assholes under watch. I’m going to have one of my guys . . . wait. Fuck. They’ve just been signaled by a cop to pull over. And they’re trying to evade them. Fucking hell. Stupid idiots. This has just turned into a police chase. Damn it!”
“The cops were trying to pull them over?” Slade asked. “Is that a weird coincidence?”
“Hmm, my guess is that they’re known to the cops,” Shepherd said. “Oh shit! They just crashed into a truck that pulled out in front of them. Things do not look good for these guys. The police are all over them. The cops are gonna get that pen drive unless these idiots somehow get rid of it.” There was silence while they waited anxiously to hear what was happening next. “And, yep, the cops just found drugs and guns in the boot of their car. Wow. I’ll see what I can find out about the pen drive, but this situation is fucking messy. One of the thugs looks like he’s dead and another is in a bad way. Ambulances are just arriving.”
“Shit,” Quaid said. “What the fuck is on that pen drive? Why was Billy collecting information about those guys? Wasn’t he in partnership with Zodiac? If that’s who they worked for which is what they implied?”
“Sounds like Billy was mixed up in a lot of shit,” Shepherd said. “So, who knows?
Everything was happening so fast and it was making her head spin. She just wanted to retreat into Little headspace and not have to think. But that wasn’t possible right now.
She had to check on Hope in person. She wouldn’t feel right until her baby was in her arms.
“It’s all right, Boo,” Slade whispered. “As soon as it’s safe for you to be Little, you can.”
She had this. She could do it.
No worries.
What a lie. She had all the worries. She couldn’t stop worrying.
75
Rock stood by the door, watching over his family.
The need to protect them rode him hard.
That was job. His girl could have died today and he hadn’t been there to keep her safe.
But you were here with Hope.
Fuck. He didn’t like this. Feeling like he was being torn between two people.
Slade was sitting in the recliner with Indie in his lap. She was holding Hope. Spencer was leaning against the wall, staring down at Indie intently while Quaid paced back and forth.
They were all on edge. No one could believe that Alaistair had betrayed them.
“We should have been there,” Spencer said in a dark voice.
“There was nothing you could have done,” Slade told him. “We kept Indie safe and you were here keeping Hope safe.”
Indie stood with Slade supporting her and handed Hope to Spencer. Immediately, the darkness lifted off his face, replaced with love and caring. Leaning down, he kissed Indie lightly.
Rock loved seeing how his brothers were all changing for the better because of Indie and Hope.
To his surprise, rather than return to Slade’s embrace or move into Quaid’s, she made her way to him.
Taking hold of his hand, she tugged him away from the door and over to the sofa. There she pushed at his chest until he sat and she settled in next to him.
“You’re part of this family, not our bodyguard, okay?” she whispered to him.
She signed the words as she spoke them. Her movements were slow, a bit clumsy, but she was doing so well. His pride in her grew and he leaned in to breathe in her scent before placing a kiss on the top of her head.