Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69424 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69424 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
She wasn’t crying, but it was clear that she had been at one point.
She cringed every time her father raised his voice, too.
I’d already spoken to the police.
I’d also noticed the bikers arriving outside, one by one, as they holed up in the parking lot waiting.
Not interrupting, but waiting.
They’d let the man come into the lobby with his daughter.
But they did not let him get back to see Harlow, who was currently in the back with her other best friend, Catori. And Catori’s very handsome husband, Laric.
Laric had come out to the lobby an hour ago to make a phone call to someone, and that was when the bikers started to show up.
The cops were currently in the lobby, too, and I had a feeling they were trying to figure out how to get the daughter away from the cop without causing a scene or getting the daughter hurt any further.
Because, I was right.
The cops had believed Harlow instantly upon her sharing her story with them.
It was halfway through that discussion that Catori had arrived and I’d snuck out to give her privacy.
Which led me to now, sitting in the waiting room waiting to see what happened next.
I could’ve gone home.
I probably should have.
Yet, there I was, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
It was my curse: curiosity.
There was a reason that they said, “curiosity killed the cat.”
Mostly because it was backed up with enough scientific evidence to ever refute it.
My eyes flashed from side to side, wondering what would happen next.
Unable to stop myself from grabbing a few snacks to watch and wait, I’d gotten two Dr. Peppers from the drink machine, as well as a couple rolls of Rolos.
I was on my first Dr. Pepper and my second roll of Rolos when Cedrick had come inside.
“Cedrick, we need to talk,” a large man wearing a casual uniform of black tactical boots, pants, and a tan polo shirt that had “KPD” and a gold star stitched on the breast pocket said. “Can you step over here for a minute?”
Wrong thing to say.
That set alarm bells off in the man’s head and he pulled his kid closer.
Since he was so close to me he hadn’t seen me sitting there, so he backed up until he was almost about to step back into me.
It worked for me, though.
“What’s going on?” Cedrick asked the slew of cops blocking him in.
“Just want to talk…” Mr. In Charge said softly.
The man took another step back, his daughter being pulled in his wake.
One more step and he’d be on top of me.
“I don’t think…”
I’d heard enough.
I’d also seen him tense. Watched as his hand tightened down to a viselike grip on his daughter’s hand.
I’d had enough.
He would not hurt this kid with me standing right there.
Almost as if I was having an out-of-body experience, I stood up, caught my Dr. Pepper can in my hand and went to stand on the chair behind me.
The cops tensed, but I didn’t so much as flinch as I brought the arm holding the full Dr. Pepper in my hand out in a wide arc, then slammed it against the man’s temple.
He started to drop, but I brought it back for one more good swing.
The satisfied crunch of the man’s nose breaking was enough as he crumpled to the ground clutching his nose and face.
I caught the girl up in my arms and climbed over the back of the seats, pushing her behind me in case Cedrick got up.
What I did not expect, however, was an angry voice saying, “You’re under arrest for assaulting a police officer.”
Nor did I expect a pair of handcuffs to be slapped onto my wrists and tightened down so tight that my wrists ached.
Totally worth it, though.
Sixteen
Sorry I forgot to text you back. I also forgot to eat today if that helps.
—Text from Calli to Jasper
JASPER
I was fucking dead.
There was no part of me that wasn’t screaming in agony.
I’d finished…but barely.
If I didn’t have rhabdo tomorrow, it would be a miracle.
“Where’s Calli?” I asked Searcy, seeing her at my place with a huge smile on her face. “She has my phone.”
Searcy frowned. “Calli left over two and a half hours ago.”
Fuck.
“I have it!” Cutter’s wife, Milena, called out. She was all fuckin’ smiles, and I sort of hated how she was smiling so happily when she’d just ran as far as I had.
“How’d you get it?” I asked.
“Calli left it on your front porch with like six bottles of water. I think. Then Nastya picked it up because some delivery driver was looking at it like he wanted to steal it,” she said. “Nastya gave it to me when I got finished.”
“Thanks,” I said as I pocketed it. “Where’d Calli go anyway?”
“I didn’t think to ask. I was surprised to even hear that she’d watched,” Searcy answered.