Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 136048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Elias takes a hesitant step into the dining room, and I slowly make my way up the length of the table, always keeping at the opposite end while taking slow, calm breaths to not give myself away. I match him step for step, my whole body shaking with fear, and then the moment he decides I’m not in here, he continues ahead into the kitchen, leaving me the time I need to dash around the other half of the dining table and back out the way I came.
Hearing my footsteps, Elias whips around and lunges after me.
BANG!
I duck, but I keep running as a petrified scream tears from the back of my throat. I stumble over my own feet, catching my shin on the edge of the low-profile coffee table, but I push through the pain.
BANG! BANG!
FUCK!
The bullets whiz past me as my heart races, and I try to remember how many bullets he’s fired. My guess is that he has another three in the magazine. I just need to find somewhere to hide, somewhere I’ll be safe until help arrives. Then, just as I sprint through the rest of the living room, the front door flies open with enough force to bust the wooden frame into a million tiny pieces. The whole fucking SWAT team barrels into the massive foyer, Knight leading the pack.
Terror flashes in my eyes, and I push myself faster. “KNIGHT!” I race right into him, tripping on my feet just as I finally reach him, my knees crashing against the Italian stone, but he doesn’t skip a step, shifting directly in front of me as I peer around his legs, grasping on to him for dear life while my whole body trembles.
SWAT officers surround Elias, wasting no time identifying the threat. “PUT THE GUN DOWN,” Ace roars, his tone like nothing I’ve ever heard from him before, the sharp commanding nature telling me there’s still so much about these men that I don’t know.
Elias puts the gun down, and he’s immediately tackled to the ground, and more officers flood through the door.
I recognize Detective Gray, and I watch as he carefully assesses the situation, his gaze raking over me before settling on Elias. Diesel drives his knee into the center of Elias’s back, and not a moment later, he’s cuffed and pulled back to his feet.
“Elias Slater,” one of Knight’s men says, shoving him in his back to get him moving toward the door. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Dr. Peter McKullan and Anders Mylonas. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you.”
His Miranda rights are read out, and just as the SWAT officer goes to shove him out the door, Elias puts on the brakes, his gaze snapping toward Detective Gray. “If I’m being arrested, then so should she.”
“On what grounds?” Gray asks.
“Trespassing. Breaking and entering. Assault with a deadly weapon. Should I keep going?”
“Fuck,” Knight murmurs beside him, his tone barely audible.
Detective Gray glances at me. “Is that true, Dr. Madden?”
I keep my mouth shut, assuming if I’m arrested, they’re about to read me the very same Miranda rights, and apparently, I have the right to remain silent.
“Check my security system,” Elias says. “If I’m going down, that little bitch is coming with me. She broke into my home with the intention to kill. I’m going to require medical attention. After she shot me, I was lucky to be able to tackle the gun out of her hands, but she’s unhinged. She’s a danger to the community. She should be locked up.”
Gray lets out a pained sigh, his gaze shifting to Knight’s. “Cuff her.”
Knight lets out a sigh before stepping around me and gently pulling my wrists behind my back, having no other choice. “Are you okay?” he asks, his tone soft as he braces the first metal cuff around my wrist. “Are you hurt?”
“There are no bullets inside my body if that’s what you’re asking,” I tell him before glancing around and watching Elias march out of the home, probably headed for the emergency room with a police escort. “How much trouble am I in?”
“From me or the law?”
I glance up and meet his stare, and there’s no denying just how pissed he is. “Both,” I say with a shaky tone as he instinctively takes my elbow and leads me toward one of the officer’s patrol cars.
“Law. I don’t know. There are too many variables. It’s too soon to tell.”
“And you?”
He shakes his head, telling me everything I need to know—that I’m beyond fucked.
Reaching for the back door of the patrol car, he opens it for me, and as we stand in the open door, he turns me in his arms and meets my terrified stare. “Why?” he asks, that one word filled with so much emotion that it guts me where I stand.