Total pages in book: 163
Estimated words: 150878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 754(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 150878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 754(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
And I hadn’t had to walk.
The rocking of the car made me realize that I hadn’t emptied my bladder since right before we’d flagged down his car. “Uh, sir, would it be possible to stop for a short bathroom break at the next convenient spot?”
Leonard glanced in his rearview mirror, and I gave him a smile. “Sure thing. I could use a stretch myself.” He drove for a few more minutes until we came upon a wide area on the side of the road that was easy to pull off on.
A section of pine trees provided a spot to find some privacy, and Tuck got out and pulled the seat forward so I could exit too. Next to me, Charlie sat up and yawned. “Bathroom break,” I told him. He nodded and followed me from the car.
Charlie and I began heading toward the trees when I looked up to see a man emerge from the brush to my left. My heart seized, and I grabbed for Charlie, both of us stumbling back toward where Tuck was still standing. The man waved the weapon in our direction and then pointed it toward Leonard. “Show your hands and move away from the car,” he said.
My pulse spiked, heat blasting under my skin as my gaze darted to Tuck, who was watching the man with narrowed, wary eyes and then to Charlie, whose mouth was hanging open. We all raised our hands and shuffled to the side of the road, Tuck positioning his body so it was mostly in front of me.
“I only want the vehicle,” the armed man said as he moved toward Leonard’s car. “I got family I need to get to, and I need that car now. Step out,” he demanded, and Leonard did, standing slowly and moving around the open door.
“Her name’s Bridget,” Leonard said. “Rebuilt her myself. Put a lot of time into her.” He raised his hand and ran it along the top of the open driver’s side door and then leaned against the body. “And a lot of love.”
Then before I could even blink, he leaned into the car, stood back up with a rifle, and fired it at the gunman just as the man yelled, “Hey!”
The word was cut off as the man’s body jerked. I sucked in a breath that got lodged in my throat as the man’s chest blossomed red, his eyes bugging as he made a choking sound, dropping his gun and falling backward to the ground. I let out a scream, and Tuck stepped more fully in front of me. Oh my God, oh my God. What the hell just happened? I felt like I was suddenly floating, that heat spreading along my nerve endings, making me feel like I might pass out. I can’t breathe.
“Which means,” Leonard said, staring down at the man who was jerking, blood leaking down his chin, “that I’m not giving her up without a fight.”
“You murdered him. Oh my God, you murdered him.” Had that been my choked, incredulous voice?
“I saved myself,” Leonard said, looking up at me and letting me know that indeed the words had come from my mouth. “And I protected my best girl. You think I was just gonna let this sonabitch rob me?” He waved his rifle in the air. Where had he pulled it from? Under his seat?
The man had stilled now, the front of his jeans dark with urine, blood already spreading far beyond his body.
“Get on back in the car,” Leonard said. “We’ll take a bathroom break down the road.”
“Uh, we, uh…might—” Charlie stammered.
“I think we’re good here,” Tuck said.
I kept staring, trying to understand what had just happened. It felt like my eyes might bug right out of my head.
“Nah. Get in. We was having a nice time. Don’t look at me all scared. I’m not gonna harm any of you unless you’re planning on trying to steal Bridget.”
Tuck pointed at the sign up the road. “It looks like there’s a town close by. This seems like as good a stop as any.”
Leonard peered down the road and then shrugged. “Well. I’m not gonna kidnap you. If this is where you wanna get out, fine by me. I still got a ways to go.”
He sighed and took the few steps to where the man’s handgun had fallen, picked it up, and put it in the back of his jeans. “I’m gonna take this,” he said. “You’d be wise to find yourself a weapon too if possible.” He put his rifle back in the car, then he leaned on the doorframe and looked at us. “The world’s gonna be different for a while,” he said. “You either adapt, or you die.” Then he smiled and gave us a salute. “Good luck.” We watched as he got in Bridget, pulled back onto the road, and disappeared around the bend.