Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Eleven years ago, Cami Cortlandt’s mother and sister died cruelly in a violent home invasion. The trauma and notoriety still linger, but Cami has managed to build a life in her hometown despite everything she’s lost.
Then one day it all comes rushing back.
A distorted voice on the phone: Would you like a do-over? A disturbing video of a room with bars on the window, trapping a young boy inside who looks achingly, impossibly familiar. Four days to find him.
With the help of Rex Lowe, an old classmate whose past is inextricably tied to her own, Cami races to uncover everything she can about the boy—where he is, who he is, and why she’s the only one who can save him.
But as Cami and Rex unravel one clue after another, the past and present converge in an explosion of secrets they never saw coming…and a truth they never could have imagined
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Prologue
She woke with a scream on her lips, attempting to draw back her chest and fill her lungs with the air needed to expel the sound of fear and horror. But her body continued to disobey, a small trickle of air the only sound leaking from her mouth. Where am I? Why is it dark? Why can’t I move? Am I dead?
She envisioned a flash of faces, leering at her, moving closer. One in particular. The betrayal pierced her somewhere inside, where she still felt pain. Why? Why? She’d turned and run. Away from him, from them. But they’d caught her and . . . Another flash, a bottle at her lips, liquid pouring down her throat as she fought and gagged.
The pierce of steady beeping broke through her consciousness. A machine. Close by. Was she in a hospital room? Relief descended. She’d been rescued. She was being cared for. She would heal.
And then I’ll seek retribution.
Who knew revenge better than she?
The squeak of a door opening slowly sounded, and she tried to lift her head, but it felt like a bowling ball attached to her neck.
A shaft of light appeared, and in that light, she saw a tube protruding from her mouth and, far above her, a ceiling encircled by crown molding she knew well. God. No. It can’t be. But, as if in answer, a soft whir met her ears, and her body began rising along with the bed beneath her.
He stood there at the footboard, a wicked smile on his wolfish face. “Hello, Posey.”
And that’s when she knew for certain she was still alive. But it would have been better had she died.
Chapter One
Cami was in no mood for a party. And yet there she was, clad in a bikini with a Jell-O shot in hand as a boisterous game of chicken fight was being played in the pool next to her. Her boyfriend, Hollis, had invited every member of the varsity football team and cheerleading squad to his house for a pool party. It appeared they were all having the time of their lives. Except her. Buck up. What is wrong with you? Except that she knew exactly what was wrong with her. She’d been plagued by a deep fatigue and lingering nausea for the last week. And her period was MIA.
She plastered on a smile as she gazed around nonchalantly and then, confident no one was looking her way, dropped the small plastic cup filled with spiked red Jell-O into a hydrangea bush.
The sun beat down on her bare shoulders, and a fellow cheerleader on one of the O-line’s shoulders let out a shriek of laughter as she was knocked into the water by the whack of a pool noodle.
“Hey, Cam,” Tia said as she approached, handing her another Jell-O shot. Great. Her friend tipped her head back and used her tongue to scoop out the shot, and then swallowed and grinned.
“Here, have mine too,” Cami said. “I’m not feeling it.”
Tia’s brows dipped, and she peered more closely at Cami. “Are you okay?” Tia asked, adjusting her bikini top that had ridden up. “You do look slightly green.”
Cami gave her a halfhearted smile and stepped to the side to avoid the incoming tsunami caused by a linebacker who’d just cannonballed into the deep end. “I’m fine. I think I just ate something that didn’t agree with me.”
“I hope it wasn’t one of the hot dogs. I saw Ray drop half the package on the ground, and then throw them on the grill anyway. He assured me ‘fire cleanses.’” She did air quotes and rolled her eyes.
Cami barely suppressed a grimace as she looked away. The talk of hot dogs had notched her nausea up at least a few levels. A couple more and Tia’s French pedicure would be covered in vomit. “I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be back.”