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)
They hadn’t left Elle’s room yet, but they’d be heading to Cami’s room momentarily. Gun, gun, gun. Get the gun. She panted, the tape still dangling off one side of her face as she ran for the primary bedroom on legs that barely worked yet managed to get her there.
Her mom was lying on the bed, her chest soaked in blood, a pillow with a burned hole in the middle tossed beside her. Cami turned her head and pressed her mouth against her own shoulder to keep from screaming. Get the gun, get the gun.
She turned toward the closet and lunged toward her dad’s dresser, going down on her knees as she lifted her arm that felt like it weighed fifty pounds and slid the drawer open. She heard them walking down the hall toward her room.
Cami pushed her dad’s shirts aside, the scent of her lifelong protector almost making her want to wail. It’s up to you now.
She heard the men curse violently as they discovered she’d escaped, heard them rush from the room. She scrabbled for the gun, her arms barely working. They felt like useless rubber even as hot blades were jabbing her mercilessly from beneath her skin. Oh God, the gun’s gone, it’s not here.
“Go block the door downstairs. She can’t get out of this house,” the one named Trig said. “Camiiii, where are you, sweet thing?” Whereas their voices had sounded sullen and blubbery a few minutes before, this chase had obviously reinvigorated them. Or at least the one calling for her in a singsong voice. Trig. He sounded suddenly energetic and excited by this unexpected hunt. Terror pounded.
Cold metal then met her fingers, and she reached forward, gripped the firearm, and pulled it out. She overcompensated because of her ineffective limb and the gun fell from her hand and went skittering under the dresser. Cami fell on her butt and then spun around to face the door just as Trig came into view, holding his gun in front of him.
He stopped, a smile blooming over his sallow face, eyes rimmed in red. He lowered the firearm and stepped inside the room, not sparing her mother a single glance. Cami pulled in one stuttered breath after another as she looked up at him, her heart beating out of her chest as, behind her back, her fingertip met the gun.
“There you are. I knew you were a fighter.” He smirked. “I would’ve liked to go a few rounds with you, unbound little wildcat.” He turned his head very slightly. “Found her, AJ,” he called over his shoulder. Then he focused on her again, his smile fading. “It wasn’t supposed to go like this. I admit things got out of hand, and we made some stupid moves. Let you see us. I really am sorry. I hope you believe me.” He raised the gun higher, aiming it at her. She grimaced into her shoulder even as she pulled the gun forward and got a tentative grip on the handle.
The sudden ring of the doorbell made her jump, and Trig took a step back, looking behind him and ducking slightly as though the sound had spooked him. She took the opportunity to pull the gun from under the dresser and raise it as she swung toward him. And when he turned back toward her, his face registered a moment of shock before she said a silent prayer and pulled the trigger.
The gun exploded, her ears ringing as she was jolted backward, her spine slamming against the dresser. She jerked her head up to see Trig’s eyes bugged from his head, his stomach blooming red. I hit him. Oh my God, I hit him. A sound came from somewhere, a groan or a whimper, and she didn’t know if it was him or if it was her, but it stopped when his gun fell to the floor and then he stumbled backward, both his hands splaying over his bloody midsection.
Cami tried desperately to catch her breath, her heart slamming so hard it was blurring her vision. Even so, she kept hold of her weapon, certain he was going to recover and lunge at her any second. Trig went down on his knees, and then he fell forward with a loud thump and was still. Cami watched as blood spread from his stomach onto the light-gray carpeting of her parents’ bedroom.
“Trig, you comin’? There’s someone at the front door,” the man named AJ called up the stairs in a loud whisper. “We gotta go.”
Cami jumped to her feet. AJ thought the shot had been Trig putting a bullet in her, not the other way around. He’d be up the stairs in a minute and would confront her. But if she shot at him from the top of the stairs, she’d have the higher ground. Her arms were screaming with pain now as the blood flowed freely, but despite that, she had more control over them, and adrenaline was spurring her forward. He didn’t know she was alive. The advantage belonged to her. A small window of opportunity.