Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
“I don’t need any help,” Hellcat snapped.
“Hellcat? You’re scaring me. Your face is contorted with pain. Would you go rest so you can heal?” Caroline’s quiet, worried voice caused all the men to turn.
Hellcat studied her for a long minute before nodding. “I’ll go home.”
“Thank you. I’ll cook you some chicken soup tomorrow,” she promised.
“She’s not making you chicken soup,” Wraith bluntly told Hellcat. “I’ll bring you a can, and you can suck it up. I need someone to man the gate at the complex. My thought was to see if you were up to it.” He glanced deliberately toward Caroline to clue Hellcat in. Wraith wanted to ensure his Little girl was safe.
Hellcat looked up at the ceiling before nodding. “I’ll man the complex.”
“Thanks, Hellcat,” Wraith told him. “We’ll do a thorough job.”
“Come on, Hellcat. Time to go home.” Fury tried to take his arm, but Hellcat shook him off.
“Feel better, Hellcat,” Caroline called after him.
Wraith wrapped his arm around his Little girl and hugged her close. Hellcat would never have stood down if Caroline hadn’t needed his protection. It was a win-win situation.
CHAPTER 14
“Hi! I’m watching a movie with Jam. I thought you might be lonely,” Caroline practiced over and over as she walked up to the front of the complex with her computer and stuffie. She’d stayed at home for a half hour after Wraith left before her worries overwhelmed her.
As she got closer to the back door of the guard shack, Caroline worried she might have not thought this through well. Before she could chicken out, she made herself knock.
“What the fuck?” echoed from inside.
Caroline waved, figuring Hellcat could see her on the camera. He was at the door in thirty seconds.
“You are supposed to be tucked in safely in Wraith’s cabin,” Hellcat told her.
“Hi! I’m watching a movie with Jam and figured you’d be lonely,” she recited almost perfectly.
When he stared at her, Caroline’s brave face crumbled. “The cabins are abandoned, and the wind is whipping around, making all sorts of noises. I’m scared. Besides, I thought you’d get the word that everyone was okay first. Can I wait with you?”
Hellcat stared at her for what seemed like an eternity before stepping back and waving her inside. “Come in. It’s better that you stay with me than wander in the dark. What movie are we watching?”
“You like cats, right?”
“I do,” he answered.
“You get to choose—old or new?” Caroline set her computer on the table under the windows, flipped open the screen, and showed him the two choices. “Old or new?” she repeated, pointing from one to the other.
“New. I haven’t seen that.”
“You’ll love it. It’s awesome!” She busied herself pulling the film up and starting it while he grabbed another chair up to join him. Caroline settled in that one comfortably and glanced over at him. “Thanks for letting me in.”
“You’re welcome. I needed to meet Jelly, anyway.”
“His name is Jam.” Caroline rushed to correct him.
“Of course. My apologies, Jam.”
Coming up here was a good idea. So much better than listening to every sound inside and outside the cabin with Jam. The purple monkey didn’t want to admit he was scared too, but Caroline had felt him shaking.
As the first notes of the music sounded, she focused back on the screen. About an hour into the movie, Hellcat tensed beside her.
“Caroline, slide out of your chair to sit on the floor. I want you out of sight,” Hellcat snapped as he closed the top of her laptop, silencing the show.
Without asking any questions, Caroline followed his directions. The urgency in his voice alone scared her. She squeezed into the smallest space possible under the desk, hugging Jam close to reassure him. Headlights flashed over the ceiling of the shack. Hellcat pulled a gun out of his leather cut, and she swallowed hard.
“Damn. I hoped he was making a U-turn. Stay quiet,” Hellcat told her under his breath.
Caroline could hear the powerful engine as it pulled up to the window. Hellcat hit an intercom button and snarled, “You’re on private property. Turn around and head back to the main road.”
“Hey, sorry to bother you. My wife must have broken down around here. I haven’t heard from her for a couple of hours, so I tracked her car to this location. She’s about five hundred feet past the entrance.”
Caroline recognized that voice. Adam. What was he doing? And the asshole had a tracker in her car?
“No wives here. Turn around.” Hellcat’s tone didn’t invite a conversation.
“Now, that’s not very helpful. I’d hate to get the police involved,” Adam threatened in a polite tone.
“You are welcome to call them from the public road. I’ve told you twice already to turn around. Do that now.” Hellcat stood from his seat. He lifted his right hand and set it on the table in Adam’s view. The barrel of his gun shone under the fluorescent lights.