Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
“I’m not trying to be a superhero,” I told him.
“Yeah, the fuck you are. She’s gotten to you. Hell, you couldn’t stay in your office today. You were up front with her more than you were anywhere else. A woman doesn’t get to be number one for you. The family comes first. They make our decisions for us.”
“Tell that to Linc,” I shot back at him. Not that I was madly in love with Montana the way he was his wife, but that wasn’t my point. “And fuck Blaise Hughes. He’s killed more men over his wife and her safety than I probably will in my lifetime.”
Ransom rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, you aren’t Linc or Blaise. Blaise is the boss. He calls the shots. Linc is a Shephard, and you know that the Hughes men run the family, but the Shephards are the second in the chain of command. Rules don’t apply to them. Hell, not too long ago, Sebastian Shephard kidnapped a girl and ran off with her, and Blaise basically gave him a slap on the hand. You do that, and you probably won’t live when he finds you.”
I was done with this conversation. Montana was waiting on me. Ransom was wrong. Linc would see it my way. And if he didn’t, I’d talk to Branwen. She sure as hell would see it my way, and he would listen to her.
Stalking to the door, I jerked it open.
“You’re going to talk to Linc, aren’t you?” he asked.
“Yep,” I replied, then left the room before he could say more shit I didn’t want to hear.
Montana would have heard the chair I threw across the room, and I had to think of a way to explain the noise. She needed some security. Fuck knew the last time she’d had it.
“Sorry that took so…” My words trailed off as I stared into an empty entrance.
“Montana!” I called out, my steps quickening.
Scanning the area behind the counter, I looked for her things, and nothing was there. Her backpack, laptop—all of it was gone. Where the fuck was she? Shoving the front door open, I stepped outside onto the porch just in time to see her climbing into the backseat of a car I didn’t recognize.
“MONTANA!” I shouted as I took off down the stairs toward the car, but it was already driving away.
Grabbing my phone, I snapped a picture of the back of the car, being sure to get its license plate, then zoomed in on it. The Uber sticker in the back-right corner answered my question as to who the fuck had picked her up. She’d ordered an Uber.
Fuck! I quickly pulled up the app that tracked her phone so I could see where she was and follow her.
“She ran?” Ransom asked behind me.
I turned to glare at him. “Yeah, she did. She probably heard the shit you were saying.”
He shrugged. “Probably for the best. Just let her go.”
I’d never hit my brother. He was older, but he wasn’t bigger than me, not anymore, and I was seconds away from planting my fist in his face. I had to get away from him before we had our first brawl. I didn’t have time for it anyway. Montana was running off to God knew where in a fucking Uber.
I headed to my truck and looked back down at the app. She hadn’t turned to go near the interstate. She’d turned in the direction of Linc’s. Hopefully, she was going to get her things first. I’d have time to stop her. Talk her out of it. And reassure her that I wasn’t going to let anyone hand her over to the fucker who had been stalking her.
Twenty-Two
Montana
I had barely stepped foot out of the Uber when Linc Shephard opened his front door and stepped outside.
I’d called him once the driver left the distillery and asked if I could talk to him. When he found out I had left in an Uber, he had said to come straight to his house.
I’d thought that Than worked for Linc, but seeing as his family owned a distillery and he worked there, that couldn’t be the case. Their connection to Jericho wasn’t something I understood.
Linc didn’t walk down to meet me. He waited at the top of the stairs as I made my way to him. I’d never been to his house, only passed by it, going to and from the cabin. I’d thought I would be safe here, but after today, I knew that whoever had been leaving me the notes could get to me anywhere. If he could bypass the security cameras at the distillery, then he could do it to the ones on this property.
“Montana,” Linc greeted me, but there was no smile. If anything, he looked displeased.
I’d left without my watchdog. Broken the rules. I was sure he was about to threaten me for Jericho again. There was no need. I would be gone soon.