Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 74457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“I won’t be too late,” she said.
“What’s this all about then?” Her dad put on a big smile, narrowing his eyes at me then at her. “Are you two going on a date?”
Cora visibly cringed. “Dad, I’m twenty. If I wanted to date him, I would, but I’m just his tutor.”
“Need better grades to stay on the football team and practice ran late.” I shrugged like, what can you do?
Her dad seemed mollified though. “Be careful and be home by eleven.”
Cora didn’t answer. She stalked out the door. I shot her dad a winning smile and gave him a thumbs-up before following.
I shut the door. “What a prick.”
She snorted. “He’s not so bad.”
“That protective father routine is a little ridiculous though.”
“Okay, yeah, that’s definitely true. He’s never done that before.”
“Bet you never had a guy like me picking you up.”
She glanced at my face with a hooded expression and wrapped her jacket tighter around her body. “Where are you taking me?”
So she ignored the comment. Very interesting.
“I want to show you what I’m thinking.” I got in the truck and started the engine. “If you’re having second thoughts, now’s the time to voice them.”
She put on her seatbelt. “Why, are we going through with it tonight?”
“No, but we’re taking a big step, so speak now or forever hold your peace.”
She stared out the windshield. “Drive.”
“Good girl. I knew you were a freak.” I pulled out and headed toward Dr. Silver’s house.
We didn’t talk on the way. I didn’t know what she was thinking, though I wished I could peel her skull apart and read her brain like a book. I parked the truck on a nondescript dark neighborhood street and climbed out with Cora on my heels looking around like she didn’t understand where the hell we were.
“The asshole’s house is that way,” I said and pointed straight ahead by way of explanation. She frowned, squinting.
“We’re on the other side of those woods, right?”
“Exactly. This neighborhood developed the other half of the forest. I had to check a few maps, but if we go between those two houses and straight through, we should hit Silver’s place straight ahead.”
She frowned around. “Is that a good idea?”
“Come on.” I strode ahead and she hurried to keep up. “I scoped this out already. No motion detector lights and no outdoor security cameras. House on the left has a dog, but if he’s inside—” I paused, listening, but didn’t hear the big, fat beagle sniffing around. “—then we should be fine.”
I stalked forward. Cora struggled to keep up. I could tell she had more questions, but she kept her mouth shut as we walked down the front lawn right along the line that split the two houses. The yard on the left had a big wooden fence, and I stuck close against it. Nothing happened as we reached the edge of the woods then slipped into the forest, stomping through the underbrush.
It was dark as fuck. Cora cursed as she stumbled over something. I caught her, made sure she was steady, then continued. “I wish we had a light,” she whispered.
“Can’t do lights. Someone might see.”
“What are we coming this way for? Wouldn’t it be faster to park on the other side?”
“Faster, yes, but more obvious. Did you notice the difference between the neighborhood we parked in and the place where Silver lives?”
She hesitated. “That neighborhood’s bigger. Lots more people and cars in the street. And it’s not as nice.”
“Exactly. They’re used to trucks parking wherever, but not Dr. Silver. He’d notice a piece of shit like mine. Now come on and be quiet.”
I led her in the general direction of the good chiropractor’s house. I wasn’t sure I headed in the right direction, but the moonlight slipped through the trees, and I kept moving straight ahead as much as I could.
We stumbled onto a path after ten minutes. It was narrow, but it wound in the right direction. I followed it, figuring this might be a hiking trail the good doctor used. Cora stuck close against my side and the forest felt ominous, enormous and pitch dark, filled with creatures of malice and hate—or maybe that was just my own mind. Sometimes it was hard to tell the difference.
“That’s it,” she whispered suddenly.
I saw it then. A flicker of lights between the tree trunks. I hurried on and we grew closer and closer, and she was right—I recognized the back of the house from the satellite images I studied earlier today.
Dr. Silver had a black iron fence around his property. There was a pool with chairs all around it and a small pool house to the right. It was extremely nice and very well lit, and I guessed the small white protrusions hanging down from the soffit vents were motion-detecting security cams. They typically had a limited range, say fifty feet, so we’d be fine if we kept back.