Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
It had been a long time since he had encountered another woman in his line of work. He’d killed the last woman who entered his life, but then, he didn’t have a choice, and that had been a long time ago.
Not that he was keeping score of the people he killed. He stopped counting a long time ago. The woman had it coming. She had manipulated him. Braxton didn’t like when people tried to make a fool out of him.
He pulled out his own phone, entering a single contact and job, to find out everything and anything about Jade Newton. It could be an alias, and if so, her hours were numbered.
He didn’t take kindly to being played, if this was the case. She was out cold, though.
Pulling away from the curb, he went toward his current destination. Braxton didn’t live anywhere. He made sure he was untraceable. It made his work much easier. Besides, people who kept apartments and safe homes were never safe for long. He saw them as a waste of money.
Pulling into the warehouse, he climbed out of his car. He went to the steel door, unlocked the bolt, and shoved the doors open. He moved back to his car, turned off the ignition, and bolted himself into the warehouse for the remainder of the night.
His cell phone beeped, and he saw the money had been deposited into his account. Clicking a few buttons, he dispersed the money, and then shut down his cell phone. Dropping it to the floor, he crushed it beneath his boot. No one would be able to trace the cell phone.
He never kept any device longer than necessary.
Going back to the car, he looked inside and was tempted to feed a pipe into the car, and when she woke up, demand answers from her. That, to him, seemed a little harsh, especially if she turned out to be innocent.
She still hadn’t come around from being knocked out, so he pulled her out of the car, strapped her to the table, and then took a look at her head.
Chapter Two
When Jade came to, the first thing she realized was she had a giant headache. The events that led to her blacking out forced her to open her eyes. Did he … was she … dead?
She didn’t even want to think about what happened. There was no pain, other than inside her head, and of course her stomach. Her attacker had kept hitting her in the stomach.
“You’re awake.”
Jade gasped and turned, only to wince and press her palm up to her head, trying to stop it from exploding.
“The pain will subside. There are a couple of painkillers there and some water.”
She didn’t know who this man was. Was she in the hospital?
“Thank you,” she said. Her voice was hoarse. She figured it was from all the screaming she did, or tried to do.
She moved slowly, seeing the two pills, which she took. There was also a glass of water. It wasn’t cold, lukewarm at best. She drank half the glass of water and leaned back, thanking him a second time.
“Am I in the hospital?”
“No.”
Jade frowned.
“Where am I?”
The man hesitated for a second. “You’re safe.”
“What happened?” Jade asked.
“What do you remember?”
Jade nibbled her lip as she recalled the night. “I had a horrible date. I got my food packed up—”
“Food?”
“Yeah, the bar where I was offered food and a to-go service. The date was going horribly, so I got them to package my food.”
“Why was your date going horribly?”
“They always do. Men don’t find me attractive,” she said.
She had noticed this man, whoever he was, also wasn’t showing himself. He stood close to the light, which made it hard to see him clearly. Lifting her hand up, she tried to ward off some of the light to see him better, but it didn’t work.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“Then what happened?”
Jade wanted to argue with him, to tell him it was none of his business. Was he a police officer? Had he found her? Had someone reported what happened? Had her attacker … raped her? She had so many questions.
The panic threatened to rise, but she squashed it down. There was no room for that kind of behavior. Her mother had always taught her to be calm and in control. If only she had taught her how to protect herself, she wouldn’t be in this mess. But she didn’t want to blame her mother.
“I, ugh, I left, and I was walking home, when someone attacked me. He pulled me into that dark alley. I hit my head.” She pressed her fingers up toward her head.
“I took care of it.”
She felt a bandage beneath her fingers. “You did? You’re a doctor?”
“What else do you remember?”
She didn’t know why it was so important for him to know every detail. “He was tearing at my tights and … hitting me. I tried to stop him, and then he must have hit me too hard, because I don’t know what happened next.”