Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 130761 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 654(@200wpm)___ 523(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130761 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 654(@200wpm)___ 523(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
I drew in a sharp breath as I laid eyes on a bitch lying in the center of what looked like a small hospital bed. She was naked, her bones jutting out under her white-as-fuck skin. Her dark hair was slicked with sweat and dirt. Her eyes rolled as she fell in and out of consciousness, her head restless on the thin, drool-stained pillow beneath her. An IV was in the vein of her skinny, upturned arm, and a bag hung on a stand at her side.
Heroin, I assumed. Knew traffickers pulled that shit on the regular. Kept their captives docile.
I closed my eyes to keep my shit together, to keep my hand from reaching for my gun and going postal on these fuckers, adding to my record of 132 confirmed kills—the sniper in me couldn’t help but keep track of each heart I’d stopped. The psycho within fucking liked to.
The sound of some cunt coming next door made my eyes snap open. The bedsprings groaned under the rapid movement of his hips, and his breath came in short bursts. I imagined some pasty, overweight Klan fucker slumping, exhausted, over a fourteen-year-old kid. His putrid breath blowing on her passed-out face, his sweat dripping onto her bruised skin.
Calm, I ordered myself.
Unable to look down at the young trafficked bitch on the bed, I sat down on the edge of the mattress and tipped my head into my hands. Keep your shit together, Xavier Deyes. I took my head to where it needed to be . . .
The sweltering sun pounded down on my back as I waited, unmoving, for one of the fuckers to appear. “Two o’clock,” Bones said from beside me. I shifted, moving my gun to the new position. Through a small window, I saw a flicker of movement and braced my finger for the shot. “Wait . . . wait . . .” Bones said. “Now.” I shot a bullet straight through the window and into the fucker’s head.
“Direct hit,” Bones said under his breath, but I could hear his fucking joy. Direct hit . . .
I pictured the dusty, arid land, not too dissimilar to this fucking hellhole, in my head, pictured myself taking the shot, and let the calmness and training from my sniper days fill my every cell.
I pictured the map of the ghost town, plotting every detail of its layout. I saw myself standing at the corner of the main street, staring at the town from the side of this barn. Three guards walked the rooftops. The road was a mile long, around one hundred yards wide. The saloon was the busiest area. Two exits—the main entrance and a side door to the left. Three locks—one bolt, two padlocks.
I imagined staring at the dentist building. One way in and one way out. The entire building no more than one hundred and twenty-four square feet. One window in the front wall that was partially blocked by bars and dirt. Tin roof and decaying wooden walls.
Then I pictured the best spot to shoot from in this town. High range, southeast. Clear shot for almost every conceivable angle.
I blinked as I pulled myself from the depths of my mind. My hand ran over the handle of my gun. My foot tapped on the floor. A moan came from behind me, and I glanced at the drugged-up bitch on the bed. Whether I wanted them or not, flashes from the past came slamming to my head like a damn battering ram.
I tried to push the punishing sounds of gargling, of choking, from my ears. But the fucking memories came as fast as the bullets from an Uzi. When I opened my eyes, my always-steady firing hand was shaking. I curled my fingers into my palm and forced myself to look at the Klan-made whore on the bed.
Track marks ran like red stripes over her crepe-thin skin. Her lips were dry and cracked, and lesions mottled the ashen skin on her cheeks. Bruises created a palette of black, blue and yellow on her inner thighs, and I couldn’t even bring myself to look at the state of what lay north of that.
As I got to my feet, I ran my hand through my hair and scruffed up the long strands. I rubbed my hands over my face to make them look red, and lastly, dipped my fingers in the small water basin that sat beside the bed. I opened the rubber that was on the side of the bed, wrapped it in a tissue and tossed it into the trash. The can was already brimful of used rubbers.
I took one last look at the bitch on the bed and a pit caved in my stomach. She was here for the use of the paying Klansmen. And she looked a fucking state. What the fuck was Phebe gonna look like when I got to her? What the hell kinda drug concoction would she be on? Because I fucking would get to her. Even if I had to take out Meister with a single shot between the eyes.