Read The Switch for Free Online

out.
    Chase ’s eyebrows knit together in concentration. He looks upset, thoughtful. Perhaps even worried.
    “You do know I’m the good guy , right?”
    “Yeah sure, you’re all good guys, right?”
    “I’m trying here, Shelby.”
    I take a deep breath, thinking over everything that has brought me to this point. All the lying, games, and other stupid decisions I ’ve made in my life have ganged up on me in this one day and have me seriously considering an entire life revamp. I’ve never made the best choices, and today is proof positive of that very fact. As a little girl, I used to daydream about all the things I could be when I grew. And here I am, practically grown up, not quite, and still living in fantasyland. It’s not really a quality I find attractive about myself, and I’m surprised Becca hasn't completely cut me out yet. Then again, she might after all this is over.
    “ We don’t have long. So, are you going to tell me what I’m about to walk into or what?”
    “Walk into?” I ask. Then it dawns on me —he’s going with me. Or alone. Either way, he thinks he’s going to go get Becca back.
    “ Yeah. One of us has a badge here, and one of us doesn’t,” he says.
    As I look into his eyes, studying his intent, I realize he may be the first truly good person I’ve met in a long time. It seems that lately all the people I meet have an ulterior motive. None of them would help someone out just because. They’re always waiting for their end.
    Sure, I could tell him when he ’s about to walk into. But then, I’m not even really sure myself. Victor talks a good game, and yeah, he’s a mean SOB. At the end of the day, I’d like to think Victor won’t kill Becca. Then again, I didn’t think he would try to kidnap me, either.
    “ I don’t really know,” I say.
    Hey, it ’s the truth. Officer Guilliot may be a truly kind person, but that doesn’t mean I can trust him. His job is to arrest people like me, and I can tell you—those orange jumpsuits do nothing for my complexion.
    “ I should call Sarge. I’m not going to, though, and I’ll tell ya why. I got a feeling if I pick up the phone he’s going to tell me to wait for squad. Know what happens if we wait for squad? A bunch of guys come, maybe they’re good or maybe not, and we wait while your dick of an ex-boyfriend kills your girl. Not a good scenario, I think.”
    I look down at my hands, wondering how I’m ever going to get Becca, let alone myself, out of this mess. It’s seemingly impossible. Then I realize I have one thing on my side I didn’t expect—Chase.
    I ’ve known him about the entirety of an hour, but I think I’ve got him figured out. He’s a good guy, maybe a little rough around the edges. But in his heart, he is a good guy. There’s nothing about him that tells me he’s anything but genuine. And he wants to help.
    The other option is to catapult myself out the window, assuming it opens. Or I could take a bigger risk and let him call his cop buddies and let them decide what to do. Neither option is attractive. Since he has my gun, and I’m locked in a hotel room with him, I’m thinking he has the upper hand and we’ll play things his way.
    “ All Victor really wants is the necklace. He doesn’t really want me—he just wants to prove a point.”
    “ And what kind of point is he trying to prove?”
    “ You know, the kind where he sizes up his dick in order to determine that he’s got the bigger one.”
    “If this Victor is as powerful as you say he is, why didn’t he get the necklace back himself?”
    “He said he couldn’t,” I say.
    “Really? He couldn’t get it himself even though he has half the force on his payroll? So instead he sends in his ex-girlfriend who is, what, just over five feet tall and has no fucking clue what she’s doing? Does that really make sense to you?”
    I stop breathing just about instantaneously. Could Victor have gotten the necklace back himself? I’m sure he could