Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 74766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
It seems that in the last couple of months, all hell had broken loose in his little town. First, one of their leading citizens had been murdered by another, and if that don’t beat all, it seems they had a serial killer in their midst. That big shot Detective Branson had spent the better part of the day with their Detective Sparks putting all the pieces together; now it was up to the courts to decide jurisdiction and who got to deal with the two miscreants first.
As to the relationship between stepmother and son, he thought that was about the worst thing he’d heard in a lifetime and could’ve very well gone without ever being this close to such a thing. That was before the call came in from the Bishop home. It’s a damn shame, he thought. He’s known Ryan since he was a boy. Briar Reef and her two sister towns have always been close, and there isn’t much that goes on is one that isn’t known by the others.
Everyone was surprised when the boy took up with his wife and her daughter not long after moving back to town. No more than they were at the fact that Misty had finally found someone to settle down with. It’s a shame what happened to her as a young girl. Falling pregnant the way she did and then being abandoned. No one knows the real story there, and it has been years since the whispers died down, but he was sure they’d be resurrected again with the family being back in the spotlight. Some people just can’t seem to catch a break.
Celia was tired and out of sorts by the time she left the station. She could deal with murder all day, but a child molestation case or anything approaching it always gets under her skin. Granted, the child, in this case, was a seventeen-year-old almost adult; the law is the law, and this state says she’s still a child for at least another year.
She never goes into a case with her mind made up, but sometimes it’s hard. This one has left her baffled. She’d seen the text had already assured herself and even the accused agreed that the email had come from his email address. But the sheer surprise and shock on his face were leaving room for doubt in her mind.
That and the fact that he’d answered all of the questions against a direct order from his counsel not to and had even demanded a polygraph test. Her gut and instincts told her that he was telling the truth, but the evidence is going to be hard to beat. She tried putting it away on the drive home, her mind going to Riley and what he was up to. She’d half expected him to come pick her up after the way he acted this morning with Detective Branson’s arrival.
Riley’s mind was working along those same lines as he made his way back to the house. A sick calf had taken up most of his day, and he hadn’t been able to get back to his woman like he’d planned to. He’d almost left the damn calf to its own devices, but in the end, his training kicked in. He could never leave a sick animal to fend for itself, and he’d never asked one of his men to do his job for him in the past and wasn’t about to start now as tempted as he was.
He might as well had gone after her, though, because his mind had been down at the station all damn evening. This jealousy and uncertainty were new for him, and he didn’t much like it; the shit was tearing him in two. He jumped out of the truck and rushed into the house, heading straight upstairs to the shower.
He made up his mind that if she weren’t home by the time he was done here, he’d go bring her home, and he didn’t care how much her colleagues snickered behind their hands or whether or not they knew he was pussy whipped.
Celia heard the shower running when she walked into the bedroom, and suddenly a shared shower with her man was just the thing she needed. She stripped on her way to the bathroom and was naked by the time she slid the shower door open. Riley felt the cool air from the door opening and wiped the shampoo from his face.
Celia didn’t even have time to brace herself for the attack. One minute she was smiling hello, and the next, she found herself slammed up against the wall with his mouth on hers and one of his hands between her thighs with his fingers driving into her. “Well, hello to you too.” She breathed out on a sigh when he released her lips long enough for them both to get some air before diving back in.