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)
According to Pete, who refused to even entertain the idea that his old friend was capable of such a thing, the guy had always been a standup guy with better morals than to diddle underage girls. Though he admits that his friend had moved away and been gone for years, he couldn’t imagine that he’d have changed that drastically.
Ryan was still a bit out of it when she got to the hospital and, according to Pete, who’d accompanied him, hadn’t had much to say upon coming out of it. The tests weren’t back as yet, but so far, the doctors didn’t seem to have any explanation for his passing out. Celia left the hospital and made her way to Ryan’s home, where she found Misty and Connie all but hiding out behind drawn curtains and bolted doors.
They lived on a relatively quiet street with not much movement from the neighboring homes. The town had only been on lockdown for a short while, but since there were no outbreaks, life had pretty much gone on as usual, so everyone was either at work or school this time of day.
Misty hadn’t expected to be visited by the cops. She didn’t once think that they’d think Ryan had been abusing her daughter; in fact, it just never entered her mind to ask; she was about the only mother in town who hadn’t, to be honest. Practically all the other mothers of the kids who’d been in contact with coach Ryan had been worrying over this question.
She was a bit short with Detective Sparks the way she is with all women until Celia told her that her husband was in the hospital. “What? What did you people do to him?” Celia was a bit taken aback by the outburst and the way the woman grabbed onto her. She made a point of looking at the place where Misty had grabbed her, and the other woman dropped her hand like it was on fire.
“I’m sorry, I’m just so worried about all this.”
“It’s okay, I understand; it’s a lot to deal with. To answer your question, he just passed out. Does he have a medical condition that would cause that?” Misty had a look of concentration on her face as she shook her head no.
“Is he on any drugs that you know of? Legal or otherwise?”
That question seemed to shock Misty, who vehemently shook her head no and started to fidget. “Okay, I have to ask Connie some questions; as she’s a minor, you can sit with us.” The woman didn’t seem to hear her but followed along behind her calling out to her daughter, who was still hiding in her room.
When Connie heard the words “the police is here to talk to you,” she almost had a heart attack. Her hands felt clammy, and her breath came in hitches when she opened the door and walked out., not knowing what to expect. It was the same female cop from the night before, looking much different than she had then. Now she wore a smile, unlike last night when she was all business.
Connie seemed shy and unassuming to Celia, who questioned the girl with her mother sitting next to her. “Do you need to see a therapist Connie? Do you need to talk to someone about all of this?” Celia had to ask because even though the girl admitted that Ryan had never been inappropriate, and Celia was wont to believe her for now, she was a bit traumatized after watching him get arrested.
Misty, who seemed preoccupied throughout the whole thing, interjected that she’d see to it that her daughter got the help she needed, and since there was no sign of anything being wrong, Celia left not long after. A look at her watch showed that it was almost time for lunch, and she could only shake her head when she saw Riley pulling in behind her when she got back to the station.
Celia tried not to grin at the thunderclouds that were gathering in his eyes. He’s so adorable! Riley met her halfway, and she didn’t even get a chance to roll her eyes when he pulled her in and kissed the hell out of her. “Let’s go!” He grabbed her hand and dragged her back to his truck.
“What are we eating?”
“You’re not, I am.” Celia had no idea what he was talking about until ten minutes later when he took the turnoff to the farm, but instead of heading down the driveway, he went off into the woods again and parked. She thought maybe he’d brought along a picnic basket and was about to ask when he jumped down from the truck and came around to get her.
Next thing she knew, she found herself with her ass perched on the edge of her seat. She looked into his eyes, or he looked into hers as he unbuttoned and then unzipped her slacks before dragging them off down her thighs, only for them to get stuck on her shoes. He wrestled one leg clear, losing her shoe in the process, and then the fun began.