Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Before the police cleared the motel, they talked to the officer in charge and informed him Nox was missing and asked them to keep an eye out for their missing brother.
Whether they would or not, Rez didn’t know. Some local departments didn’t have enough manpower to spare to look for him. But it couldn’t hurt for their dispatch to put out a BOLO—a “be on the lookout” alert—to surrounding police departments, just in case.
Finn also sent Crew a text to have him check Nox’s apartment and if he wasn’t there, to keep an eye out for him. When the task force leader asked why, Finn gave him a very abbreviated story about finding Sadie deceased and how it knocked Nox off the rails.
That caused Crew to send out a meeting notice for two days from now. He probably wanted to grill them about what they’d been doing. Which wasn’t task force business. The task force leader would get over it eventually, but that didn’t mean Crew wouldn’t be salty about it for a while.
They had waited at the motel for hours while the cops documented and photographed the scene and until the coroner eventually removed the body. They answered questions, gave their statements and were now headed east as the sun was rising above the horizon on the second day of dealing with that shit.
Besides cat naps in the cars as the local PD and coroner did their thing, none of them had any solid sleep for almost forty-eight hours.
Finn rode with Decker until they got to the truck stop where they’d left the third vehicle. In one way, they hoped it was gone. Rez’s stomach dropped when it was still there.
Nox hadn’t taken it.
None of them had expected Nox’s reaction. Not one of them.
The man had already been dealing with some PTSD ever since being honorably discharged from the Army. But his wife dying, and that whole situation surrounding her tragic and unexpected death, had caused him to spiral into a deep state of despair and depression.
Bottom line, Bradley Lennox was a cop and law enforcement was bombarded with more tragedy than one should be. They all found different ways to deal with it. Sometimes even with dark humor.
Of course, some situations hit even veteran cops harder than others. They all had their specific triggers and limits. Whether it was murder, torture, rape, child abuse, incest or one of the many reasons why they responded to a call.
But for some reason, Sadie’s death, and maybe even her condition, hit Nox harder than the rest of the shit they normally dealt with.
Rez could only guess it was because he was reliving how he felt when he found his wife dead. It could also be that he was putting himself in Sloane’s shoes. Thinking about how someone he knew personally would react to the bad and sad news about her sister.
Again, while what they found shouldn’t have been surprising—except the necrophilia part, of course, because, fuck, no one expected that—it still triggered something deep within Nox.
Rez was worried and he wasn’t the only one.
When they were at the truck stop picking up the third car, grabbing coffee and more junk food, he had texted Sapphire. It was right after sunrise, so he doubted she’d be awake, but he wanted to check in with her, anyway, before he started driving again.
Despite her telling him it wasn’t needed, he wanted her to know he’d been thinking about her.
If she didn’t get the text now, she’d get it once she rolled out of bed.
I’m sure you’re asleep, but wanted to let you know we’re on our way back to PA.
Before he could set his phone aside, it dinged with an answering text. I’m awake now.
Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you. Figured you’d read this later.
You figured wrong. You left PA?
She had no idea he and his brothers had headed all the way into Ohio on their search.
We had a job to finish. Technically it wasn’t finished. Not until T-Bone was done paying for his multitude of sins.
He sent another message: I’m heading home to try to get some sleep. Though, that might not be possible. After what he saw in that motel room, he was afraid he might never sleep solidly again. Stopping at Mom’s first to grab some grub.
He had already sent a message to his mother giving her the heads up that he was stopping in for one of her big breakfasts. A stomach stuffed with his mother’s good food might help him get some shut-eye.
In the meantime…
He didn’t get an answering text from Sapphire. She most likely fell back asleep. Or…
Maybe he was trying to force something between them that he shouldn’t be.
She was so damn independent and didn’t seem the type to want any kind of serious relationship. But then, he was the same.