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)
“It’s not that kind of relationship.”
“What kind is it?”
“We don’t hold hands and stare at each other with cow eyes.”
Her face was a mask of confusion. “Cow eyes?”
At least he wasn’t the only one who had never heard the expression before. “Google it.”
“So, you paid her to be your date,” she concluded with a smirk. “It’s that kind of relationship.”
“I didn’t…” He sighed. “Man, I’m starving. I think it’s time to eat.”
Monty snickered.
His attempt at deflection was outdone by Jamison yelling out, “Come spring, how about we do a charity poker run in memory of Sadie Parrish? What money we raise will go to a non-profit organization called the SAFE Project.”
Agreements could be heard around the room.
A poker run was always fun but to do it to raise money for a good cause made it even better.
As his gaze scanned the room to see if anyone was interrogating Monty’s man, Luke Rodgers from the task force came bursting out of the first floor meeting room.
“Sorry to crash your,” he glanced around, “gathering. I’m looking for Rez.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Why the fuck was Rodgers looking for him? “Over here. What’s up?”
“Need you upstairs,” he answered.
Rez frowned.
The whole room went silent and everyone’s gaze bounced back and forth from Rodgers to Rez.
“Again, sorry for interrupting. Uh… I’m also sorry for your loss, Sloane.” He tipped his head toward the meeting room. “Rez…”
What the fuck was going on?
He took quick strides toward the DEA agent. “Is there a problem?”
“Need to show you something.”
Rez followed him through the room where the BAMC executive committee met, out the side door and up the stairs to the third floor.
Rodgers punched in the code to unlock the door and Rez followed him inside.
“What’s going on?” Rez asked again, starting to worry.
“Need you to see something. You’ve been… uh… dating that hot brunette from The Peach Pit, right? Sapphire?”
Not exactly dating but… “Yeah.”
“Well, brother, your woman is a badass.”
His eyebrows pinned together. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I wasn’t sure if you knew or not, but by the way you’re acting, now I know you don’t. I thought she was with you downstairs until I was scrolling through some of the footage from about an hour or so ago. I came across something you need to see. I double-checked the time stamp, then realized you were downstairs when it happened.”
“What happened?” His racing heart was now wedged in his throat.
Rodgers sank into the office chair at one of the desks set up for watching the camera feeds. After a few clicks of the mouse, he jerked his head toward the monitor. “Let me rewind it so you can see the complete scenario. You’ll see the cause and then the effect.”
The man sounded amused, not worried. Even so, Rez wasn’t liking where this was going.
Behind him, he heard the door unlock and open, then a few sets of boots headed over to where he stood behind Rodgers’ chair. The DEA agent stood and offered the chair to him.
Rez shook his head. “Go ahead and show me whatever you’re going to show me.” And hurry the fuck up!
With a nod, Rodgers leaned over and tapped the Enter key on the keyboard.
He wasn’t sure who crowded behind him to join their little watch party because he didn’t want to look away from the screen and miss anything. The footage that was playing came from the camera feed in Saint’s office at The Peach Pit. Right from the get-go that wasn’t a good sign. “What is this?”
“Just watch,” Rodgers insisted.
He planned on watching, but his gut was already churning.
In the recording, Saint was sitting behind his desk when something caught his attention outside his office in the hallway. He leaned forward and shouted toward the open door. The dancer named Cherish appeared in the doorway looking reluctant and reminded Rez of a skittish fawn.
Oh yeah, Rez wasn’t going to like this. Not at fucking all. Cherish was nervous about something and he was damn sure the woman had a good reason to be.
Saint didn’t have one redeeming quality. He treated the girls like shit, so it was no surprise when they didn’t want to spend any amount of time in his presence.
Especially alone.
With no sound, he would only guess what was being said. However, the body language was easy to read.
Saint’s jerk of his chin was an order for Cherish to close the door behind her. It was clear she didn’t want to, but Saint wasn’t taking no for an answer.
Rez’s eyes sliced from the task force member to the screen. “I’m not liking this,” he growled.
“Keep watching.”
When Cherish refused to close the door, Saint got up and pulled her deeper into the office and slammed the door shut. Then he grabbed Cherish by the throat and shoved her against the wall.
The air on the third floor went electric, making the fine hairs on the back of his neck stand. Harsh breathing came from behind him, while Rez’s shallowed and almost stopped completely.