Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 134598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
“Wait, that was the news today, wasn’t it?” Brody asked.
“Yeah, they couldn’t keep it quiet since Cate called the police. She was the only one home at the time. Rip was at his girlfriend’s place.”
“The stalker is escalating,” Ethan said grimly.
Ink nodded. “Since Rip is a good friend of mine, we’re going to push some other jobs back to fit him in. And I’m going to bring in extra help. I’ve already spoken to Matthieu. He will take over some jobs here to free up the two of you to go to Los Angeles.” He nodded to Seth and Ethan.
That was interesting. Matthieu was a friend of Ink’s. Matthieu had helped Royal and Baron escape the boarding school they’d been sent to by Forrest Robins.
Evil bastard.
“And even though Butch has just started, so far, he’s shown to have a good aptitude for the job.”
Butch was part of the Iron Shadows Motorcycle Club. He had been working for several years as a bouncer for Reapers, the bar owned by Reyes, the club’s president. Just recently, he’d taken a job with Callahan Security.
Ethan raised his eyebrows. “So you want us to head out to LA?”
“Hell, yeah,” Seth said, rubbing his hands together. “I love LA. the sun. The beach.”
“The traffic. The congestion,” Ethan said dryly. “The smog.”
“Do you need me to go as well?” Brody asked curiously.
“Just initially,” Ink told him. “I want you to help set up the security system. You’ll only need to be there a couple of days, tops. I’ll be with you. Think you can swing that?”
“I think so. Let me check.” Brody drew out his phone and typed out a message.
“You have to get permission?” Seth asked. He sounded more curious than anything else.
“Ahh. Sort of.” Brody pushed his glasses up his nose as his phone buzzed with a reply. “Uh-oh.”
“I don’t need uh-ohs,” Ink said.
“Um. It’s all right. It’s just . . . um, he’s going to come.”
“He can’t come!” Ink replied.
“Who can’t come? Your guy? I look forward to meeting him,” Seth said cheerfully.
They all gave him alarmed looks.
“Argh, that likely won’t happen. He’s private,” Brody said.
“One could say shy.” Ink grinned.
“Oh. You know, I don’t even know his name,” Seth mused.
Yeah. There was a reason for that.
“You don’t, well, um, huh. It’s Fred,” Brody blurted out. Then he closed his eyes for a moment. It was obvious he didn’t mean to say that.
Ethan felt a pang of discomfort for the poor guy.
“Fred? Okay. Cool.” Seth looked a bit confused. Probably because Brody was the shade of an overly-ripe tomato.
“He said that you won’t even know he’s there,” Brody told Ink. “He’ll bring Autumn and make it a holiday.” Brody rubbed at his chest. “It’s that or it’s a no.”
“How will he even get there?” Ethan asked, guessing that the Fox wouldn’t be flying economy.
Ink sighed. “I’m sure he has his ways.”
“You’re talking about this guy like he’s . . . I don’t know, Batman or something,” Seth said.
“Close,” Brody said. Then he grinned as he read something on his phone.
“So you’re coming too?” Ethan asked Ink.
“I can only spare a few days. With Royal and Baron at college, I don’t like leaving Betsy on her own for too long. But also, uh, we’ve decided to become foster parents.”
Wow.
“Really, man? That’s awesome!” Brody said with a huge grin.
Ink smiled. “Thanks. We’ve had all the assessments done and we’ve been approved. We even know that our first foster child is going to be a little girl.”
Ink looked slightly ill at that, and Ethan had to grin. “A girl? That’s going to be different from the boys.”
“Tell me about it. Baron and Royal are already discussing all the ways they’re going to be the best big brothers. Poor kid. That’s if she wants to stay with us. She didn’t work out with her last family. She threatened to cut her foster father with a knife.”
“Uhhh, I don’t know what to say to that,” Seth said.
“The Fo . . . I mean, he said that she sounds like his kind of kid and where can he get one?” Brody blinked at his phone as though just processing what he’d said. “Holy heck balls. He wants a kid?”
“Wait. Can he hear us?” Ink demanded, leaning forward and putting his hands on the table.
Brody blinked up at him. “You know he’s got cameras here.”
“In the meeting room?” Ink asked, running his hand down his face.
Brody glanced at his phone as it buzzed. “He said, yes. Also, he wants to know why she threatened to cut her foster dad.”
Ink’s face grew serious. “I don’t know. But I want to find out what happened.”
“He wants the name of the foster father, so he can do some research.”
“Tell him that he needs to stay out of this. She’s my kid!” Ink glanced around. “Stay out.”