Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
The red hair that was slowly slipping from the ponytail that was haphazardly put up at the back of her nape.
“Are you even listening to me, Westfield?”
I blinked, surprised to see Sheriff Graydon walking away, and Dutch’s head turned so that she could glare daggers at me.
“I’m sorry.” I shrugged. “I tend to ignore everything he says so that I can keep myself off of blood pressure medicine.” I paused. “I am thirty-eight after all.”
She made a frustrated sound that had me laughing and curling my arm around her so that she would have no choice but to follow me into my house.
When we got inside and I had the door closed and locked, she sighed.
“I don’t know how you’re calm right now,” she grumbled darkly as she kicked her toe against the carpet. “This is bad, Wake. Really, really bad.”
I shrugged. “He was just reaching. He’s come at me with four different murders and six different disappearances since I’ve been out of prison. All of them happened at least half the country away from here. He’s just being annoying. Though, it was a very weird coincidence that he asked me about that one with you here.”
“But…” She swallowed hard. “What if they find out? What if they trace it back to me? What if they go to my house and see that I missed a single hair?”
“They would have to have a reason to go to your house,” I pointed out. “And they don’t have one. There are plenty of other people that man pissed off. You’re nothing special, darlin’.”
She continued to freak out. Up until I said what I said next.
“Until further notice, you’re staying here. With me,” I growled. “Let’s go home and get some of your things.”
She blinked owlishly at me. “I, uh, can’t stay here.”
I tilted my head. “Why?”
“Other than the whole ‘I don’t know you’ thing?” she asked.
I gave her an eyebrow raise as I waited expectantly for her to explain.
“I have pets,” she said. “They need me every morning.”
“Pets like horses?” I asked.
“No…” she drawled out.
“Pets that can’t travel?” I asked.
“They can travel.” She frowned. “But I doubt you’ll want them in your house. Not to mention that it’s totally weird for me to just move in here.”
“Look,” I said, “I don’t have a phobia of any type of pets.”
She started to pace. “But that’s not really my problem. I think I need to murder someone else!”
Her words had me stilling. “What?”
“There’s this boy,” she whispered. “And he goes to a school where Sheriff Graydon’s sister works. A sister that treats him inappropriately. He’s been acting out for a year now. His grandmother can’t handle his outbursts anymore. And today, we had a breakthrough. He told me that Ms. Graydon made him talk about stuff that makes him uncomfortable… so that he can pass his tests and make good grades.”
Anger clawed at my guts.
But there was one thing that I’d learned while in prison.
Patience.
Before, when I’d learned of all the pedophiles that were surrounding me and my daughter, I’d gone off. I’d done a lot of things in haste, taken people out when I should’ve made them pay. Pay for a hell of a lot longer than they’d had to.
“You can’t go around murdering every person that pisses you off,” I finally said. “And as much as I’d like to help you in this act, you’re going to have to…”
“She scared him! Terrified him in no way that a child should ever be terrified of an adult.”
I caught her up in my arms before she could make the next pass of my living room.
“We can fix this without violence,” I told her. “But you can’t go killing off the sheriff’s sister. That’s the fastest way to get the entire state of Florida on your ass.”
She looked up at me with those blue eyes that were so big and scared, I couldn’t help myself.
I dropped my mouth to kiss hers.
CHAPTER 12
Nice dinners don’t impress me. Going out to breakfast in sweats and having you tell me I’m cute while I shove a short stack of pancakes in my mouth impresses me.
-Dutch to Wake
DUTCH
One second, I was ready to take on Sheriff Graydon and his sister—seeing him had brought it all back—everything that Pedro had told me today.
And the next, I was in Wake’s arms, kissing him, and I liked it.
I’d never been a big ‘kisser’ in the world of dating. Swapping spit, clicking teeth, and rubbing tongues had never really appealed to me.
I’d rather lick a popsicle than kiss a boy.
But obviously, I’d never kissed Wake before.
Now, I realized my mistake.
I just had to find someone that tasted as good as a popsicle.
And Wake definitely tasted better than a popsicle. Maybe even a Fudgesicle.
He pulled back, his eyes going to my mouth first, then flicking upward to meet my gaze before he said, “You done?”