Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Austin clears his throat. “So, Craig, what do you do for a living?”
I shoot my VP a look of gratitude. Better he changes the subject. As much as I’d like to give this asshole a lesson in table manners, I doubt that Teagan would appreciate the extra attention.
Forcing myself to play it cool, I clean my plate, nodding along and generally keeping up with the conversation. Mostly, I hang back. Watch. Listen. Craig seems to have an easy enough time getting on with the group. Almost too easy. Like he’s well versed in telling people exactly what they want to hear.
“Are those Austin’s ribs I smell?” The mob erupts in welcome as my old partner on the force, Caleb, saunters into the yard with a bottle of Jack Daniels under his arm. He makes his way toward me, pausing to accept hugs and handshakes, before coming to plant a firm slap on my shoulder. “Good to see you, Jonah.”
“Glad you could make it,” I say. “Is that Jack for us or for you?”
“I might be willing to spare a shot or two.” He chuckles. “Nah, this is all you, brother. I’m off the sauce.”
“Glad to hear it.” Back when we were patrolmen, Cal had a habit of hitting the bottle as soon as we got off the clock. Drowning the demon, he called it. He didn’t go into detail about what that meant, and I didn’t think it my place to pry.
After I left the force, Cal went on to make detective, which I firmly supported. He’s the sort of man who needs a project, and with a streak of self-destruction in him a mile wide, left alone with his thoughts for too long, his mind wanders to dark places and gets lost there.
“Sadly, I can’t stay long,” he says. “Got a meeting with an informant in twenty minutes. But I thought I’d drop by and see all your beautiful faces.” Cherise pats his cheek, and he soaks up the friendly affection, his gaze coming to land on Teagan. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.”
“Cal,” I say, “this is Teagan Moss. She’s staying with me. Teagan, meet my old partner, Cal Larkin.”
“Good to meet you, darlin’.” He shakes Teagan’s hand. “Mary called me when she was looking for a place for you. Glad to see you landed under Jonah’s roof.”
“Me, too,” she says with a small smile.
“Hey, kiddo, you didn’t tell me your friends were cops.” Craig thrusts his hand across the table. “Hi, I’m Teagan’s uncle, Craig. Please don’t frisk me, I swear I have a prescription.”
“Relax, citizen. I’m off the clock.”
Cal makes his rounds, joking with the kids and catching up with folks he hasn’t seen in months. A couple times, I catch him eyeing Teagan’s uncle with interest. I know from experience that one look from Cal can say volumes more than words ever could. He’s getting a read off this guy, which means he’s already sensed something’s off. I’ve been doing my best to give Craig the benefit of the doubt since I learned of his existence, for Teagan’s sake, if not for his own. But there’s something about him that raises my hackles. I’m not a cop anymore, but you don’t have to be a bloodhound to catch the literal and figurative whiff coming off this guy.
Eventually, Cal makes it back around to me.
“I’m heading out,” he says, clapping my back. “Take good care of Jack for me.”
“Will do.” Over Cal’s shoulder, I spot Teagan on the deck helping Cherise’s little girls pick out donuts. For a while, it seemed like she was having fun getting to know everyone. But since her uncle arrived, she’s curled back in on herself, like a flower closing up at night.
To say I don’t like the way he talks to her would be an understatement. Now that I’ve seen how he makes her feel, I’m even less impressed. The possibility that a rotten apple on Teagan’s family tree might be slowly trying to poison her, turns my blood to gasoline. All it’ll take is a spark to set me off.
Right now, all I have to go on are an old cop’s hunches. If I’m gonna protect my angel, I need to know the facts.
And to get them, I’m gonna need a current cop’s help.
“I’ll walk you out,” I tell Cal.
Neither of us says a word until we reach his car, parked beside the curb in front of my house.
“What do you need, brother?” he asks. I swear, the guy can still read me like a goddamn car-wash flyer.
“I want you to look into Teagan’s uncle. Something’s not right about him.”
“Yeah, I picked up on that myself.” He runs a hand through his sun-bleached locks. “Speaking of which, do we need to talk about what’s happening between you two?”
I fold my arms across my chest. “I don’t think we do.”