Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
When I saw the two men fighting, I wanted to do nothing but rush out the doors and figure out why the two men connected to Luna’s last few hours alive were fighting but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to peek in some rooms for information.
Once I realized I wasn’t getting anywhere with the security, I called Finn to have him bring the men downtown to question them.
I feel like I’m in over my head. Hopefully Finn calls tonight and lets me know what happened with Derek and Kurt. If I’m lucky, maybe this case will be solved tonight.
My heart saddens a bit when I think about closing this case and never seeing Devereaux again. Will I ever be the same?
“Finn,” I say into the phone, walking through my kitchen, tightening the string in the waistband of my pink sweatpants. It’s late, but I want to find out what Finn learned once he questioned Kurt and Derek.
“Chloe, I was just about to call you.”
I roll my eyes, because I’m sure Finn would have much rather closed this case without me being involved at all.
“What happened tonight?” I hold my breath, hoping we finally have answers instead of dead-ends.
“They’ve both been released. They didn’t give us much. Derek gave Julie a ride home the night of her murder. He swears he took her right home.”
I bet he’s lying.
“He didn’t take her anywhere else?”
“No,” Finn says.
I want to tell him about Ashley, but I don’t want to drag her into this. “What about Kurt, the other man?”
Finn exhales loudly into the phone. “I guess he owed Matthews money.”
I scrub a hand over my face. “Right, ok. Where are they now?”
“Um, Derek’s wife picked him up not too long ago. We released Kurt, and he took an Uber somewhere. I don’t know.”
“Wife?” My heart breaks for Ashley.
“Yeah, Ms. Tiffany Matthews was questioned as well.”
“Why?” I’m sitting on information that I’m not sure I should even tell him about, but I finally decide I should. Because I’m getting nowhere, and I think he’d be able to get further with the info than me. “My sister, Ashley, saw Derek with Taylor Haws the night she was murdered.”
Finn sounds upset as he says, “What? Chloe, why haven’t you told anyone?”
I shrug. “Well, I am telling someone. I’m telling you.”
“How does your sister even know Derek?”
“They’re kind of dating. Well, I guess not since he’s married.”
“You should have told me sooner, Chloe. We’re partners. You can’t keep shit from me.”
“I know. I’m sorry. There’s nothing else I’m keeping from you.”
Finn goes on for another ten minutes about how we have to continue to be honest with each other, but I zone him out as I think of a way to tell Ashley that Derek’s married. I don’t even know what to say to her.
“You listening to me, Chloe?” Finn barks into the phone.
“Yeah, sorry,” I say as my mind snaps back to the here and now.
“You need to move in on Devereaux. He has to know something.”
I nod. “I will.”
We say our goodbyes after I promise I’ll be able to gather real intel on Devereaux.
I don’t know what I’m going to do.
When I enter the house, Vin’s tall frame wraps me in a tight hug. As soon as he releases me, I’m wrapped in a tighter embrace by Addison.
“It’s so good to see you,” she says. “I missed you.”
“Me more.” When Vin and Addison got engaged and flew in for her to meet the family, we just clicked. She’s like a second sister to me, and I push away the turmoil of Devereaux and Club Greed, letting normalcy encompass me while two of my favorite people catch us up on their life. Well, for about thirty minutes because after Vin disappears outside with Mom to light the grill, my undercover assignment becomes the hot topic.
“Can’t believe I have three family members who work undercover,” Ashley says. She points at Addison. “Yes, you’re my family. And even if you dumped Vin tonight, you can’t get rid of us.”
Addison leans her elbows on the island, blue eyes sparkling brighter than the rock on her finger. “I’ll never dump him. He’s my person.”
She gushes for a few minutes about how he braided her hair when she was sick, and it’s sickeningly sweet how love has changed Vin into a protective caveman when it comes to his woman.
As I season the rib-eye steaks, the conversation spotlight shines on me when Addison asks, “How’s the detective job going?”
“It’s going,” I answer, avoiding her gaze.
“Everything is top-secret,” Allison says as she plops lettuce and veggies on the counter to prepare a salad.
“Well, undercover life is tough when you have to keep details private for the sake of the case. Fortunately—or unfortunately—I didn’t have family to question me.”
A pang squeezes my chest that Addison lost her parents at a young age and never experienced the feel of family until working with Vin. Another pang slices through me that Dev also lost his mother.