Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 114820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
“Right.”
“I just don’t know how to live with knowing how she died.”
“You’ll learn how to live with it when you understand you’ll never be able to live with it. That’s the difference between men like you and monsters like the man who did that to her.” Rus gave him another squeeze and removed his hand. “I’m sorry, Jace, you will never come to terms with what happened to Brittanie. But you will come to terms with knowing the fact you can’t is a good thing. And that will get you by.”
Jace’s demeanor changed to one that was a great deal less concerning.
“Thanks for being honest about it. Delly’s all about healing, and if she keeps making me cupcakes, I’m gonna get a gut. Celeste thinks she can love away everything. But…” he blew out a breath, shaking his head, “it’s kind of a relief to know it’ll never go away. Not that I want to hold it. Just that I don’t feel like a freak, knowing I’ll never get over it.”
“You’re not a freak,” Rus asserted.
Jace nodded, turned to the mist and took another draw from his beer.
Then he said, entirely to himself, “This year, she’s gonna get my whole pumpkin.”
Rus had no idea what that was about.
What he knew was it wasn’t his to have.
So he didn’t ask.
He just stood at Jace’s side in the mist and drank beer.
TWENTY-ONE
Pearl Buckle
Rus was back in his room, his shoes off, the fire on, his gun on the coffee table, and the last of the bottle of Maker’s Mark in a glass in his hand.
Maid service had left what he hadn’t finished, but also replaced it with a new bottle.
He’d be sure to give them a big tip because he knew, by the time this was done, he’d be obliged they kept on top of his bourbon.
He’d left the Bohannans and driven across town.
This meant he’d just returned from the Better Times Motel after getting Brad’s written account of the man who questioned him about the killing.
He’d also given Brad a pep talk and shared the powers of meditation, melatonin, valerian, warm baths, aromatherapy, Zzzquil, no electronics or television an hour before sleeping and psychotherapy.
Barring all that, he shared, if he had the time, he’d be happy to sit down in the Double D with the guy, buy him a meal and have a chat so he could have someone he could talk to who understood where he was coming from.
Brad had seemed relieved by the simple fact someone gave a shit.
Rus didn’t know if that’d help him sleep, but at least it was something.
He sat in front of the fire with his bourbon, reading Brad’s account, noting it didn’t have much more than what Brad had told him and Moran.
Of note, Brad thought it was weird the guy didn’t stand too close. He entered the lobby, but he stood a good three, four feet away from the desk Brad was behind.
That and the fact he didn’t take off his sunglasses, even if it was night, were the two big things that struck Brad.
He also was knowledgeable about the crime and as confident as a cop.
All things that would fit CK.
Rus believed Bohannan’s take on the situation.
There were some who would argue, but not many, that the man was the best there was, possibly ever, at what he did.
But also, it all made sense.
He could see why CK didn’t take his sunglasses off for Brad.
He might be ready to say hello, but after four years in the shadows, Rus could understand he’d still hold something back.
He tossed the paper on the coffee table, and no other way to put it, began brooding as he sipped bourbon and stared into a fire.
It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t a decision to be made.
It was a given that now, not only did he have to find Brittanie’s killer, he had to lay a trap for CK.
He just needed to figure out how the fuck to do that.
He also needed to report this to his superiors tomorrow.
Good news, he liked Misted Pines, because he was probably going to be there for a while.
On that thought, one of the reasons he liked Misted Pines so much vibrated on his phone.
He took the call.
“Hey, honey,” he greeted Lucinda, at the same time, in the back of his head, he began wondering if he should tell her why he was there.
Which meant CK might be there.
It would upset her, and maybe scare her.
But if he wasn’t wrong, they were starting something, and he didn’t want to start it by keeping anything from her.
Not something this big.
“Hey,” she replied. “You seemed okay I brought Madden tonight.”
“More than okay. You got a great kid.”
“I know. She likes you.”
“I like her.”
“Of course you do, she’s perfect.”
He chuckled.
She said, “You were good with Jace. He seemed better when you guys came back in.”