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)
He kissed her neck, then under her ear, then looked down at her, her hair all over his pillow, her eyes liquid gold.
“Knew you’d taste good,” he muttered.
“Knew you’d give great head,” she muttered back.
He grinned at her. “We have that in common.” She started to smile but he kissed her before she finished, lifted his head and added, “Better than room service.”
“I hope so.”
“Appreciate you fitting me in your busy schedule after you dropped off Madden at school.”
She’d come back to him.
He was glad he’d slept in.
She was moving her hands on his back. “I’ll always make time for you, Rus.”
He believed her, and Christ, he liked that.
He kissed her again.
Then he rolled, pulling her on top.
“You doing okay?” she asked.
“I’m great,” he responded.
Her face grew wicked with pride, but she shook her head. “I mean with the case.”
No.
He was not good with the case.
He sighed, pulled them up the bed, kept her close as he shoved pillows behind him to make it more comfortable, and returned his attention to her.
“It is what it is. Am I thrown? Yes. But I don’t have time to descend into that shit. If I lose focus or patience with the process, I can fuck shit up. I just have to ride it out and keep sharp.”
“Have you talked to Harry yet?”
She wanted him to move to town.
Since he wanted to move to town, he found that excellent.
“No, thought it best to close a case before I asked him for a job.”
She chuckled.
He kissed her again, but had to say, “Baby, it’s late. This has been all kinds of fun, but I need to hit it.”
“Okay. Me too.”
“You showering here?”
“Are you offering to keep me company while I do?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then I’m showering here.”
That meant Rus had far more energy to throw his legs over the side of the bed and drag her out with him.
He and Moran were at the Joy of Joy sex shop outside of town, visit number two in twenty-four hours, when the call came in.
It first came to Moran’s phone.
As he was talking, Rus’s phone went too.
Since it was Lucinda calling, and she was calling the same time Moran got a call, Rus felt something close around his throat.
He forced it open enough to answer, “Hey, sweetheart.”
Her voice was sheer terror when she said, “Ezra took Madden from recess.”
He locked eyes with Moran.
And he kept his phone to his ear as the two of them sprinted out of the shop.
FORTY-TWO
The Hammer
There would be a time, hopefully a joyous one, where he’d find out what Harry Moran liked most in the world, and whatever it cost, he’d buy it for him.
This was because Moran stepped back, and while Polly ministered to a terrified Lucinda and Indira, he personally took on the different kind of terror that was happening with Jaeger, Darragh and Porter.
But Rus stayed visible to them in one of the conference rooms in the back of the bullpen at the sheriff’s office.
Jason, Jesse and Cade Bohannan were there.
Dickerson was there, as was Sean Stoll, another deputy, and Karen Wilkins, the deputy that tracked the crystal.
McGill was en route.
Turner knew what was happening.
And Rus had called in Kleo.
Having them gathered, he made the call and put it on speaker.
Ezra picked up.
“That was not a good move,” Rus growled.
Bohannan lifted a hand and flicked his finger at Rus.
Cool it.
He pulled a breath into his nose.
“You told me I needed something to bargain with,” Ezra said.
God fucking dammit.
“You just made the really bad situation you’re in worse,” Rus warned. “Is Madden safe?”
Ezra didn’t answer his question.
He said, “I want you. Just you. I also want five hundred thousand in cash. No tricks. None of those marked bills or whatever. The Bonners have it, you could have it in an hour. No sweat. Just you bringing it. Come in a car with a tank full of gas and the money, just you, and you can have the girl.”
“Is Madden safe?”
“She’s safe.”
“I want to hear her voice. Put her on. Now.”
There was silence then, “Mr. Lazarus?”
Her voice was trembling.
God fucking dammit.
He was going to fucking kill this guy.
“See? She’s safe,” Ezra said. “She’s fine. She has a candy bar.”
A candy bar?
Going.
To fucking.
Kill this guy.
“Exactly what are you gonna do to dig this hole deeper, Ezra? Carrie isn’t here to call the shots.”
“I lied, Special Agent Lazarus,” Ezra sneered. “I have the hammer.”
Rus’s blood ran cold.
“I also have a gun.”
Rus nearly dropped his head, but he didn’t, because he knew Lucinda was watching.
“Just you,” Ezra demanded. “Get the cash, call me back.”
The line went dead.
In that instant, he picked his team personally.
If they weren’t still deputized, Moran could do it on their way out.
And add one.
If questions were asked, he’d finesse it later, but he wanted people with a personal stake.
And he wanted Moran to head shit up if things went south.