Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
“Not bad. But I’d bet he did it because he has a secret crush on you.”
As if. But she could play along. “Yes, and when he heard I was dating a certain GBH agent, he decided to punish me for betraying him—wait, you probably need a little backstory first. For the past seven years, the deputy and I have been married with three children. But only in his head. If he couldn’t have me, no one could. Now that you and I are broken up, he’s happy again. The reason there have been no other attempts to kill me.”
A pause. Then, “The way your mind works.” Fascination saturated his tone. “When Hollywood makes a movie about your life, it’s going to be an instant blockbuster, I guarantee it.”
Jane fluffed her hair. “A new, up and coming star will play me, no doubt, and Henry Cavill will portray you. Of course, you’ll have to teach him how to do your patented convince-me-you’re-not-guilty stare.”
“Please,” Conrad said with mock haughtiness. “You’re either born with it or you’re not.”
A laugh escaped her. Dang, she liked this guy.
With a voice that reminded her of smoke wafting over gravel, he stated, “There’s only one question remaining. Is this movie a crime drama or a romance?”
“Why can’t it be both?” Eek! They were flirting, and it must stop. Soon. Within the next five or twenty minutes surely. No! Bad! It had to stop now, now, now. “So,” she said, stepping away from him and losing his warmth. Instantly regretting it. “Since we’re prepared to interrogate Ms. Crema, we should probably, well, interrogate Ms. Crema. By the way, I’ve never met her but I’ve heard of her. She supposedly eats nails for breakfast and glass shards for dessert.”
He didn’t miss a beat. “I’ve changed my mind. I’d rather speak with the deputy with the crush first.”
The quick burst of a siren preceded a flash of blue and red lights, breaking their playful mood. Jane jumped, startled. A black and white patrol car eased up beside them. “I think you’re gonna get your chance to talk to him sooner than expected,” she said.
The window rolled down and a deputy leaned out the window, his reflective glasses glinting in the winter sunlight. Jane recognized him and knew he was the one Conrad sought! This street must be his “beat.” That was the saying, wasn’t it? Anyway. The guy wasn’t someone Jane knew well, just someone she’d seen around. He was in his mid-forties, with graying hair and a pretty impressive beard.
“Do you know why I stopped you?” he asked, as if he’d just pulled them over for speeding.
If he wanted her to guess, she’d guess. Had her scenario been correct? Had the secret gold hunter returned to the scene of his crime? She opened her mouth to ask outright–the Jane Ladling way–but Conrad halted her by snaking his arm around her waist and giving her a squeeze. Right. Don’t give the po-po anything.
“Why don’t you tell us,” Conrad said. A statement, not a question.
Lines crossed the deputy’s forehead, and his lips turned down in a frown. Jane immediately understood his dilemma. The former special agent could become the other man’s boss in a matter of months. Best to tread lightly. “Got a complaint about a couple loitering in the area, looking into car windows and pulling on handles. We’ve had some trouble along the street recently.”
Her spine stiffened. “Yes, and I was the beneficiary of that trouble.”
The deputy glanced at Conrad before lifting his hands in surrender. “Just following up on a complaint, ma’am.”
“Actually, I planned to stop by the station to discuss Ms. Ladling’s wreck,” Conrad said, “and the ticket you issued to Adaline Crema that day.”
While Conrad handled the Q and A, Jane scanned the area. Who in the world had called in a complaint about them? A complaint filled with lies, no less. She eyed the shop windows but didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Then her gaze lifted to a floor to ceiling window. Staring down at her was the short, stocky Devin Hagger. Him. He’d done it.
They were too far away for her to make out his expression, but she knew. Oh, she knew. He didn’t like her, and he was just that petty.
But was he petty enough to sabotage her vehicle?
“Ready?” Conrad asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets as the deputy drove off. He ushered her to his car–er Stella—without touching her.
Their earlier ease had been completely eradicated. “Learn anything?”
“Not yet, but I’ll be speaking with him again.”
Once they were buckled in, Jane breathed in his scent once again. Before she could slip into another Conrad-haze, she opened Benjamin’s journal and muttered, “Gonna read. No talkie-talkie.”
She’d brought the book as a buffer. A way to forget they sat alone in a small space. And it worked. For several minutes, she lost herself in the drama of Benjamin’s hunt for gold.