Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
“Detective?”
I blink, looking from Maddox to Silva.
“You seem distracted,” the attorney said, making me wonder how long I’ve just been staring at the man across from me.
I feel the heat of embarrassment warm my cheeks, and I look down at the very limited information I have in the too-thin case file. Someone’s life should amount to more than a handful of documents, but we don’t have much on Elizabeth Burr.
I don’t turn to look over my shoulder when the door at my back opens.
“We have more evidence,” Ramshaw says as he leans close to my ear.
I stand, not questioning why a patrol officer would be sent in here to get me rather than another detective. I give both men still sitting the cockiest grin I can manage, so sure we now have exactly what I need to make sure Sawyer Maddox never sees another day of freedom.
I follow Ramshaw down the hallway, but instead of heading in the direction of one of the evidence rooms, he leads me to Chief Monahan’s office. The man doesn’t look pleased as he turns his computer screen in my direction. I know before he even starts the video that this isn’t going to go my way.
“Elizabeth Burr,” the chief says, pointing to the woman exiting the bar with a guy at her side. “That’s Ugly.”
I want to scoff, despising the man’s nickname. He’s so far from being fucking ugly, it’s goddamned ironic.
I watch, hating that part inside of me that feels anything at the sight of him pressing a woman against the bar, their lips locked in a passionate kiss. I watch, trying to remain emotionless as his hands wander over her body, surprised at just how good the damn video quality is. I know what the roll of his hips feel like. I’m well aware of what his teeth nipping at her skin feels like.
Then they separate, the woman cupping his jaw as if they’ve known each other for a long time. Each second that ticks by as they talk seems like an eternity, but then she drops her hand, a victorious smile on her face as she nods. He goes around the building and she heads in a different direction. Headlights flash as a vehicle I know to be her car drives past the view of the camera, and a minute later, Maddox comes out from around the building and disappears off screen.
“Impossible,” I mutter, but the truth is right fucking there. “They had to have met up later.”
“I could fast forward the video of the other Cerberus members leaving the bar only to find Ugly—”
“Sawyer Maddox,” I snap, interrupting my boss. I hate the way he’s making this personal, as if he hangs out with this guy on the weekend or would trust him to watch his twin granddaughters.
“Ugly,” Chief Monahan emphasizes, “was found outside of the Cerberus SUV, so drunk he could hardly stand.”
“He claimed he didn’t know her,” I argue. “Why would he lie?”
The chief narrows his eyes at me. “He didn’t do it. You saw her drive off and leave him behind.”
“He didn’t look drunk when he was feeling her up,” I say, not wanting to admit what I already know, wondering if he can hear that bitter edge in my voice.
“You made a mistake, and Cerberus isn’t going to be very happy with the way things were handled.”
I stand from the leaned position I was in to watch the video. “Chief, it’s possible they met up later.”
His fingers work over the keys, pulling up another file. I freeze at the terrified woman in traffic camera image, the time stamp only a minute after when her car left the bar parking lot.
I can see the knife at her throat, and I have no doubt if I look hard enough, I can see tears spilling down her cheeks.
“There’s a good chance he was already in her car when she got inside. Sawyer Maddox did not kill Elizabeth Burr.”
I take a step back.
“You need to apologize to Sawyer Maddox and cut him loose. Maybe if you do it with sincerity, we won’t have to worry about the Cerberus MC suing the department.”
I can admit when I’m wrong. I’m human. This isn’t the first mistake I’ve ever made, but it happens to be the biggest one of my career, so far.
Chapter 6
Ugly
“No clue,” I tell Russell. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before in my life. At first, I thought she was a woman I hooked up with in the bathroom at Jake’s but the more I think about it, the surer I am that it was a different woman. Is she married? The woman in the bathroom said she was married. Have they looked at her husband? I never left the bar with her.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t have many details. Kincaid just called and asked me to meet you here. I know the victim was found like a week ago.”