Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 78696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
I knew he wouldn’t be able to fix that.
He’d have to take it to a welder who could handle aluminum.
“I can see that my dad showed you his trick,” Lenore called from the tree line.
I turned to find her standing as far away from the river as she could without actually being able to see it.
I nodded. “He did.”
She snickered. “Most people know not to speed through here. My dad’s lost way too many fishing poles in the water to deal with them doing it anymore.”
I could imagine.
But it wasn’t the fishing poles he was worried about.
A boat had sunk in this very spot earlier today due to all the tree stumps in the water…and that one had been carrying a kid in it.
I could imagine he was pissed off and had no other way to stop them from doing that unless he took control of the situation.
Rodney couldn’t be out there twenty-four hours of the day.
People needed to learn some common sense.
“I think I’m ready to go when you are,” she called.
I took the hint for what it was and offered my hand to Rodney, who smiled at me.
“I’ll see you this weekend for the BBQ cook off,” Rodney ordered.
I didn’t bother arguing as I took his hand and shook it once before giving him a tap on the back with my opposite hand and turning to leave.
“So…did you have fun?” Lenore asked once I got close enough.
I gave her a look that clearly showed her what I thought about her father’s type of fun.
***
I opened the door to my place and winced as I saw all the piles of shit…everywhere.
Case files were strewn across every available surface.
Beer bottles littered the floor where I happened to be standing at the time I finished them.
The last three days had been long.
“Something happened, didn’t it?” Lenore asked.
I turned to her, studied her face for a few long moments, and nodded.
“Yeah, something happened,” I confirmed.
“Can you tell me what?” She asked softly.
I thought about that for a long moment before nodding.
“Some of it, yeah. You just can’t repeat anything I say to you,” I told her.
She gave me a look that clearly showed how annoyed she was with hearing me say that.
I raised both hands up in surrender.
“I had a lot to think about over the last couple of days,” I said. “When I was forced to give my son’s case over to Wolf, I got his weapons case that he’s been working on. A certain set of individuals are on our watch list because of their suspected participation in a gun smuggling case that runs along this very waterway.” I cleared my throat. “And I got to thinking about the case, and started to look up some of the known individuals that they suspect to be involved.”
Lenore nodded. “Yeah.”
I really liked being able to talk with her.
It was nice to get some of this jumble of mess out of my brain and spell it out into words.
“Back to my son’s case, I got an address and number of a man that was threatening my ex-wife’s husband to pass a bill through the senate. One of the names of the men that’d been seen in that house over the last week that they’d had the information is the same man that’s been suspected of smuggling guns on my case,” I continued. “Which was what made me start asking for warrants to raid this house since I now had probable cause that the two cases were linked.”
“How would they even know it was you?” Lenore asked in confusion.
“If he’s able to get enough information on a Texas state senator to either blackmail or threaten him with, there’s no reason in the world he wouldn’t be able to get information about the Texas Ranger on the case that he’s a suspect in,” I explained.
“So you think that the two cases are related, and they’re responsible for all this?” She asked.
“That’s my suspicion, yes. I think that by getting this bill passed, it would clear the way to their case being dropped since all the evidence we’ve seized would be thrown out,” I explained. “Not to mention that he wants all the guns that were seized returned so he can deliver whatever shipment they were supposed to be a part of.”
“So let me get this straight, you’re being accused of sexually assaulting someone and have the potential to lose your job. You lost your son to this jack wad. And you think, next, they’ll try threatening me,” she growled.
I smiled at her indignation, walking to my room and bringing her with me.
The moment my bed was within reaching distance, I put a knee into it and collapsed.
Lenore followed me down.
“The woman won’t get too far. My boss isn’t a harsh man most times, but he really detests liars and doesn’t abide by it,” I explained, turning over to my back in the bed. “She’ll get torn apart once he gets a hold of her. Not to mention the boys were on it before I’d even realized it was potentially a problem for me.”
She followed me as I rolled, moving until her front was plastered against my back.
We laid in silence, for long minutes, as we both contemplated our own thoughts.
And before long, I heard the tale tail sign of Lenore sleeping at my side.
Me, though…I didn’t sleep.
I worried, and I started to make plans.
Contingency plans that I would put in place if anything started to get out of my control.
I had plans forming in my mind, and I had a to-do list now, too. And right there at the top of that to-do list was a visit to Justin-fucking-Hayes.
Chapter 15
If I stop my car so you can cross the road, you better wave your thanks. I also don’t want you to dawdle. Knees to chest, bitch, knees to chest.
-Driver’s etiquette 101
Lenore
I was mad.
In fact, I was beyond mad.
After spending the entire day with Griffin, I’d woken up the next morning and found an empty pillow with no sign nor trace of him anywhere.