Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
“If you don’t find a way to turn off that big brain of yours, Jamie, you’ll burn out before you have a chance to figure out what happened to Luke.”
At my look of surprise, Charlie laughed. “You think I don’t remember? You two were tight as fuck and his murder changed you. I had no idea how much until later, but it was obvious. Even back then.”
“You’re right, but I don’t know how to shut it off yet. How do you do it? And don’t tell me Chickie is the answer.” I snort-laughed.
“Usually, I get lost in good pussy. For days. If that doesn’t help, a few shots of tequila and then get lost in good pussy.”
A smile lit up his face just as Savannah walked in, tall and confident as if she owned the place. She greeted everyone with a smile, except the Reckless Bitches, which made me snort, before greeting my brother with a hot kiss that sent the probies into fits of whistles and catcalls.
Before the longing for Maddie set in, my phone buzzed with a message from Agent Beck.
Meet in 15 at The Guinea.
The Guinea was a local cop bar where cops could have a beer and talk shop without worrying about civilians or fucked up reporters with phone video.
It was an ideal meeting spot for a Friday night, and when I walked in, I spotted Beck looking like she was too young to order a beer at a back booth. She was a fine looking lady, but her personality sucked.
“Hey, little girl, are you lost?”
She flipped me off and I laughed. “I’ve got your little girl right here, fucker.”
“You kiss your mama with that mouth?”
Beck laughed again. “Only when she pisses me off. Sit.”
I grabbed the seat against the wall because it gave me the perfect view of the entire bar just in case some shit popped off. “So what’s so important on a Friday night, Beck?”
“I think we should arrest Calvin Ashby. I know you don’t think he had anything to do with the murders, and the truth is I don’t either, but we need to get Sadie or Jasper to do something rash, and this is one way to accomplish that.” Beck let out a regretful sigh that surprised me. “By all accounts, it seems like he really loved Bonnie, and I think he wants to know who killed her as badly as we do.”
“I don’t like it, Beck. What if this winds up with him dead. Have you thought about that?”
“Collateral damage is part of the job, Ellison. Can you handle that?”
“I can handle anything you throw my way, but making false arrests just to get a rise out of your enemies isn’t what I signed up for. We should be focusing on Mueller rather than your crazed obsession with the Ashbys.”
“Excuse me? Obsession?” Beck spat out.
“You heard me, Beck, and I’m not judging.”
“Sounds like judgment to me,” she snorted into her beer.
“Well, it’s not. But Mueller was a Fed who was deep undercover. We’re just focused on the Ashby family as if there aren’t at least a thousand other people who wanted this man dead. We should be casting a wider net, not a smaller one.”
I shook my head because she was being stubborn as fuck and I didn’t like it. “Who in his world had the juice to find out he was undercover?’
Beck took a pull of her beer and smacked her lips. “You found out pretty easily.”
“Yeah, well, I have excellent sources. You need to consider that maybe Bonnie Byrne Ashby was nothing more than collateral damage in all this.”
There was a play of emotions on Beck’s face. She hated to be challenged, and when her blue eyes narrowed in my direction, I finally understood why Agent Marshall wasn’t here. He didn’t agree with her either.
“Getting the Ashbys can help your family as well, or maybe you don’t care about that.”
“You’re right about that, Beck. I don’t give a fuck about that. I want to know who killed Bonnie and Father Mueller. End of fucking story.”
Beck let out a low, angry growl before she pushed away from the table and stormed off. That was her thing when she didn’t get her way. She ran off to lick her wounds and find another way.
I had no doubt I’d hear from Agent Beck again before the weekend was over, I pushed all thoughts of her from my mind and took a long ride on two wheels to clear my head of all the week’s bullshit.
So far, the job was more politics than crime-solving, which made every fucking day harder than it needed to be. I had a lot to learn about being a cop while wading through the muddy waters of government politics and trying to solve a double homicide. It was a lot to deal with. But I knew I’d get there. Get some real answers.