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)
Nestled on the slope very close to the river, it looked what it was.
A bastion to a bygone age.
It had a decent-sized garden, was painted—you guessed it—cream with some coordinating accents, had three brick chimneys jutting into the purple sky and a ton of fretwork.
Walking in, though, was like stepping from another world into a set decorated as a clean-lined, modern home. There was nothing Victorian or antique, homely or rustic, old-fashioned or traditional. It was open plan. The kitchen was massive and state of the art. The furniture comfortable, but stylish.
All pure Lucinda, including the shock to the system from outside to in.
He loved it.
She went up the stairs.
He shot the shit with Hillary, her nighttime nanny, who he’d peg at Brittanie’s age or a bit older, and a woman Porter might be interested in, because she had fresh-faced, hike-three-miles-and-picnic mountain woman written all over her.
It was unsurprising it took Lucinda forever to pack.
It was also unsurprising his job, once he got the six suitcases loaded in her car, was to go up and carry a dead-asleep Madden to Lucinda’s white Jaguar SUV.
Madden woke up along the way, barely, but she was back out after he got her buckled in.
And Rus realized he forgot how precious it felt, carrying a nine-year-old girl in his arms.
Lucinda drove him to his vehicle, and he followed them down the mountain.
The bellman dealt with their luggage.
Lucinda dealt with checking in.
Rus dealt with carrying Madden to bed.
But he left her with her mom, snapped open her Maker’s Mark and headed out to the balcony.
He walked in rather than her coming out in that dress.
She was at the bar, opening a bottle of wine.
“She good?” he asked.
“A little confused, but my baby is always up for an adventure.”
Excellent.
“I’m sorry this is affecting you and Madden,” he said as he stopped opposite her outside the bar.
“I’m sure when I cease being annoyed our first somewhat-official date was disturbed by the looming threat of a serial killer, I’ll be thrilled the man I’ve started to see is the kind of man who hunts serial killers,” she replied while pouring wine.
She stopped doing that and rested her gaze on him.
“I’m not there yet.”
He fought a smile.
She put the bottle down, picked up her glass, took a sip, and leaning into a hand on the counter of the bar, she brought them full circle to the start of their evening.
The town council meeting.
“How bad was it?”
“Chaos,” he told her. “Accusations flying. A couple of fists flying. The boys named, they’re men now, don’t have the greatest reputations in town from what I could tell. Once the initial news sunk in, this didn’t seem much of a shock, but it sent a shockwave through the meeting. Only one set of parents was there. Two other sets showed at the sheriff’s office before I left, shouting slander, wanting him to arrest Ellen Macklemore and demanding to know the name of the accuser.” He took a drink of his bourbon. Then said, “It’s not something I can wade into, so once we got things calmed down and people on their way at the council chambers, and Moran was facing it at his office, I felt shit, but I had to leave Harry to it.”
That wasn’t exactly true.
He had a few things to say to the parents before he left, but he didn’t need to relay that now.
Fortunately, an FBI agent held sway pretty much anywhere, so after he gave his lecture, some of them calmed down because they listened to reason, and others did it because they were scared of him.
Either way, they’d stopped shouting and making demands so Moran could talk to them.
“This won’t go well for the coven,” she noted.
“They were, no other way to put it, enraged at what Ellen did.”
“Even so.”
She was right.
“Is there something I can do for this young woman?”
Of course she’d ask that.
“I don’t know. She might need a hideout. She’s definitely going to need advocates. Moran sent a deputy out to check on her. I’ll keep on top of it and ask Polly. Okay?”
“Okay,” she agreed and changed the subject “You raced out this morning, is everything all right with that?”
“We’re making headway. It isn’t looking good for Ezra.”
Her lips thinned.
“It means it’ll be over soon, sweetheart,” he placated.
She took another sip, looking him right in the eye, then asked, “And then?”
He knew what she was asking, and it wasn’t about his plans to catch CK after they took down Ezra Corbin and Carrie Molnar.
“And then, I’m going to go back to my office. I’m going to ask for reassignment to the Seattle division. But before I go, I’m going to see if Moran has any money in his budget for a dedicated detective. He doesn’t have one now, and the way things are going in Fret County, he needs one. He’s a good cop, and he runs a clean shop, but I don’t want to brag, they’d get something unexpected with me. If he finds money in his budget, I won’t ask for reassignment. I’ll just quit.”