Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74575 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74575 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
“It was the only color they had!”
“I would’ve had to go without.”
“You say that now, but break your tailbone, and then, we’ll talk.”
We lay there for hours, cuddling and sharing old stories, and I fell asleep in his arms, feeling like everything was right in the world. But sadly, it wasn’t a feeling that would last. At the time, I didn’t know it, but my whole world was about to be turned upside down, and I would be forced to make a decision I never thought I would make.
CHAPTER 16
Bones
“I just got word from Stitch,” Cotton announced. “They’ve gone to the addresses you gave them. His shit is still at the apartment, but there’s been no sign of the kid. Same for his folk’s place.”
“Fuck.” Big turned to me as he said, “We can try tracking his phone.”
“Gotta have a number to do that.”
“What about Elsie?” Cotton asked. “You think she has it?”
“Maybe, but if I ask her for his number, it’s only gonna bring up more questions—questions I can’t answer.”
“She’s not new to this kind of thing.”
“No, but this is different.”
“What if I tell her I need her phone?” Big suggested. “I can say it’s an update or something. For that matter, I can give her a new burner and tell her we’re trashing the old one.”
“That could work. Just hate lying to her.”
“You won’t be the one lying. I will.”
“Yeah, whatever. Just get the damn phone and let’s find this guy.”
Big nodded, then grabbed a new burner phone from the lockbox and started out of the room. As soon as he was out of earshot, Cotton stepped over to me and asked, “How you holding up?”
“I’m good.”
“Word is that you and Else are finally making a go of it.”
“Yeah, I finally pulled my head out of my ass.”
“Good to hear. She’s a good girl, and her father was a hell of a man. I owe him a lot.”
“I’ll do right by her, Prez. You’ve got my word on that.”
“I have no doubt that you will, son.” Concern marked his face as he asked, “You handling this thing with her?”
“I’m doing the best I can. It’s tough keeping stuff from her, but I know it’s for her own good.”
“It is tough, and it only gets tougher. But, in the end, you’ll be saving her a whole lotta heartache. Trust me on that.”
“Understood.”
Before either of us could say anything more, Big rushed into the room and announced, “I got it.”
“She suspect anything?”
“Nah,” Big tossed me the phone. “I took Lacy’s too, so she didn’t think anything of it.”
“Good deal.”
I opened her phone, and a tinge of guilt prickled over me as I started looking through her contacts. I hated invading her privacy, especially after the conversation we’d just had, but I didn’t have a choice. I started with the basic alphabetical search but didn’t find any contact information under the name Ben. When I started searching for Bruton, I noticed that she had created nicknames for each of her contacts.
They ranged from Papa Bear and Twinkle Toes to Boss Man and Fashionista. Some were easy to pick up on like Cotton was listed as Prez and Lacy was Queen B, but others, like Lil’ Grumps and Tater Tot, weren’t so easy. For those, I had no choice but to look through her messages and try to decipher who they came from. I started with the first message, Stud Muffin, and was pleased to see it was from me.
I might’ve even smiled at the fact.
Noting the change in my demeanor, Big cleared his throat and asked, “Something we need to see over there?”
“Nope.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. Now, pipe down,” I fussed. “I’m trying to work over here.”
“Um-hmm.”
Knowing I didn’t have time to mess around, I turned my focus back to the messages and skipped down to the next name I didn’t recognize. It took me a few lines to figure out that Lil Grumps was actually Makayla, and Tator Tot was a girl from one of her classes. I continued down the stream of messages, but none seemed to be from Ben. I was beginning to think that they’d never actually texted until I scrolled down to the name Donnie Dipshit.
I’d never heard her speak of anyone named Donnie, so I was a bit intrigued as I opened his message. It didn’t take long to realize that Donnie the Dipshit was actually our boy, Ben. I felt a sense of unease as I continued down the thread and saw that it wasn’t just a couple of messages. They’d spoken often.
Even though they dropped off after their last day, I felt a tug of jealousy when I saw the various flirty exchanges. I hated the idea of her even looking at another guy, much less flirting with him, and I hated it even more that the asshole had used her to make a move against the club. It was something he would soon regret.