Total pages in book: 183
Estimated words: 174715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 874(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 174715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 874(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
“Nothing is wrong,” he says. “A lot is right. The ADA you met with wants to meet with Cat today.”
I repeat the news to Lori. “On a Sunday?” she asks.
Reese clearly hears her and responds, “Yes. On a Sunday. Obviously, Cat’s article stirred the right hornets’ nest. They want to explore her tips which, of course, came from you guys.”
“Exactly,” I say, watching Lori crawl out of bed, her naked ass in the air, which is a damn good way to wake up for the rest of my life. She rushes across the room toward the bathroom. “Why not ask us? Or better yet, just review the court proceedings?” I ask, watching Lori disappear into the other room.
“Why wouldn’t he go to you?” Reese says. “Because that means admitting the answers were right in front of him. Cat is meeting with him at four. She wants to review the case with you guys, get her sources straight, and go prepared to get this case handled. Can you be here at two?”
“We’ll be there. I’ll have Savage join us, and give us an update on anything he can offer.”
We disconnect, and I stand up, pulling on my pajama bottoms before I text Savage about the meeting. The minute I hit send, I stuff it in my pocket, and I’m on the prowl for my wife for about ten reasons, five of which require her to be naked. I enter the bathroom to find her just finishing up with her toothbrush. “What happened?”
“We’re going to Cat and Reese’s at two to help Cat prep for her meeting.” I grab my toothbrush. “And I’m making sure I can tell you a proper good morning.”
“It was pretty proper about two hours ago,” she says, sitting down on the side of the tub to watch me, and as silly as it might seem to some, this act, just living life with this woman, cuts and heals at the same moment. It reminds me that she’s a part of me now, and already I barely remember when she was not. I don’t want to remember, which is exactly why I need today with the ADA to go well for Cat.
I give Lori a wink, and she replies with a charming, almost shy smile that brings my bad down about three notches and manages to make me hot and hard at the same time. I brush my teeth, splash water on my face, and take her hand. “Coffee. You on the island counter. Now.”
She laughs. “What about the ADA?” My cellphone buzzes in my pocket. She laughs again. “And why are your pants vibrating.”
I shake my head and laugh, reaching for my phone to find Savage’s confirmation of the meeting, even as I pull her with me toward the stairs. God, this woman. Only she could take me from where I was last night to vibrating pants and laughter.
Lori
For the few hours that Cole and I are home, he is several shades cooler, as far as his mood goes. Though he’s still all about heat and fire. In a good way. Those demons from last night are no longer front and center, but more backseat riders now. That is until we’re both finally dressed in jeans and T-shirts, in a façade of casual that feels quite normal as we enter a private hire car on our way to prep Cat for her meeting. It’s then that Cole withdraws into silence, his mood darkening, his hand on mine, gripping tightly.
We arrive at Reese and Cat’s right at two to find Savage arriving as well, right along with his boss, Royce Walker. Royce, like Savage, is a big brute of a man, who’s in his mid-thirties with long hair tied at his nape and a hard-set jaw. “Bossman is former FBI,” Savage says, as Cat and Reese greet us at the door. “And he has some interesting information everyone needs to hear.”
That gets everyone’s attention and we quickly gather in the half-moon-shaped den in Cat and Reese’s apartment, windows on almost every side of us. Cole and I take the love seat, Cat and Reese on two chairs opposite us, and Savage and Royce on the couch between us. Royce starts off the conversation and gets right to it. “Here’s all you need to know for the meeting,” he offers. “We sent out alerts to law enforcement and I got a hit. There was a murder/rape two weeks ago in North Carolina that matches the murder/rapes here. We’ve alerted the FBI, since this now crosses state lines, and they’re taking a look at the cases.”
“Someone is dead,” I say at the same moment, Cat says, “Another murder. Oh God.”
“That means the killer is presumed to be in another state,” Cole says, his fingers flexing on my knee.
“And is there any solid lead on who it might be?” Reese asks as both men go for facts, while Cat and I have settled on emotions.