Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 118693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 593(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 593(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
“She kissed you! You didn’t tell me that,” Rochelle said.
“I didn’t want to upset you over something that didn’t seem to matter.”
I cleared my throat, getting Robert’s attention again and giving Rochelle a look to cool it. “Did she say anything to you?”
He shook his head. “No. Well, wait. She did.”
My father and I both leaned forward. “What did she say?” my father asked.
I glanced over to him, my mouth ajar. “Dad! I’m the one asking the questions!”
He blushed. “Sorry, sweetheart.”
Focusing back on Robert, I asked, “What did she say?”
He narrowed his eyes as he brought the memory back up. “She said something about how I’d regret walking away an…um…something about getting what was due to me.”
I sighed in frustration. “Robert, how could you not think something like that was important to tell the police or us?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I figured at the time that she was just pissed. I didn’t think anything of it after that.”
Rochelle gasped and asked me, “You think she has something to do with this, don’t you?”
I shook my head. “I’m not sure, but I am going to see if there is some sort of connection.”
Slowly shaking her head, Rochelle turned to Robert. “I knew she was crazy. I told you she was crazy!”
Robert looked back at me. “How in the hell did you piece that together?”
With a slow smile, I shrugged. “Just doing my job.”
After finishing lunch, we all walked out together. Rochelle had quickly forgiven Robert for not telling her everything about Bryn.
“Don’t worry about anything, Robert. We’re going to do our best to prove you didn’t do this.”
His face was covered in worry. “I hope so, Ms. Adams. I really hope so.”
The cab door shut, and I watched as it drove off.
“Why don’t you come on down to the station for a few minutes,” my father said.
My eyes widened in surprise. “What?”
He motioned with his thumb toward the station. “The station. You know, come see my office, meet some of my men. They’re a great group of guys.”
“Well, I um, should probably, you know. Head on back. I’ve got to let Russell know what I found out.”
He lifted a brow. “You don’t have ten extra minutes? Is there something wrong, Rory? You seem like you’re hiding something.”
Oh God.
“Me? Oh gosh no. If it means that much to you, sure I’ll come down.”
He grinned. “That’s my girl. You used to love coming to see me at the station.”
When he took my arm and started walking, I silently said a prayer. I’d checked my phone twice during lunch and had yet to hear from Finn.
“Well, it’s more fun when you’re ten, Dad.”
He laughed as we rounded the corner. The second Flash saw me, he started barking and ran right to me. “Hey there, Flash,” I said as I tried to keep him from knocking me over.
Grabbing his leash, my father told Flash to sit. “Finn isn’t doing such a good job training this dog.”
My heart rate tripled as I quickly glanced around. “Oh, Finn’s training him?”
“Yes. And speaking of. How do you know him?”
“Know him?”
If there was one thing my father knew about me, it was how bad of a liar I was. “Finn. How do you know Ward?”
“Oh, I met him at the union meeting and then Russell and I ran into him at a pizza place once. I remembered him from the meeting.”
Staring into my eyes like they were some kind of lie detector, my father slowly nodded. “Union meeting, huh?”
I tried to brush it off as nothing. “Yep.”
“So where is your office, Dad? I’m dying to see it.”
Another firefighter walked up and took Flash. He smiled at me, and my father grunted, and the guy backed off fast. “Upstairs, down the hall to the left.”
I quickly started up the steps. My eyes darted around quickly as I tried like hell not to look like I was searching for someone. Then I heard his laugh, and I stopped.
“What’s wrong?” my father asked.
“Nothing. I thought you were farther behind me, but you’re not! Hah!”
He jerked his head with a motion for me to keep moving. My body started to tingle more with each step I took.
He was close by. I could feel it in the air.
I turned to go down the hall, holding my breath. Glancing to my left as I walked, I saw four guys standing around a pool table laughing. Finn’s eyes instantly caught mine, and his smile grew bigger when he saw it was me. I tried to look away but couldn’t. Then he saw my father, and his expression dropped. I instantly missed those beautiful emerald eyes of his when he returned his attention to the guys.
We were trying to act like normal when we both knew damn well nothing about this was normal. The way he looked at me with that smile made my knees weak and my heart trip all over itself.