Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 147789 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147789 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
“A foursome. I could be into that…” Kreed murmured, leaning back against the booth seat. The stern expression on Aaron’s handsome face fractured, and to his delight, the kid even laughed a little at the joke. Interestingly enough, Aaron had a funny way of easing his heart. The banter between them left him feeling lighter than he had in months. For the first time since the awful news, his brother’s death wasn’t the most pressing thought on his mind.
“Is it brains or some sort of photographic memory?” Kreed asked. Aaron studied him for a full minute before the corners of his mouth curled, turning the smile into a challenging you-tell-me grin. Kreed watched Aaron’s face lighten, smoothing out his features, making him look even younger and more handsome. Kreed was slightly mesmerized for a brief moment.
“You know my IQ,” Aaron challenged.
“I know what the bureau profile says. I’m guessing it’s probably higher,” Kreed reasoned.
“Why would I lie?”
“Not sure. You would have to answer that.” The smile faded and Kreed hated he’d caused its loss. He was supposed to be drawing the guy out, not closing him up tighter. “I didn’t think you were truly twenty-nine. I’ve been twenty-nine for nine years, but you look young. Are you?”
Kreed leaned back as a heaping mound of nachos and a plate of potato skins were placed in front of Aaron. The waitress sat a small empty plate next to the cute computer guy. The question he’d just asked was forgotten as the look of delight on Aaron’s face morphed into confusion when Kreed had an identical plate placed in front of him.
“Don’t worry. I’m not mooching in on your grub.” Kreed lifted two hands high, making sure Aaron knew he wasn’t going to hone in on his food. Aaron eyed him closely before digging in, filling his plate to capacity. When done, he took one nacho and placed it on Kreed’s plate with a little you’re-welcome smirk. They both laughed at the move. “So I’m guessing you’re the youngest in your family?”
“Why do you say that?” Aaron asked after swallowing his first bite.
“Experience. The youngest in the family’s least likely to share. And that’s magnified by the number of siblings. I’m thinking you’re probably the youngest of a big group of kids—like four or five.”
Aaron nodded, swallowing another bite before taking a big drink of the ice water. “Very observant, Deputy Marshal. I make number five.”
Before he spoke, Aaron lifted the napkin from his lap and wiped his mouth. He used utensils to eat his nachos and potato skins, chewed with his mouth closed, and frequently wiped with a napkin. No matter the rebel-meets-hipster style Aaron donned, he had an ingrained sense of manners that usually came from wealth, which just intensified the questions already forming in Kreed’s brain.
Kreed understood that in order to solve a puzzle, you had to start by placing the first piece, then the second, and over time the whole picture would slowly be revealed, making the game more time-consuming than complicated. Good thing Kreed had time.
“We should be going over the facts…” Aaron suggested, leaning back to make room as some pasta dish was placed in front of him. “That’s the reason I’m here.”
Kreed moved the plate in front of him to let the waitress place his there. He unwrapped the napkin, listening to Aaron ask for more butter, salsa, and ranch dressing. For Kreed, he was good with a Jumbo Jack from Jack in the Box for dinner. Somehow he didn’t see Aaron as a fast-food junkie. He’d probably reject that idea in such a way that it would be fun to taunt him with the stops. He made that mental note to remember to do that and gave a simple, “I’m good,” to the waitress when she asked if he needed anything more.
“So you and me, plus Connors and Brown, are the new team?” Aaron questioned. Kreed built his burger, adding mustard to the bun.
“I don’t think anyone else got called in from vacation.”
“What about the assistant who helped Mitch?”
“Anne? I don’t know. We’ll have to see. We have a two o’clock report time.” Kreed lifted his burger to his mouth and took a big bite. He’d found this little hole-in-the-wall place last time he was in town. His memory of the food didn’t disappoint.
“So I’m probably not getting out of this?” Aaron asked. The honesty of the question intrigued Kreed, since he’d assumed the surly disposition had been an act. Aaron had always been ready to help, day or night.
“Probably not,” Kreed stated, giving Aaron a truthful answer.
“Dammit,” Aaron mumbled between bites. Kreed cocked his brow, watching the kid.
“Ahh, I’m all warm and fuzzy with sentiment. I’m looking forward to working with you, too.” Kreed took another big bite of his food. He held back his smile as he watched the never-ending flow of food from Aaron’s plate to his mouth. The guy was thin, yet he was consuming more food than Kreed had eaten in the last forty-eight hours. With his mouth still full, Kreed added, “But on the bright side, we’ll team up against Connors and bully our way through. The more we get done unsupervised, the faster we can wrap this up.”
“All right. Good backup plan. I’d rather find a way out of being here, but if I can’t, I’ll concede to that. Get done and go home. Connors and Brown up for that?” Even though the food intake never stopped, Aaron never spoke with food in his mouth—impressive and a bit of its own art form, truth be told.
“Brown is. Connors surprised me with that interrogation of Agent Langley—the way he pushed that through—so the jury’s still out on him.” Kreed took another bite, letting Aaron process that bit of information. Aaron had to know he couldn’t talk his way out of being a part of this task force, especially with Mitch sidelined, and Aaron had been there from almost day one, helping Knox find all the dots that connected the cases. He was the most logical choice to fill the Mitch-shaped hole in their investigative team.