Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69063 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69063 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Desi’s sniffles broke my heart, as well as her silent crying.
“What do I do now?” she wailed.
“Now,” I said, “I call my lawyer and get an emergency court order that keeps you out of that fuckin’ house.”
“She’ll be so mad,” she whispered. “And this is a different school district.”
“You have a car, and you can drive,” I pointed out.
Desi had turned sixteen about four months ago, and it’d been a godsend. No longer did we have to do any awkward meet ups that inevitably led to Julia throwing a fit because she saw me.
Buying her the new car had been the best purchase I’d ever made.
“Let me have your keys and I’ll go move your car into a visitor’s spot while I’m down there talking to the lawyer,” I instructed.
“Um, it is in your visitor’s spot,” she replied hesitantly.
I let her go, smoothed her hair back, and cupped her cheek before saying, “It’ll be okay, Desi.”
“I know,” she said.
I guided her to the love seat that was taking up the side of the room I was on, then said, “Can you come outside with me for a minute?”
Nastya nodded, grabbed her phone and her keys and said, “Sure. I’ll lock up.”
I waited until we were outside before saying, “Thank you.”
“Should we, uh, call the cops?” she asked. “I stabbed someone.”
“No.” I snorted. “If he goes to the cops, he’ll have to say that he was trying to hurt someone, and I doubt he’s dumb enough to do that.”
“And if he is dumb enough?” I asked.
“Then I’ll figure it out,” I said. “I won’t let you get into trouble for this.”
She studied my face for a long second before nodding and following behind me as I headed down the stairs.
When we got down there, my eyes automatically scanned the lot, and they narrowed when I saw the Tahoe in my visitor’s spot instead of the Chevy Blazer I’d bought for Desi.
Anger started to suffuse me as I pulled my phone out and called my lawyer.
After explaining everything that’d happened, I hung up with the knowledge that this was finally it.
This was the last straw for me. I would never let her have the win even if it was going to keep the peace.
Not after learning that my daughter had nearly been raped because of my ex-wife’s stupidity.
After hanging up with my lawyer, I pulled up the Chevy app and looked at the location for Desi’s car.
It was in Oklahoma at a casino.
Out of town for work, my ass.
“How do you feel about a road trip?” I asked.
“A road trip?”
I nodded. “I need to go drop my daughter off with my brother for the day. Then I need to go get Finn, and then head to Oklahoma. I need to get Desi’s car, and I’m sure the fuck not leaving my ex-bitch of a wife a vehicle so that she can get home easily.” I paused. “And I only have a department-issued vehicle. They’ll frown upon me driving it that far.”
“And you want me to drive you?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. “But first, I really need to make sure that I get Finn safe. If that sick fuck kills the dog, both Desi and I will be devastated.”
“Finn?” she asked. “He’s yours?”
“My dog, yes.” I nodded. “Got him when he was a puppy when Desi was in middle school. But Desi and Finn bonded hard, so I left him with Desi and Julia.”
“I think that I might want to kill her,” she admitted.
I snorted. “Get in line.”
“I’ll take you under one condition,” she said.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“You stop following me.”
“I’m following you so that others don’t follow you,” I said, unsurprised that she’d realized that I was the one doing the surveillance on her.
“Well, it’s getting really old,” she grumbled. “I feel like everywhere I turn, you’re there.”
I was there.
I’d made no move to hide my following her, either. Which was why she’d spotted me so early.
“Do they really think that I had something to do with that dead girl?” she asked.
I gestured for her to follow me back up to her apartment and decided…fuck it.
“They think that your brother did it because Senator Renfield introduced a bill that would bring the hammer down on organized crime,” I explained.
She snorted. “That’s ridiculous. He wouldn’t have put her in my car if he was going to do that.”
“I agree,” I said. “And despite you having a great alibi and no evidence to support Senator Renfield’s claim, we’re still surveilling you.”
“Are you surveilling me? Or Shasha, too?” she asked.
“The only warrant we have for surveillance is you. Now, if you happened to be with your brother, even better.” I gave her the honest truth.
I was sick of this.
Today, she’d been there for my daughter, and I would never be able to repay her.
This last month had been utterly ridiculous.