Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 70171 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70171 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
That sucked, too.
I’d been on my way home to eat lunch, had even called her to expect me, and hadn’t quite made it.
“What happened?” she whispered.
Before I could even open my mouth, Detective Rios, a veteran detective, walked into the room saying, “That’s what I want to know, too.”
I grumbled something unintelligible and Rios grinned.
Captain Morgan, my immediate supervisor, followed in on his tail.
“Get to talking, Crew,” Captain Morgan grumbled. “First day on the fuckin’ job, and you’re already getting hurt.”
I rolled my eyes.
Then I told them exactly what had happened.
“I was driving home for lunch. I’d called in that I was taking my break, and was swinging into Subway to grab my wife and me lunch. When I got it, I pulled out of the parking lot and headed south on Main Street. The light turned red, so I stopped. The person behind me didn’t stop. They hit me from behind. Pushed me right into oncoming traffic,” I said.
The memory of the accident still made my heart beat frantically in my chest, and the monitor that was connected to my chest by sticky pads and wires proved it.
“Eye witness accounts say that they were stopped well and truly behind you. It was only when that large trash truck was coming that they drove forward and hit your bike, pushing you out into oncoming traffic,” Rios said. “You weren’t rear-ended, you were pushed. Deliberately,” Rios said.
Piper gasped.
I squeezed her hand.
“I don’t know if that happened or not,” I admitted. “The trash truck was luckily able to avoid me, and for the most part, the bike was able to protect me.”
Thank God.
The bike had fallen almost the second that the person had hit me. I’d been tossed over the front of the handlebars, and from there I’d been pushed along with the bike. The gravel embedded in my uniform shirt and Kevlar vest proved it.
“You were right, though,” I found myself saying, eyes closing when a particular bad wave of pain rocked through my head. “That uniform saved my life.”
The tall fuckin’ stripper boots, paired with the reinforced tight pants, along with the reinforced, extra thick uniform shirt and the helmet? They saved my life.
I’d be in a much different place right now without those on.
“Good,” Captain Morgan said. “We’ll make sure to hang your uniform up as a reminder. You know, seeing as all of you bitched and moaned for so long yesterday when I handed out assignments.”
I grunted and opened my eyes when Rios again started asking questions.
“Is there anybody that you think might want to hurt you?” Rios pushed.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
“Anybody that you pissed off lately? Anybody that could quite possibly hold a grudge over something that you did?” the detective pushed.
I opened my mouth to deny that, too, but Piper placed her hand on my thigh and interrupted before I could.
“The cab driver in Vegas. You turned him in, remember?” Piper suggested.
I closed my mouth and frowned.
I had done that.
I’d called the cab company and first asked if he worked there. After doing that, I’d reported him. I’d then pretty much done my level best to ensure that he would never do that to another tourist ever.
“And that woman on the plane and her daughter,” Piper continued. “The hacking woman that you told was disgusting, and the daughter that you called spoiled.”
My lips twitched.
So did the detectives.
“Then there was the woman at the apartment complex. You looked into the matter of me not getting in, and you found out that she signed her friend into that lease for a hundred bucks less than what she was charging everyone else,” Piper pushed.
I sighed.
“And that woman at the grocery store yesterday. You called her lazy when she put that large block of meat on top of the Snickers bars next to the checkout,” she continued.
I placed my hand over Piper’s mouth.
“You’re not making me look good, here,” I told her.
She grinned behind my hand.
“Those all sound fairly petty,” he said. “And for the most part, I wouldn’t think that any of those incidents would cause someone to get pissed off enough that they’d push you into oncoming traffic.”
I agreed.
“He also has someone that wants to buy his land,” Piper muttered.
“Our land,” I corrected. “And she’s speaking the truth. I have someone that’s been offering for it for a while now. I opened a letter this morning that was the biggest offer that I’ve ever gotten.”
“How much was the offer?” Captain Morgan asked curiously.
“Eight million,” I answered. “I looked my property up on the county website today. They have it listed at half a million.”
“Which begs the question…why?” my wife asked. “It’s all undeveloped land except for the one acre that the house is on.”
Rios jotted down the information in his notepad.
“I don’t think this is something that would cause someone to get that pissed off either. But I’ll look into it,” he said. “You have a name of who’s sending the letters?”