Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“Griff’s always thinking.”
She flashed me a bright smile. For the first time in many months, I felt a grin on my face. Griff was definitely in trouble with that one.
The drive was long, and I nodded off. Kelsey lightly tapped my arm to wake me up when we arrived. I jolted out of sleep and sat bolt upright.
“Sorry,” she said gently.
“No worries. We’re here?” I asked as I looked to my right and found the sliding doors that led into the hotel.
“Yeah. Griff will be in touch.” She glanced at the empty envelope sitting next to me as a reminder of the goodies Griff had provided.
I nodded. “I’ll leave a great review,” I said, in a normal tone for any passersby. This was downtown and there were people everywhere.
The air was different here. Not cleaner but freer. I’d been caged for so long I’d forgotten what freedom was like. I walked into the hotel after responding to the porter. With no bags, I wasn’t a future tip for him and he moved on to the next guest.
I waited in line at the reservations desk. When it was my turn, the woman behind the desk grinned as she asked me what she could help me with. The look she gave me was easy enough to interpret. She found me attractive. She wasn’t so bad either. But even after months of not touching a woman, I wasn’t interested.
“I’d like a suite, please,” I said.
“How many nights?”
“Two, maybe three.”
The click-clack of the keys went as she searched her computer for my request.
“We do have a suite with a view—”
I cut her off. “The view doesn’t matter. I’ll take whatever you have.”
She spouted off the price. “What credit card will you use?”
From my wallet, I peeled off the bills to cover the cost and handed them to her. “This should cover it.”
“We usually take a card for incidentals.”
I peeled off a few more bills. “Here’s for incidentals. I’ll settle up when I check out if necessary.”
She looked confused, probably because these days, most paid with a debit or credit card. “I’ll need ID,” she added.
I handed her the fake one. It wasn’t long after she issued my keys. I moved to the elevators and took it to the floor before the top one. The room was near the end of the hall and a corner suite. I opened the door and spotted the view. The first thing I did was use the remote for the window dressings to block it. If I could see out, someone else could see in. Right now, I was hiding from the FBI for my own reasons. They’d screwed me over and needed my help. But I didn’t need there’s.
After the blackout curtains were closed, I sat on the mattress. It felt like heaven. Then again, after sleeping on a two-inch pad for months, anything would have been better.
I took out the burner phone Griff had left for me and dialed. I hadn’t asked the woman at the front desk for a charger for my phone because the FBI could track it. For now, I wanted off the radar. Though if my handler was any good, she’d made note of the model, make and license plate of the car I’d ditched her in. But Griff would have that covered. It would be a while before they found me.
“What up, player?” Griff greeted when he answered.
It was the second time I laughed in months, and it felt good. Born and bred Scotsman, Griff used a different accent all the time. Typically, he liked the Southern drawl.
“I’m here.”
“Good, give me the details,” he said, dropping whatever accent he’d been trying out for his Scottish brogue. He was all business now.
I explained everything from my meeting with the handler to court. He told me they’d watched by hacking into the court’s security feed. Then I explained the FBI’s plan to use me to make contact with Ruin.
“I’ve got ye. We spotted that too but didn’t act on it until we knew ye’d get out.”
“Can we get to him without the feds knowing?”
I’d worked several years for the FBI in a secret group after accidentally being roped into an op when I was in college. Only I couldn’t forget how easily they’d left me behind.
“I think so.” There was a pause. “Ruin might be home for a party in honor of his father. I’ve secured you an invitation.”
8
TAYLA
My luck in finding out about the man I’d begged to take my virginity had been zero. I couldn’t find any record of his arrest, which was weird. It was possible he was in WITSEC, otherwise known as the witness protection program. I didn’t have access to that as it was run by the US Marshals Service, not the FBI. But I kept looking.
In order to finish up my training for the FBI, I’d been required to undergo mandatory therapy. I couldn’t say it was a bad thing. What I’d been through had been fucked up at best. Talking about it helped a lot. Saying it out loud to my therapist, who didn’t judge, was a big piece of that. That didn’t mean I was over it. Occasionally, I still had nightmares. But things were getting better. I took it day by day.