Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 155798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
“Mine.”
How he’d continuously slid inside me through the rest of the week.
A tingle raced through me, up my arms.
“We’re fine,” I told him. “I don’t need to be coddled. I may look tiny, and at times I get triggered, but I’m not going to fall apart.” I stared at him, hard. “This is the warmup. The announcers are still talking about each team’s chance at winning the game and giving their predictions. It’s not even kickoff. I will fall apart when the last touchdown is made and that buzzer goes off, when I’m still standing and holding the fucking football. I need you to be my teammate, not my coach or my babysitter. And I need you to stop looking at me, wondering when I’m going to fall apart. I can’t. You need to understand that.”
I needed that from everyone because we had so much farther to go. No one understood the full ramifications of everything happening. There were secrets.
More would come out.
“You’re still on the investigation team?” My voice was hoarse.
Travis nodded. “Local asset. I know you and your family. I’m on the in-the-know team.”
He’d not said anything to give this indication, but I had to ask. “Do you know who he is?” Shock showed before he masked it. “You do. They do.”
“How the fuck—” He shook his head. “There’s a person of interest, yes.”
“Who?”
His jaw tightened. “I can’t tell you that.”
“Funny. That seems like the only information I should be told.”
“Billie.”
I changed tactics, hearing the resolve in his tone. He wasn’t going to budge. “They can’t find him?”
He didn’t reply, but I got my answer.
They had a person in mind.
That was good. That was great.
A laugh bubbled out of me. I couldn’t stop it.
“What?”
I shook my head, unable to hold back.
There was hope on the horizon. What if I was wrong? Maybe this was going to end soon. Maybe, just maybe, my heart would still be pumping when it did.
“What?” he pressed.
“It’s just… If I’m his breakup gift to the Midwest Butcher, he’s already lost. Fowler lasted so long because authorities had no idea who he was. He was only caught because I saw him. This guy is second best, and for a serial killer—that’ll piss him off after he’s caught. I almost can’t wait to see his face when he learns he lost.”
“He lost?”
I picked up the dishtowel again. “All serial killers are in competition with each other. You know that.”
Maybe it didn’t make sense to others. Maybe my words were insensitive, but they were true. This guy was already known, and he’d be caught.
He’d be beaten.
34
BRETT
One of the coordinators came over after the game. “They’re asking for you in the press room. Coach said to go in and answer a few questions.”
We’d lost against Chicago, and even worse, we’d lost because they got an extra field goal. We were lined up to either score or get our own field goal to tie, but our kicker missed. Still, the loss wasn’t his fault, though he’d be blamed. It’d been a team effort that got us into that position.
But I was not the one to go in there, especially after a loss. What were they thinking, sending me in there?
Reeves saw me frowning in the direction the coordinator had gone. “You okay?”
“The fuck they want me in there?”
Stone Reeves and Colby Doubard were much better suited for this. It wasn’t uncommon for me to still be on the field doing those interviews, while they’d shower and go to the press room. They were the better team spokespeople, though Reeves was hands-down better than Doubard. Colby typically gave shit answers and the sports channels spent half the next week deciphering whether he was being sarcastic or whether he truly felt donkeys could play better than we had.
Colby burst out laughing. “Oh, damn. You piss Kim off lately? She decides who does the press room.”
Reeves glared at our quarterback before shaking it off and lifting his chin toward me. “The kids are with my parents this week, so Dusty is hoping to do a dinner Tuesday night. Want to come?”
I shook my head.
Doubard groaned. “No, man. You gotta come. And we told Dusty you’re seeing someone. You gotta bring her too.”
“I can’t. Things are going on right now.”
Reeves smirked at me. “Yeah. I’m going to tell my wife you’re coming, and when you don’t show up, I’ll play dumb. That’s on you, buddy.”
I growled.
Colby laughed, patting me on the back. “Can’t wait to meet your woman.”
Well, fuck.
No one wanted to go against Stone’s wife. I was trapped and everyone knew it.
I’d headed for my area of the locker room when I heard my name shouted.
It was the same coordinator as before. He held up his arms, a clipboard in one hand. “What are you doing?”
“I was going to shower, check my phone, and then go in.”