Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 135955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Major looks over his shoulder. “Doctor, what about sex?”
I’m dying. There’s no other way to explain the suffocating mortification that takes over.
“Sexual intercourse is completely safe.”
With that, she’s gone and I’m left in a clinical room, laying on a bed where many women before me have received life-changing information.
“I hate you.”
“Twins.” Major perks up proudly, smiling pompously with no remorse.
My wits return and the gravity of the news seeps through my fog-induced brain. “Twins!” I shoot up, pushing him off balance and watching him land on his ass. “You knocked me up with two babies!”
His self-satisfaction intensifies. “I don’t do anything half-assed.”
“This is not funny.”
“It’s fucking hilarious. And more than that, it feels fucking great.”
“Great? It’s terrifying. How are we going to raise two kids at once?”
“The same way we’d raise one. Women have been having twins since the beginning of time.”
He’s right, but I’m not ready to concede my point. Oh, the arrogance! “They’re girls,” I throw out, expecting him to freak.
His smile only slightly falters. “Then I need to build a wall around our house.”
Dammit, he’s unshakable.
“You do realize, when this is over, my body will never go back to this again.”
“Come on, babe, let’s get out of here.” He stands, offering my panties, then types out a quick text. “Talon’s bringing the truck around back.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t feel like going through the waiting room.”
There could be many reasons for this, but I’m assuming it’s estrogen overload.
“I think it’s time we call my parents and tell them, after thirty years of waiting, I finally won a trifecta.”
I try to stay passive, but fail miserably and burst into giggles. “Such a way with words.”
31
Major
“Rookies!”
Dozens of heads swing to the Captain’s door, but his focus is on the four of us.
“We haven’t had time to piss him off yet,” Ford mutters, leading the way.
“What’s up, Peewee?” Ace jokes as soon as we close the door to Boyd’s office.
“You bought yourself mandatory overtime next week with that remark. You’re lucky I don’t pull your shift request.”
“Come on, Capt. You cancel our requests, you miss the party Friday night.” Talon wiggles his eyebrows playfully. “You ever drank with a bunch of Marines? It’s an experience you don’t want to miss.”
Boyd’s face remains firm, but the corner of one lip curls. “Fucking smartasses.”
“What’s up, Capt.?”
He slices his eyes my way, all amusement gone. “We have a situation. They arrested Craig Johns this morning.”
“About fucking time,” Ford rumbles.
“He lawyered up.”
“No surprise. With the time they dragged their asses, he probably already has his defense locked in.”
“Actually, Whitman, they do. And his counsel is motioning for all evidence to be thrown out.”
“On what basis? The evidence is solid. We have the hired hand’s statement and record of funds transfer.”
I step in closer to Ford, his anger radiating around the office.
“Lawyer is claiming the officers on the case are involved with the victim.”
“Bullshit.”
Boyd looks at Talon. “It seems you men may not have been on the case officially, but you did your recon off the clock. Is that right, Tal?”
Talon, Ford, and I exchange a look. Craig’s performance that morning at Rowan’s made him an asshole, but it didn’t make him an accessory to assault. We reported back to the officers, Rowan and Juliana gave statements, and it added to the case. What we didn’t include was Talon’s part in rousing Craig.
“It was nothing. I wasn’t on duty, and she didn’t want to face him alone,” Talon maintains.
“I get that, Simms, but you didn’t disclose you were a cop. The lawyer is using the personal relationships and threatening a suit for entrapment and defamation.”
“That’s bullshit!”
“Six months ago, Ace and Ford go on a call-out for a domestic. Rowan denies the offense, never filing a complaint, even after she dumps the loser. There’s no contact or confrontations until she walks into a home invasion, which turns into assault. Johns was questioned and alibied out. He requests a meeting to look for a missing heirloom and it turns heated. Weeks later, he’s in my precinct facing a multitude of charges. He finds out his ex-girlfriend is close with women who are wrapped tight with the force. I’ve seen cases dropped for less. This lawyer is itching to cut her teeth on this case. It’s personal.”
Boyd's jaw tenses. He looks directly at me, his message clear.
My blood turns to ice, and my fist clenches so tight the nails cut into my palm.
“You are shitting me!” I roar and the room goes still.
Darla fucking Strauss.
Adrenaline races to the point of violence. I turn to swing and bands of steel restrain my arms. Ace is in my face. “Roll it in, Powers.”
“Listen to your friend. You can destroy on your own time,” Boyd barks. “I want to know who this woman is and why she has a vendetta against you.”
“She is someone I left a long time ago.”