Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 114820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Rus had things he liked in bed that maybe some women might not get off on. If you were honest with yourself, most everyone did. It wouldn’t be fun if your wife told you she thought it was sick.
However, Ezra could have said that to Thea, and never breathed a word of what he needed to his wife for fear of losing her, her money and their lifestyle.
They’d run him, and he had no real job to speak of. His LinkedIn profile said he was self-employed with a business that offered “wilderness conference planning.”
They had a really nice house. Definitely top of the line everything.
Ezra had been the expansive man of the house last night. King of his domain.
But it wasn’t his domain.
It was hers.
If she scraped him off because she didn’t want to explore his kink, considering it didn’t sound like he was a real winner, his domain would shrink to nothing.
Yeah.
Rus could see that lie.
They should warn her it was going to get worse. They should warn her the cheating would come out, and the kink, if he did it.
Now was not the time to warn her.
Now was the time to get her on their side.
Moran was good at his job, and he knew this.
That was why he said gently, “Just call us, Sherri. I hate this is happening, but we need your help.”
“Harry, you will be the first call I make if that jackhole gets in touch,” she shot back. “And that’s a promise.” Her attention returned to Rus. “Now, I’m gonna go look for his laptop. What do you need for this DNA?”
It had been an up and down day.
And fortunately, that was another up.
“No, man, she didn’t seem distressed. She seemed happy. Excited. And no, I didn’t see anyone meet her in that room. I didn’t even see a car pull in the parking lot. Like I told all the other guys, she was totally cool.”
The desk clerk from the motel, who was again working that night, was talking to Rus and Moran.
He wasn’t done.
“I’m serious. At first, I thought she was meeting someone she really liked. Then, when no one showed, I thought, well maybe she just needs a break. You know, like one of those staycations. She’s in there giving herself a facial or something.”
“How many people from Misted Pines take a staycation at the Better Times Motel, Brad?” Moran asked.
The day getting to him, his sarcasm was biting.
“You know, it’s quiet here,” Brad snapped. “Our business is matinees, man. That’s when it gets noisy, all those cheaters fucking during their lunch hour so they can go home to their husbands and wives after work. At night, it’s smooth. The stars come out really bright. Our pool doesn’t suck. It’s kinda nice. Maybe a family that doesn’t have a ton of cash to drop on the Pinetop or the Hideaway stays. But they’re not noisy. Their TV might be loud if they bring a Roku, ’cause our cable here is always on the blink and the walls are like paper. But I’m serious. She was hot. I wouldn’t lie. I want you guys to find out who snuffed her like everyone else in town does.”
He put his hand on the desk, and the look that came over Brad’s face made his stomach turn sour.
Like all the rest Brad had just said, he didn’t hesitate to unleash what was on his mind.
“I mean I’m sittin’ here, my thumb up my ass, while some hot chick is being killed seven doors down. You think I’ve slept, man? No. Not since that night. Not a fucking wink.”
That had to be true.
His eyes were red-rimmed and shadowed.
Rus felt for him. That would haunt him too.
Brad kept talking.
“You think I haven’t thought over and over, what did I miss? Why didn’t I look out, see if she got in the room okay? See if she had someone in her car. Did I forget someone pulling in? Did I nod off? No. I didn’t. I’m a night owl, man. Fuck.”
“Okay, Brad, we believe you,” Rus said consolingly.
“Just find this fuck, okay?” he bit off. “I might sleep again, you find this fuck.”
“We’re doing our best,” Moran assured him.
“Right,” he muttered. “I don’t wanna be a dick, but shit, man. I need this job, and I wanna quit. I park at the back and walk all the way around on the outside so I don’t have to go by that crime scene tape. It’s fucked up.”
“We just need to be thorough,” Rus told him.
“Yeah, I’m gettin’ that. Shit.”
“Thank you for your time, Brad,” Moran said.
“Okay. Yeah. Whatever.”
Rus and Moran looked at each other and turned to leave.
Something made Rus turn back.
“All the other guys?” he asked.
“What?” Brad asked back.
“You said, ‘all the other guys’ you talked to. What guys?”
“Your guys,” Brad said.