Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“So he basically moved to a bigger post, and Ramirez moved up. And the other two guys?”
He grimaced. “Were already here when I transferred.”
“The plot thickens,” I teased him, which wasn’t like me, but he was smiling and we were talking like regular people, which hadn’t happened to me in ages. I never met anyone new, but the past few days, between two sets of marshals and my trip to the vet, had been full of new faces. And the deputy’s was by far the best.
“Yeah,” he groaned. “Tan and Woosley are good guys. They’re just not…thinkers?”
I scoffed.
“There’s no way to make that sound any better, and believe me, I’ve tried.”
“So they’re great at following directions.”
“Yes. They’re great at executing orders,” he said, jumping on the compliment. “Just excellent at that.”
“But Ramirez, she needed someone who could think outside the box to back her up.”
“That’s what she said, yes.”
“And you wanted to live here in Rune for some unfathomable reason.”
He nodded. “I did. I used to live in New York, and I…shit, you don’t wanna hear my entire life—”
“Yes, I do. Please.”
He searched my face for a moment, took a breath, then said, “I lost a friend in the line of duty, and once, he was more than just…that.”
“I’m sorry,” I said softly.
Slow nod. “After that, doing the same job just wasn’t feasible anymore, so I looked for a new one as far away from home as possible and finally ended up here.”
“Do you miss home?”
He squinted at me.
“You said you looked for a new job as far away from home as––”
“I did?”
I nodded.
“Funny,” he husked.
“Because you don’t think of it that way anymore?”
“That’s right,” he agreed. “This is home now.”
“And do you love it here?”
He exhaled deeply. “It’s been a huge change, and I feel like I gave up a little, like I should have stayed there and stuck it out and—Jesus.”
“What?”
He straightened up from leaning against the counter and looked at me. “I never just—who are you?”
“Maks,” I said, smiling at him, offering him my hand. “Maks Gorev.” I was trying out the new name. I had wanted to use my mother’s maiden name, but that was too close, so instead I used her mother’s, my grandmother’s, a woman I’d worshipped, which would be a stretch for anyone to know, even my father. He had never concerned himself with my maternal family, whereas I knew everyone on my mother’s side.
He took my hand in his, holding on. “I’m Deputy Chief Gale Malloy, but you can call me Mal, most people around here do.”
But that couldn’t be right. “Really?”
“Yeah,” he said, looking at me oddly. “Why?”
I shrugged. “I dunno. You don’t look like a Mal,” I replied, admiring his pale-green eyes that reminded me of jade. My mother had taken me to lots of museums when I was young, before I was old enough for my father to take an interest in, and I’d seen so many magnificent carved pieces. “You look like a Gale.”
His lips parted as he stared at me. “My grandmother, she’s the one who named me. It was her father’s name.”
“I can stick with Mal if you—”
“No, no,” he cut me off. “Gale is good.”
“Okay,” I said, releasing his hand and shoving both of mine into the pockets of my jacket so I wouldn’t try and touch him or something.
I really wanted to touch him.
The yearning for another had been dead for so long that it surprised me with the sudden pulse of need. I wasn’t even sure what to do with that feeling.
“So what do you do, Maks?”
I sighed. “I have no idea. I’m starting over myself.”
“How funny,” he whispered, like that had surprised him.
“Yeah,” I said, my own voice going out on me.
We just stood there, quiet, staring at each other until he took a breath, like he was coming up for air from deep underwater, gently shook his head, and smiled at me.
“So I, um, need you to tell me from the beginning what happened today.”
And I had a thought: should I call Alvarez? She said to alert her over anything. Minor, major, and everything in between. Those had been her orders. But…Bruce and his cousins were already being taken care of by the local police, and then there was Gale Malloy, whom I had this unfamiliar urge to get to know better. I was betting that whatever had sent him to Rune had to do with him and his partner, his lover, working some kind of ongoing criminal investigation, and since I myself was a criminal, maybe finding that out would make him take a step back from me. I didn’t want him to take a step back, I wanted him to take one forward. Hopefully many. I didn’t want him to have any reason to put any distance between us.
“Well,” I began, “I was on my way from Portland and just driving, you know?”