Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 108342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
“Yes, you are Captain. You are in charge of managing the operations of your precinct. Humanity and ego can’t coexist, Dakota.” She paused, letting her words roll around in his mind. Officer White’s first name was Dakota. He rarely told anyone, and on his paperwork it was just the letter ‘D’. People guessed David, or Dale… but she was an investigator. She knew exactly who she was dealing with. “Either you want to find out who killed this guy, see if it is linked to the other murders in your city or an anomaly, or you can keep pretending that this was nothing more than someone drowning due to being drunk and high. Despite his crushed trachea, and the obvious bruising around his neck.”
“…That’s why I called you back.” His loud exhale followed. “I don’t like what you’re doing, but maybe, just maybe, we can work together instead of fighting. Share information.”
Her face flushed with heat as she noticed an attractive man enter the shop. She turned away and focused, though the four-second-long distraction was appreciated all the same.
“Let the record show that I never was fighting with you, Captain White. You were attempting to fight with me.”
“Contrary to what you think, I am actually quite concerned about this case. As you already know, it was brutal, and as you’ve already shared, we have some unsolved murders that are now piling up. That makes me uncomfortable, to say the least. I can’t have this. I refuse to have this. I need for the people here, my neighbors, my family and friends to feel safe. I’m not a newcomer. I grew up here, Ms. Lee. This is my home. I take this quite personally. I want this solved!”
Reaching inside her purse, she grabbed a small notepad and a pen.
“Let’s get started. Tell me what you know.”
“Quite a bit.”
“That means not a lot. How many suspects are on your radar, if any?”
“Three. Two higher on the radar.”
“Names?”
“Ethan Jacobson. Lincoln Torres. Nikolai Raven.”
She made quick work of jotting the names down.
“Thank you.”
“This is purely confidential. I also don’t want you telling anyone that we’re communicating about this case until we actually have something concrete.”
“Of course. If you hear anything you think I should know, you have my number, and you know I will do the same. I’ll be in touch.”
She ended the call, then grinned from ear to ear when she caught the handsome guy smiling at her as he exited the shop with his coffee in hand. She was tempted to wave goodbye to him, but decided against it. She took another sip of her coffee—this one better than the last. The rain was falling harder now. People were hopping over puddles, their soaked hair sticking to their skulls.
I wish he were a stripper. I’d give this weather a run for its money and make it rain all over him…
She giggled to herself. Having a sense of humor and an appreciation for a good-looking son of a bitch kept her young and alive.
She decided to spend a few more minutes in the coffee shop in hopes that the rain would soon let up. There’d been a change of plans: rather than leaving town after interviewing once more the fisherman who’d found Clark, and going to the beach, she’d stay a bit longer. It was time to dig more information about these suspects. Rain, sleet or snow, she just had to know…
CHAPTER THREE
“Hey!” someone yelled.
There’d been nonstop commotion and noise at the gas station Nikolai stopped at practically every day either for smokes, gum, a six-pack, or gas. They rarely kept the same people there at the register, so he never got accustomed to the employees. It seemed to be a revolving door at the Irving Oil gas station.
Nikolai thrust the gas dispenser nozzle into the opening of his black Chevrolet Silverado. ‘Fetish,’ by Trench played from his truck as he watched the money adding up as he pumped. He tapped his foot to the beat of the house music tune. It had been a long day and he was eager to get home.
“Oh, man! Haven’t seen you in forever. Like five or six years. You look the same!”
Nikolai didn’t turn away from the numbers that kept rolling on the tiny yellow and black screen. He ignored whoever was speaking loudly, just in case it was someone he didn’t know trying to start a conversation before asking for a dollar or two. Or worse yet, someone he did actually know but didn’t want to speak to. There were plenty that fit that bill.
Hey! You hear me? What’s up, Nikolai?” A cheerful voice yelled over the music, much louder now.
So, they DO know me… Shit. Nikolai grunted, begrudgingly lifted his head to look to his right and spotted Dolphin. The bastard’s real name was Douglas Liken, an idiot he’d gone to high school with.