Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
“Or synonyms like Mountain, Peak, and Pinnacle.” Haisley rolled her eyes. “Since tons of people are inconsiderate and can’t be bothered to learn someone’s actual name, she probably gets all of the above. What was her mom thinking?”
“That she would be ‘unique.’”
Haisley snorted. “That’s overrated. Sorry to sidetrack you. So you and Ethan talked to Summit…”
“I did for quite a while. Garrison had to take care of something for the bosses. She broke down a couple of times. Her dad glowered at me and kept trying to end the interview, but she insisted on continuing. She told a story similar to Bianca’s, except that Summit mentioned a janitor closing off the hall to the bathroom just before someone tried to nab her. Earlier in the day, I spoke with Mrs. Wright, mom of Kaylee, the girl abducted on Christmas Eve. She couldn’t tell me much, but she thought she remembered seeing a male janitor, too. I want to ask Bianca about that. Maybe he’s not involved, and it’s just a coincidence that he cleaned the bathroom before Kaylee’s disappearance and before Summit was nearly abducted. But maybe not.”
“Good idea. It sounds like too much of a coincidence, if you ask me. Just to let you know, I followed up with Mr. Benedict about his involvement in the day-to-day operations of the mall. He said he’s far too busy for that.” Haisley rolled her eyes. “Yeah, too busy giving me a hard time. He claims he leaves all the ‘little things’ to the mall’s general manager. Have you caught up with him?”
Nash shook his head. “He’s back from vacation tomorrow. Apparently, he left four hours after Kaylee’s abduction to spend Christmas away. Who does that?”
Haisley reared back. “I get that it was a holiday, but we’re talking about a girl’s life. Asshat.”
“Exactly.”
Silence fell between them, and Nash filled it, if for no other reason than to keep Haisley talking to him. “So what did you do last night, besides stop in and check on Madison? Ethan told me. That was nice of you.”
“Poor thing looked green. She says she felt loads better, so I can’t imagine how much worse she must have felt when it was bad.”
“Do anything interesting after that?”
Haisley hesitated, and he could almost see her trying to decide whether to tell him about Jasper. Finally, she shook her head. “Surfed online. Watched some TV. Went to bed early.”
Nash stifled his disappointment. She’d open up to him eventually. He was determined. But it would require patience. And he’d have to thaw the ice between them first. How he’d do that wasn’t clear, but he’d improvise until he succeeded.
“What about you?” she asked. “After you were done with your interviews?”
Just a guess, but masturbating to thoughts of you wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear.
He shrugged and avoided the subject of Jasper and CSI. “Ate while I flipped channels. Nothing special.”
It would have been so much better if he could have cuddled up with Haisley before he stripped her down and spent half the night inside her. Even the thought had his cock hard and pressing uncomfortably against his zipper, as if it knew Haisley was close and wanted a hit of its favorite drug.
Down, boy. Down.
“Anything else about the case I should know? Any suspects?”
At this point, everyone remotely associated with the mall was a suspect, but between his brain and his gut, he was narrowing it down. “Not yet.”
She bit her lip again. That was Haisley’s thinking face, but watching her sink her teeth into that plump, soft lip always drove him a little insane. “I’ve been thinking about a conversation I had with, um…a friend recently. At this point, I’m convinced these abductions are an inside job. It would be easy to point the finger at the maintenance man since he seems super resistant to keeping that hallway lit, but I’m wondering if this is a group effort?”
“I’m thinking the same thing. I mean, it’s not impossible that one guy is pulling this off alone, but realistically?”
“Right? He would have to get the victim out the door quietly and get her to a vehicle nearby. He can’t very well be abducting someone and have a van idling at the curb, I wouldn’t think. It’s a no-parking zone, and the chances of the mall cops sweeping the parking lot should be high…”
“Not to mention that he’d have to drug or secure his victim before he could even drive away so she couldn’t fight back or escape while he was focused on the road…”
“But if this is a money-making endeavor, maybe the person responsible isn’t even doing the dirty work. He probably wouldn’t be, right? He’d entrust his buddies or hire that out. Because how would thugs with no connections sell their ‘product’?” she asked.
“There are ways, but it’s much easier when you know shady people.”