Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69537 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69537 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Rooster tugged me a little harder than he normally would, causing my belly to flip in surprise.
We walked quickly, and I was thankful for the umpteenth time that I had Rooster with me.
I was very aware, however, that I was not alone in my walk back to the apartment complex.
I got into the lobby, and instead of taking the elevator where I knew he’d get on with me, I took the stairs.
He’d, of course, followed me.
I felt my heart beating so hard that it was making me dizzy.
Or maybe it was because I was holding my breath.
Whatever the reason, by the time I made it to the fifth floor, I was panting, out of breath, and my head was swimming.
I applied the same logic to get to the apartment I was looking for as I would use to get to my own one floor below. Hurrying as fast as I could without appearing to be running.
When I got to the door, I knocked, thankful that the stairwell door hadn’t opened yet.
Maybe it wouldn’t.
I knew he probably had a clear line of sight from the stairwell to the apartment I was standing in front of.
I knocked again and heard the sound of footsteps.
“Bindi, what…”
I pushed through the door, my heart in my throat, and said, “Close it. Hurry.”
It closed in a hurry.
“What’s going on, Bindi?” Garrett asked.
“Gee.” I shivered. “Someone’s been following me for forty-five minutes. And I can’t get my phone to call out.”
I held the phone up to him and felt him take it gently from my hands.
“It’s on pause,” he said. “Here.”
“Oh, thank God,” I heard my mother’s voice. “I didn’t know what the heck was going on.”
“Sorry, Mom,” I sighed. “I must’ve pressed a button to pause it or something. I’m not sure what happened.”
“I could hear you, but you couldn’t hear me,” she continued. “I tried hanging up and calling back, but it was like our phones were stuck in a weird sort of limbo. Who was that guy?”
I felt Garrett’s attention sharpen.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “He followed me from the dog yard! I had to turn around and come up to Gee’s apartment. I was too scared to lead him back to mine.”
“Good idea,” Dad’s angry voice cut in. “You got her, Garrett?”
“I do, sir,” Garrett said. “I’ll go check it out now.”
“Thank you,” Dad said. “We’ll hang up now. Call us back when you have something figured out.”
They said goodbye, and that was when I heard a feminine voice say, “Gee?”
“That’s me,” Garrett said. “That’s what my girl Bindi calls me.”
The way he said it sounded like he was almost forbidding her to ever use it.
Why did that make me feel so good?
“Oh,” the woman replied. “I’ll just be over here.”
“Who’s that?” I whispered. “Did I interrupt a date?”
And why did the thought of that make me want to cry?
Maybe it was because he’d told me he couldn’t see anyone right now, more specifically me, and that would make it me being the problem. And not someone else.
“No,” he said. “Definitely not. Stay here, Boss.”
Despite the barked order at his dog, I still caught his shirt sleeve in my hand and said, “Then who is she?”
“She’s a fellow K-9 officer,” Garrett explained as I heard him go toward the door.
“Oh,” I said.
Garrett left, leaving me alone with the woman.
“Uh,” I said. “My name is Bindi Howe. What’s yours?”
“Delphine,” the woman said.
I did notice she didn’t give her last name.
Interesting.
“Uh, how long have you and Garrett been working together?” I chattered nervously.
“A few years,” Delphine clipped.
Okay, so maybe she didn’t want to do small talk.
A wet nose pressed into my hand, and I reached down to pet Rooster’s neck folds.
I was so lost in thought that I didn’t hear her approach until, “Are you really blind?”
I frowned. “Yeah, why?”
I heard air movement, and I somehow knew she was trying to wave her hand in front of my face. “You don’t really look all that blind.”
I pulled my glasses off and opened my eyes, revealing them to her.
She hissed and stepped back.
Satisfied with the space she’d given to me, I said, “Take me to the couch, Rooster.”
Rooster did, and waited until I was seated before he left.
I let him go and was thankful I did when I heard him greedily slurping down water.
Poor Boss.
He’d have to share the water with Rooster.
Rooster was the sweetest, but he had a drooling problem, and that extended to his water drinking habits.
“I’ll bet you weren’t followed like you thought,” Delphine admitted. “Garrett would’ve found him by now if he was still there.”
I gritted my teeth and didn’t say anything.
I most definitely didn’t make that guy up.
Even my parents had heard him.
“Where’s the remote control?” I wondered idly to myself.
“I don’t think you should be touching Garrett’s stuff,” Delphine murmured.
My brows rose. “Well, I can’t just sit here in awkward silence, Delphine. You make me uncomfortable.”