Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 173(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 173(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
“Fine, but I will be back first thing in the morning.” A moment later I hear the buzz sound of Taylor letting him out the front door. What the hell was that about? More than likely it was a husband looking for his wife. That happens a lot around here. Sometimes we have to call the cops in order for them to go away. Thankfully, this one left on his own.
“Winnie.” Taylor gasps in surprise when she opens the door and sees me standing there. “You scared the crap out of me.” She glances back over her shoulder before she steps out and closes the door behind her.
“Sorry. I thought I heard angry voices. Is everything okay?” She tucks a piece of her short silver hair behind her ear.
“Everything is fine.” She gives me a smile, but it doesn't meet her eyes. “I’ll deal with it tomorrow after I make some calls.”
“Okay. If you need me, I’ll be in my room,” I say before making my way back to my room. I get the nagging feeling Taylor is hiding something or she lied to me. I shake the thought. What would be the point of lying? Even if she did it would be for a good cause.
Still the man's deep voice stays with me until sleep takes me.
4
Dane
I sit in the hotel trying to kill time. It’s the last thing I want to be doing. I’d rather be down at the women’s shelter getting answers. The first thing I did when the plane landed was go straight to the hospital. It took a bit of strong-arming and a huge donation to get the information I needed.
Based on the discharge date on the records, it seems that it’s been over three months since she went over to Healing Homes. Since it was months ago, there’s a chance that she’s no longer there, but at least I know she was at some point. Both the doctor and nurse at the hospital recognized her from the picture. The relief that I felt when they confirmed it was actually Kennedy is indescribable. A sense of hope bloomed in my chest that I was on the right track.
That feeling didn’t last long, though, once I made it to the shelter. No one would answer my questions no matter how hard I pushed. They barely let me step foot inside the building. I wanted to say fuck it and go in anyway.
I managed to hold on to some rational thought. Especially once she told me it was only women and children that stayed there. I wasn’t going to burst in there and scare the crap out of a bunch of people that have already been through enough shit in their lives. Believe me, I wanted to, but I knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. I’m not that big of an asshole.
My phone starts to vibrate in my pocket. “What do you have for me?” I ask my assistant.
“Roman King and his wife head up Healing Homes.” I asked my assistant to pull whatever she could on the shelter, hoping that I could find a way to bypass the rules without making a scene.
“Are you shitting me?”
“Nope. I think it has more to do with his wife, but Roman pours money into it.” Damn. When the hell did Roman get married? I never thought I’d see the day the cold asshole would fall in love and get married. I suppose others might say the same about me.
Roman and I aren't friends. More like acquaintances than anything. We run in the same circles and have a mutual respect for each other. The man might be an asshole, but he’s good at what he does, and he’s fair.
“Did you send the donation over yet?”
“It’s all done,” she chirps into the phone. She’s way too happy for this early in the morning.
I’m not really sure if the donation will do much now. Not if Roman is backing the place. Still, it might be something to get my foot in the door.
“Can I ask what’s going on, Oz? People are going to start asking questions, and your mother has been calling nonstop.”
“If I feel there is something you need to know then I’ll tell you. Get the rest of the list done. I want it all here quickly,” I say before ending the call.
I wish I had replaced her a few weeks ago when I noticed she was trying to flirt with me. She also tries to stick her nose in my personal business. I’d been so wrapped up in finding Kennedy that I put it off and just made sure she stayed the hell out of my office.
“Can you go take a fucking shower and change? No one is going to want to tell you anything with the way you look.”