Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 91212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
"I think I'm all set," I tell her as I leave the room.
I'm not a fool. I know there's a reason some of the money is given back to me when I leave. Just as well as I know that the girl who napped with me will be in some sort of trouble because of it.
My car is waiting right outside when I exit, and I don't hesitate to climb inside. I don't drive it back to the studio apartment even though that nap made me even more exhausted than I was earlier.
I head straight to the hotel where I parked my bike earlier. I leave everything I took with me to the Daydreamer's Spa in the car, including the watch and car keys. The vehicle will have to be swept for bugs before I can use it again, and the phone I'd left in the console was a decoy. It would be insane for anyone not to have a cell phone in this day and age.
I ride halfway back to the apartment before stopping in the empty parking lot of a strip center and calling in the location of the car to have it looked over. There's a lot that can be said about technology left behind, and there's always a chance that Cerberus can learn even more about the devices they may have left in or on the car, as well as the cell phone I'd left in the console.
I wait until I'm in the privacy of the studio apartment before I make the second call.
Kincaid is already laughing when he answers the phone.
"Will you ever grow up?" I ask, trying to sound bored, but there's a smile threatening to take over my face.
"Nah, man. That'll mean I'm getting old."
I don't remind him of our age because that shit is depressing, and there are days I feel much older than I actually am. Then there are days I wonder why my body wants to betray me when my head tells me I can do something.
"Fucking cuddling?"
"Would you have preferred I listed orgies or something? It's the most innocuous thing I could find on their list," he explains.
"I guess I should say thank you for having all that shit in place. So you knew about the database?"
This information, more than anything else, surprised me the most.
"We've gotten wind about it, but we haven't been able to gain access."
"Do you think they have a link to access Hale-ish's files?"
"Worried your time there will come up?"
"More like worried they'll do facial recognition and my cover will be blown," I mutter.
"Your cover is safe. Unless you've been back to Hale-ish in the last ten years."
"I haven't been back since the grand opening. I still think you missed a great party."
He laughs. "Have you seen my wife? I'd never take her to a place like that."
"Afraid she might trade up?" I ask jokingly.
He laughs again. "Did you happen to run into our rogue older sister?"
"Didn't see a soul other than the people they wanted me to see. You know how it goes. What are the chances she's staying in town?"
"A hundred percent," he says, my phone buzzing at the same time he continues to speak. "I sent you her hotel information."
"She used a personal card, didn't she?"
"Of course she did."
"She has no damn sense of self-preservation," I mutter.
"She's a civilian. What do you expect?"
"I expect her not to get into the middle of an investigation."
"I imagine she feels helpless, and as someone from a powerful family, she isn't accustomed to being told she has to wait for something."
I don't argue with him, but I didn't get a spoiled brat sort of vibe from her. If anything, that classification would be reserved for her younger sister, Sadie.
"Are you going to go over there tonight?"
"Probably," I mutter, knowing I'll never be able to sleep without making sure she's okay first.
"Let me know if you need anything," he says before ending the call.
I grab a quick shower, opting for jeans and a T-shirt because house calls at fucking two in the morning don't get the button-down and slacks look. Plus, I'll be on my bike until the damn car gets swept for bugs.
Traffic is less chaotic, but this town is a lot like Vegas, or really any large city; it never sleeps. There's always a café open, coffee hot and waiting to be drunk, no matter the time of day or night. People work two or three jobs to keep up with their lives. Plus, the economy has gone to shit in recent years and there's no upturn on the horizon. People are less likely to vacation and do fun things when they're struggling just to live.
The people on the hill aren't struggling. They still have their jobs and, honestly, if those are the types of people who are supposed to be protecting others, it makes them nothing more than slumlords with the way a lot of Americans are having to live these days.