Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 132962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 665(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 665(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Mitch found his hotel and busied himself, keeping his mind occupied as completely as he could. The hotel room was a suite, and he set up an office in the living room area. On a whim he printed a picture of every victim that had been brutalized by these crimes. He taped each picture above his desk and stared at each one intently.
What he hadn’t allowed himself to think about since landing this morning was Cody Turner. He didn’t understand what had him acting like this. He’d never chased anyone before. Actually, he never gave anyone a second thought. A good hard fuck and he sent them on their way. But Cody, damn, he wanted that cowboy, and he knew if he had him just once, he wouldn’t be sending him away. If he had sex with Cody, everything would change for him. Hell, who was he kidding? Everything had already changed for him.
Mitch ran his hands over his short hair. Cody was clearly not as into him. But there was something more there for Mitch. Something more than the intense attraction he felt for the guy. He actually got butterflies in his stomach when he thought about that hot as shit trooper. He couldn’t wait to talk to him again. He needed to know how his day went, and if he had enjoyed last night as much as Mitch had. He wanted to know Cody’s favorite things and hear about his life growing up on a farm.
As he stared at the pictures of these men, many who had lost their lives, Mitch’s heart sank. He got a gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach. Men were being victimized. Gay men weren’t safe with this psychopath still on the loose, and that included Cody. Vehemence gripped his body on a level he’d never experienced before.
There was no more playing. No more guessing and absolutely zero pussyfooting around this stupid politically correct game. The accuracy and brutality of the acts had him certain the suspect was very well-trained. Someone who had gone through battle. Maybe someone who could pay handsomely to carry out these type jobs against their enemy. All in the name of justice or righteousness or morality.
Mitch’s gut twisted. He pulled up the short list of hate groups again and studied it for several long minutes before pushing away from the desk, completely frustrated. The answers didn’t lie in that report. He’d known from the beginning the answer was obvious, but he just wasn’t seeing it yet.
Instead of letting the anger manifest until he threw his laptop across the room like he wanted to do, he picked up his cell and ran his finger over the screen. He thought for sure Cody would have called him today. At least responded to the text he’d sent last night, but he hadn’t. He picked up his laptop, still hanging on to his phone as he made his way to his bed. He turned on the television, lowering the volume to background noise and sat there staring at the TV.
Focus, Mitch. You can’t stalk the guy. If he’s interested, he’ll call. Besides this was all fucking Colt and Jace’s fault anyway. Just watching them together and seeing the love they shared made him want that kind of a connection. Colt and Jace knew what it felt like to have that someone special waiting for them at home. Someone who missed them if they were gone or laughed at Colt’s corny jokes. They shared secrets together and cuddled up on the couch to play video games with one another. Someone to share the bed with on long, cold nights.
Hell, he bet they even woke up wrapped around each other every morning too. He had his head all stuck around wanting a relationship and then fucking Cody Turner showed up in his line of sight. Why did any of this even matter to him? None of it had before. He anchored himself against the headboard and resolutely sat the computer on his lap. He couldn’t sit around hoping and dreaming, not when he had work to do.
~~~
Cody came through the front door of his apartment and was surrounded by complete darkness. He’d left the place closed up tight, the drapes all drawn and the lights off, when he’d left this morning. He flipped the switch, then went to the kitchen and tossed his keys toward the counter. The bright light flashing on immediately blinded him, and he heard his keys tumble from the counter onto the floor. Damn, he didn’t even have enough wits about him to toss his keys on a counter like he did every single time he walked through this door.
The clock on the kitchen stove read ten. He’d eaten dinner at his sister-in-law’s house tonight. The guys were so dirty from the hard day’s work that she’d made them eat on the back porch. He got it. His mom had always made them do those kinds of things too.
He was almost OCD about his own cleanliness. So he stripped in the tiled entryway, leaving his dirty clothes and shoes lying right where they fell as he padded to his bathroom. He didn’t touch anything but the knobs to the faucet and stood patiently in one spot until the water warmed. He stepped under the hot stream and allowed the water to do its job. After a few minutes, a steady beat of warmth began to soothe and loosen the knots left from a hard day’s work. He shut his eyes and relaxed against the tile.
Today had been an eye-opener. He’d figured out pretty quickly that all those daily workouts hadn’t prepared him for a full day of manual labor. And whatever his problem was with guiding and leading his horse needed to be worked out quickly. He’d been raised on a horse. He was going into the horse patrol mainly due to his handling skills, so he absolutely couldn’t be making stupid mistakes like he had today. He made so many that his own brothers laughed and gave him hell over his rusty saddle skills.