Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 37200 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37200 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
“It might not hurt. Everything is on my computer. Don’t take too long, okay?” He places a kiss on my nose before he rolls away and climbs out of the bed. I watch as the corded muscles in his back ripple beneath his shirt, even with the worry settling back in my stomach, a worry that was gone for a few short days when Ezra told me he’d step in and help. It has now returned with a vengeance. Add in the lack of food and the fact I’m still waking up, and I’m liable to lose whatever is in my body from our early dinner before going out.
“I won’t.” I flop onto my back, arms going outwards, and take a deep breath, holding it in before letting it out.
“Millie, sunshine. It’s not horrible. We’ll get through this,” he reassures me as he walks out of the bedroom. I take another breath then sit up. The sheet slides off my body, the air conditioning causing me to shiver now that the covers are gone.
“I’m getting up. Jeez.” What a way to wake up. Maybe I should rethink this owning and operating a business. So far, all it has been is a pile of stress. I grab the shirt Ezra was wearing yesterday and pull it over my head while sitting on the side of the bed, doing this awkward dance while my legs are crossed. If Ezra were to see me now, there’s no doubt in my mind we’d both forget about what his private investigator found out.
“Coffee is brewing!” he calls out while on the stairs, or what I’m assuming are the stairs with the way his voice echoes. I’m out of the bed, stomping to the bathroom to handle my morning business before washing my hands and brushing my teeth. The show I’m craving will have to wait until afterwards. It’s Sunday, which means it’s time for the weekly task of exfoliating, shaving, washing my hair, and applying a face mask of some kind. I take my self-care serious on the one day a week I don’t have to get to the shop. All the other days, I’m up and at Books and Brew by six thirty in the morning in order to open our doors at seven. I’m still cold when I walk out of the bathroom minutes later. The closet has what I need. A few changes of clothes of mine hang alongside Ezra’s, but that’s not what I’m after. I locate a hoodie that will drop to mid-thigh right along with his shirt I’m wearing and a pair of slippers that are two sizes too big on my feet.
Unable to prolong the process any longer, I shuffle my feet out of the bedroom, then down the stairs as the sun shines brightly in every direction. I kind of wish it were dark and gloomy, a mood that is sure to match the news I’m about to receive.
“Don’t you look cozy?” Ezra meets me at the door to his office with two cups of coffee in his hands. You’d think I would be a snob about the dark goodness. I’m not, especially if I don’t have to make it.
“I didn’t feel like getting dressed when I’d just be changing again to take a shower. Thank you.” I take the steaming hot cup out of his hand, closing my eyes as I take the first sip.
“Alright, come on. I’ll make us lunch after this shit is out of the way.” His free hand goes to my lower back, leading me until we’re inside his office and he’s sitting behind the desk, not letting me go until I’m sitting in his lap.
“One more sip, then I’ll be coherent enough,” I tell him, placating myself more than him.
“You’re already wide awake. Our PI, Blake, went down to Florida to scope out the last known address on Bonnie and Chad,” Ezra dives right in. I place my cup of coffee on his desk. The gleaming wood is beautiful. I find a scrap piece of paper, lift my mug, and then put it down so it doesn’t leave a ring.
“Okay.” I look at the computer, reading the places Blake went. One town led to another, which is what Perry expected. What I didn’t see coming was the fact that they took a plane home six months ago, one-way, and that’s when the trail went cold. “Am I reading that correctly? They’re here in New York yet ignoring every call or message? Ezra, what the hell is going on?” My questions tumble out, one after the other. Nothing is making a lick of sense.
“You are. Blake found a couple of other things. Their house here is vacant. He sat on it once he figured out they left Florida. He’s going to present it to the cops, let them know what’s been going on and let them take it from there,” he finishes. It’s been maybe three days, if that, and this Blake guy was able to do all this. Jesus, money really does talk.