Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 75240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
“So the man he stole this car from was a judge,” he said. “The more we looked into it, the less we found. All that we could find is one single account of what had happened, directly from the judge’s hand. He filed it, and then nothing was ever followed up on again.”
“Why?” I blurted.
Jack grinned. “Exactly. Why?”
Winter dipped a chip into the queso we were all sharing.
“We tried to dig some more, and we haven’t found out anything more yet. But we will. Everyone’s secrets are out there, it’s just a matter of how deep we have to dig for them,” Winter explained. “We’ll find it.”
“And when we do, you’ll be the first to know,” Jack tipped his half empty bottle of beer at me. “Now, let’s talk about this car of yours.”
Bowe’s only reaction was to laugh.
“I’m not fucking selling it, so drop it.”
Winter snorted.
“Told you.”
Chapter 18
Don’t be a twatsicle.
-Things not to say to your boss
Bowe
“I’m not sure this is the best idea,” Angie looked at the building where we would be taking Elise to for the first time.
The daycare was state of the art.
All background checks that she’d made Jack run came out clean, and there was literally no reason at all that she couldn’t do this.
“Angie,” I hesitated. “She’ll be fine. She’s an awesome baby. All the kids will love her. The teachers loved her the moment you brought her in for a visit. It’s literally five seconds away from the fire station, if they need anything, and ten away from the hospital. You have absolutely nothing to worry about.”
She looked into my eyes, closed them in defeat, and then nodded.
“Let’s do this before I run out of courage.” She started to stomp up the front steps.
I laughed, skirting around the large pole that was at the curb, and caught up to her easily.
She started to tap in the numbers on the keypad, and then held the door for me.
I took it and made a face at Elise, causing her to giggle.
“I saw that,” she grumbled.
“Saw what?” I asked innocently.
She snorted and pushed past the gate, making her way all the way to the very back hall where the nursery was located.
The school was set up in an L, and the older classes started in the front. As you made your way back, you passed the four-year-old room, the threes, the twos, the eighteen months, the twelve months, and then finally came to the nursery.
If you went even further, it would lead to the playground where they had a large jungle gym and a place for all the kids to play, even the younger ones.
“I’m going to cry,” she whispered from in front of me. “Do you think you can take her from here?”
I reached for Elise, and she leaned into my hands, making my heart happy.
“I’ll be back,” I said as she hovered in the doorway.
The moment I was in the room, I looked at Elise, who looked directly back at me.
“Please, whatever you do, don’t cry. If you cry, she’s going to cry with you, and you’ll never have a day of freedom. You’ll never go to prom, and you’ll likely never have a boyfriend until you’re forty,” I told her as if she could understand every word I had to say.
She blinked, and then grinned, drool leaking out of her mouth as she did.
“I’ll take her if you want me to,” a young girl asked.
I turned to find Elise’s teacher holding her hands out for Elise.
I blew a raspberry on Elise’s neck, causing her to giggle uncontrollably, and then handed her over while she was still laughing.
“We’ll be back around four to get her,” I told the woman.
“My name’s Sarah. I have your numbers here if you’d like me to text you a couple of times throughout the day. Pictures or updates on how she’s doing.” She patted Elise’s back, waiting for an answer.
An answer that she already knew.
“That’d be great,” I grinned. “Thank you.”
Sarah winked, turned and took Elise’s attention elsewhere, allowing us both to leave without a single peep from her.
“That was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be,” Angie observed.
I nodded my head in agreement.
“And she didn’t cry.”
Angie’s smile was small, but it was there.
“No, she sure didn’t.”
***
Rain was making visibility practically zero, and by the time we pulled on scene, I was breathing heavily.
The thunder overhead was breathtaking. Each time a boom sounded, every man in the truck with me tensed.
Each rumble was worse than the one before, causing every single man surrounding me to have a look of annoyance on his face.
Firefighters, though, didn’t have a choice whether to go out and work in the rain. Rain caused us to be busy, and that likely wasn’t going to stop for the next six hours left on shift.
My eyes took in the accident in about twenty seconds.