Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 69511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
“Those are winter clothes, Gable,” I pointed out.
He shrugged. “You’ll need those at my place eventually.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah,” he grinned. “It’s supposed to be pretty cold next week.”
“The weatherman always says that, and it never happens,” I pointed out.
“How do you feel about Halloween parties?” he questioned.
I shot him a curious look. “Like the one at work?”
“The one at work,” he confirmed. “I’m off duty that day. And I’m fairly sure you would love it.”
“I do love it,” I agreed. “I’ve gone two years in a row. It’s a lot of fun.”
But rather sad when you were alone with no one to take with you. All the spouses, and families, of the officers came to the carnival mid-day, then the adults stayed into the night and partied.
It was tame, but it was a lot of fun. And it gave me an excuse to dress up, which I also loved.
The first year I’d gone, I’d attended with Gavrel. It was there that Garnett convinced me to apply for the emergency services dispatcher position.
This would be my second Halloween attending as an employee, and my third attending period.
But it would be my first year to attend with someone as my date.
Which made me giddy beyond belief.
“When is it?” I asked.
I’d heard about it, but I hadn’t been planning on going this year. Though I loved it, and enjoyed seeing all my friends, there was something so depressing about going and not having anyone there to just be with.
If Gable was willing to go, and he wanted to go with me, then I was definitely down to attend.
“Next Friday,” he said. “Halloween is the following Thursday.”
“Cool,” I breathed.
He shoved some more clothes into the bag, and by the time he was done, I had a bag that couldn’t close, and likely nothing that matched despite the things I’d originally packed.
But the fact that he was overpacking meant he wanted me to plan on being there longer, meaning he didn’t want me to leave.
He carried my things to the car, as well as the trash that was inside since, as he said, he didn’t plan on bringing me back for a while.
With my keys in one hand and his hand holding my other, we walked to my car.
He gave it a disgusted look before saying, “You need a new one.”
I scoffed. “This one gets me where I want to go just fine.”
He handed me my laptop and my purse before saying, “Drive safely.”
And I did.
He let me park in the garage, which had my heart near to bursting.
When I met him at garage door, he said, “It’s supposed to rain tomorrow. No reason for you to get wet if you don’t have to.”
He was being sweet.
When we arrived inside, he took all of my belongings to the bedroom, and I stayed to put the leftover pizza in the fridge.
When he came back, his face was clearly expressing annoyance.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Garrett’s stuff,” he handed me his phone, and I read the long text that Tyrone had sent.
Tyrone:
Looking into it with your brother, Quinn. He’s under the impression that the new gang leader of West Backers wants to make an impression. I agree with him. We’ve put in a call to the judge for a warrant. Should hear sometime in the morning. As for Callena, she was talking about heading back home, and I agreed. Nothing left for her to do here. If you need anything between now and tomorrow, let me know.
“Tell me what you think about your brother and all of what you learned today,” I urged.
He plopped his backside down on the counter and crossed his arms over his chest before leaning back against the top cabinets.
“Here’s the thing,” he said. “I never really felt like any of that was over. I always felt like there was something else going on there. He and I were switching out every month or so. He took some time off, and I took some time to see what I could find out. Between the two of us, we found enough evidence to send the old gang leader and three of his men to jail for life. But it’s like a hydra. You lop off one head just to have three more replace it. And in the end, when Garrett was hurt, I always had this feeling that something wasn’t right.”
“You were there, too?” I asked, eyes wide.
“I was there, too,” he confirmed. “Garrett is good at being undercover, but around that time his girlfriend found out that she was pregnant.”
“Garrett has a baby?” I cried.
“No,” he shook his head, sadness creeping into his eyes. “Long story short, Garrett and his girlfriend found out they were pregnant. For the next nine months, his girlfriend treated him like utter dog shit. I’m talking, full on, ripping him to shreds dog shit. She yelled at him when he brought her the food requested. Forced him to stay away from appointments. Didn’t tell him that she went into labor while he was out in the field. When he found out, we of course switched places, but by the time he got to the hospital, her family called security on him. Even worse, the baby was stillborn. And by the time that Garrett found out about that, the baby was already cremated.”