Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
“Another wild night,” he murmured, looking over his shoulder toward the crackling fire.
Laurel’s entire body felt as if it had been through a meat grinder. “This suits me. Thanks for making dinner.”
He chuckled. “I’ll make scrambled eggs anytime you want.”
That had been exactly what she needed.
“Go sit down by the fire,” he said. “Do you want ice cream for dessert?”
She perked up. “Absolutely. I didn’t know you had ice cream.”
“I bought a carton the other day. Do you want chocolate or butterscotch topping?”
“I’ll take both.” Yet another advantage to being pregnant—no guilt about eating sugar. She walked over to sit on the sofa and extended her feet the way Huck always did, then leaned back to shut her eyes. A wet nose instantly pushed against her hand, and she started petting the dog. Taking that as encouragement, he hopped up onto the sofa and spread himself across her lap.
She opened her eyes and looked down. “I’m pretty certain you’re not supposed to be up here, buddy.”
He closed his eyes and pretended he was asleep. She wasn’t in charge of training him, so she would leave any correction to Huck. Plus, it felt good to have the dog on her lap. She looked over to the corner where Fred stretched out on Aeneas’s bed by the fireplace. The cat opened one eye, seemed to judge everything was good, and went back to sleep. He sure had made himself comfortable at Huck’s with very minimal fuss.
“Have you heard from your mom?” Huck asked from the kitchen.
“Yes. She and Dolores are having an absolute ball at the spa. They had their pictures taken and their auras read from the photographs.” The procedure hadn’t made any sense to her, but as long as Deidre and Dolores enjoyed themselves, she was happy. More importantly, they were far away from Genesis Valley right now.
Her phone trilled, and she lifted it to her ear. “Agent Snow.”
“Hello, dear sister. How are you?”
Laurel looked at the darkness outside. “Abigail. I called you earlier but only reached your voicemail.”
“I’ve been busy,” Abigail said. “I do have a life outside of you. I still teach at the college, you know.”
It was unfortunate the job didn’t keep Abigail busy enough. “So you were grading papers?”
“That I was. Today’s youth just aren’t as smart as we were. Have you noticed that?”
Laurel didn’t have time for this. “Have you shot a sniper rifle lately?”
Abigail burst out laughing. “A sniper rifle? No, that’s not something I have ever done. Why, do you want to take sniper lessons together?”
Laurel rolled her eyes. “No. Where is Jason Abbott right now?”
“Hell if I know,” Abigail said. “I wish you’d go ahead and catch him because I’m tired of looking over my shoulder all the time. You know he’s going to come for me.”
Laurel wiggled her toes in front of the blissful fire. “Yes, I believe he wants to harm you. Probably both of us, but you first.” It made sense. The woman had experimented on Abbott, and he blamed her for his problems. “Did you know he kept journals?”
Abigail fell silent for a moment. “No. What kind of journals?”
Her voice held a different note, but Laurel couldn’t read it. Was that concern or hesitation?
“Journals all about your time with him,” Laurel guessed. Or maybe he’d detailed his killings. They must hold important information, or he wouldn’t have risked the wrath of the FBI to steal them back.
Abigail cleared her throat. “I did not know that Jason kept journals, but I sure would like to read them. Do you know where they are?”
“I do know where they are,” Laurel said. “There is no way I’ll allow you to read them.” She figured Jason Abbott had them, so she was telling the truth. She did know who had the journals, and hopefully he was too arrogant to destroy them. No doubt he’d spent a lot of time detailing his kills so he could go back and relive them by reading through his diaries.
“Now, Laurel, I would very much like to read these journals. Perhaps I can help you decipher what was going on in Jason’s head during these last difficult months.”
How unnerving the existence of the journals must be to Abigail. What exactly had she done to Jason during those experiments? “I don’t think so,” Laurel said as Huck crossed around and handed her a bowl of ice cream.
Was Abigail playing some sick game? She could’ve been the sniper, which meant she already knew about the journals. Yet, did that track? Laurel’s temples ached.
“Aeneas, down,” Huck ordered. The dog looked at him but obeyed, slinking over to flop down on half of his bed. Fred looked at him and struck out with a paw. Aeneas ignored the cat and shut his eyes.
Laurel looked down at her ice cream. “When was the last time you spoke with Jason Abbott?” she asked Abigail.