Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
“I probably am!” she stated emphatically. “At least some men.”
Keely looked toward the woman who had her back to her and shook her head, as if she seriously couldn’t fathom how crazy in the head her friend actually was.
“No, but seriously. I really am,” the woman, also known as Doris Patterson, which was shortened to Dorie, maintained. “You are, too.”
I snorted.
Dorie and Keely had about six inches separating them in height, and from what I guessed, twenty-five pounds. Though it looked like Keely worked out—and her credit card statement showed that she paid for a gym membership—she was a little bit of a thing.
Short and grumpy at first sight, she reminded me of a squirrel that could go rabid and crazy in a blink of an eye.
Dorie, on the other hand, did look like she spent a lot of time in the gym. She looked like she was strong, but she wasn’t stronger than a man. Some men might think twice about trying anything with her, but they certainly would get her on the ground if they truly wanted to.
I wasn’t saying that strength and appearance didn’t deter some individuals, but there were a lot of crazy people out there, and sometimes their determination outweighed their common sense.
“Again, friend, we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one,” Keely said. “Do you have the sleep results for Richard Morgan?”
Dorie rolled her eyes and said, “I’ll prove it to you.”
“You’ll prove what to me?” Keely asked.
“That you’re strong,” she said.
Keely sighed. “Okay, then.”
I narrowed my eyes, not liking the look of determination in Dorie’s eyes.
But Dorie seemed to release whatever determination that she was feeling because she started talking about sleep results, this week’s work schedule, and anything else under the sun that she could babble about.
By the end of the night I knew Keely’s next two weeks’ schedule, her favorite Thai place, and where she wanted to go on vacation next year.
Which was, apparently, something that she did every year by herself.
My phone rang in my hand as I was about to look up places to hike in Hawaii.
My brother’s name flashed across the screen, and I sighed long and loud.
I answered a few rings later and said, “Hello?”
“Hey,” Shasha said. “I need a favor.”
“The babysitting kind?” I asked hopefully.
I loved Shasha’s kids.
“No.” He didn’t say anything more on the subject. “Meet me at my office in town.”
I looked at the clock on the wall. “It’s barely after one in the morning. It can’t wait?”
“Not this time,” he said.
I sighed and grabbed my rifle case out of the safe, then loaded it up before heading out the door.
When I got to Shasha’s office, he was the only one there.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as soon as I was in his office.
“Multiple things.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You remember that bill that they’re trying to force through?”
The bill he was referencing was one on organized crime that a certain senator—the one that’d tried to kill Shasha’s wife—had introduced. Essentially, the bill that was proposed was one that would give the government free rein of our financials, businesses, and anything else they think might be related to our ‘organized crime.’
“Sure,” I said. “What’s up?”
“The bill was killed before it could get any further,” he said.
“Okay,” I said. “That’s a good thing, right?”
“Yeah.” His cheek twitched. “Only, now they’re saying that I blackmailed them into dropping the bill. That I paid off lobbyists and made them too scared.”
“Well…” I hesitated. “Did you?”
“Well, yeah.” He sighed. “I just don’t want to deal with them shining a microscope on my life again. That’s partially why I encouraged Cutter to marry Milena. More connections means it’s harder for them to pinpoint where to start with their investigating.”
“What exactly do you need me to do?” I asked finally.
“Meet with someone at the prison,” he said. “The one that Copper just got out of. He suggested we talk to his buddy, Slim, who has some information we might find interesting. But I can’t go today because it’s Vivi’s dance recital.”
I didn’t bother arguing.
This worked out well seeing as now I’d have a legitimate excuse to be there. If someone happened to die while I was there, that’s even better…
“I’ll head there around eight in the morning,” I said. “Gets me there at ten for visitation time.”
“Thanks,” he said. “And if you get a feeling that he’s blowing smoke out of his ass, you don’t have to stay.”
I shrugged. “It’s okay. I’ll get whatever he has, then we can sort through it when I get back later. What time will you be done today?”
“The dance recital is at two. So maybe three-thirty-ish.”
I thought about that for a long moment before saying, “I think I might stay down there. I have a buddy that got out a little bit before me that I want to check on.”