Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 49393 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49393 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
We took seats on the black leather couch across from my desk.
“What can you remember about him during your time together? Places he liked to eat, his hobbies, anything.”
“He drank Fireball and Jim Beam, Jack if he could get it. He had worked at a body shop for a while, but he got fired for not showing up. He knew how to charm you, how to make people feel seen. He would’ve been a terrific salesman in another life because he could manipulate you without you ever suspecting. He didn’t have any ambition. Everybody always screwed him over, took his opportunities. Never his fault.”
“I know the type,” I managed, trying to keep from giving in to the instinct to rip his limbs off.
“He only drank beer if somebody else was buying, and then it was Budweiser in a bottle, not draft. He likes meat and potatoes, not drive-thru food. So he’d be at some greasy spoon or diner. Country music, old stuff, Charlie Daniels Band and George Jones, or anything with a cute girl in a crop top shaking her ass. Fast and Furious movies were his favorite, Mob shows where ‘the men were men’, and the women were sexy and submissive or got slapped around if they weren’t.”
She leaned forward, elbows on her knees and held her face in her hands for a second. I rubbed Jasmine’s back in slow circles. “I’m okay,” she mumbled, and sat up, forcing herself through this ordeal, determined.
“Nike shoes and Columbia, any other brand was crap. Roll Tide all the way, no other sports teams except he sometimes watched the Braves baseball games or wrestling. Pepsi or Mountain Dew, sometimes an energy drink. The magazines with big trucks, and girls with big tits in bikinis on the trucks. Everything else had to be American made and southern if possible. He wanted to go to Texas and wanted to try drag-racing but he never talked about any goals or plans.”
“You’ve given me a lot to work with. That kind of information helps us track his movements. What kind of place would he want to stay if he went out of town?”
“Someplace cheap with a bar nearby. He had bad credit and I doubt he’s turned that around since I got away, so anyplace expensive is out,” she said.
“He still has bad credit. I ran a report when I did his background check. He doesn’t have a regular place of employment unless he’s paid in cash.”
“You ran a credit check on him?” she said. “And a criminal background check? I mean beyond the one we do for basic applicants?”
“Absolutely,” I told her with no remorse. “I’d like to do a hell of a lot more than dig up information on him. He doesn’t have an active debit or credit card in his legal name so it’s not possible to track him with his spending. I’ve pulled up his car on some traffic cams, but it’s tedious and inefficient.”
“What neighborhood was he in?”
“He was all over the place. Not in our neighborhood, considering it’s a gated community and the guys all have his photo and license number and everything to be on the lookout for him.”
“Thanks. It’s good to know he’s not tracked me down that completely yet, but he wants me to know he can get to me at any time. He knows where I work and all.”
“Jas, he can’t get to you at all. We’re going to see to that. Did you talk to the cops?”
“Yes,” she swallowed hard. “I told them a lot of details about why and how I left him, how he was obviously watching the firm’s site and applied as soon as a job posting went up. He has no background in this field and did it to target me. The guy I spoke with was pretty nice about it, but with no outstanding warrants on him and no paper trail leading him back to me and any kind of felony, there’s really nothing they can do. I couldn’t even get an order of protection unless I could physically prove he was stalking me.”
“Those are practically worthless anyway. I mean, if they were worth the paper they’re printed on, we would probably be out of a job in a lot of cases,” I said derisively.
“I was disappointed. I felt stupid, like I wasted their time. I am the one who got involved with him and thought I was in love and literally cut my mom and sister out of my life over him. Stupid games get stupid prizes, right? So here I go. I was on borrowed time from the minute I got away. I even told myself it would be worth it. Even if I got one night of sleep on the run, one night where I didn’t have to be scared out of my mind, where I could think straight and feel like me again. But that was a lie. I wanted more. I wanted a whole life away from him, years and years of freedom. I’ve brought trouble to your doorstep, right to the business you’ve worked so long to build.”