Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34168 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34168 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
“There’s a listening device in the rooms,” I whisper, scooping up my messenger bag from my desk on the way out of the office area to the exit.
All eyes are on us and one of my female coworkers mutters, “Lucky.” I give her a wink and then lead him away from the nosy bastards here.
The office is a small two-floor building, but the second floor is more of the boss’s apartment and storage and not actual office space.
“I don’t doubt it. Maybe we should talk in my vehicle. I don’t know if your vehicle is monitored.” I don’t take offense to it because he has a reputation to uphold.
“Okay.” I follow him and climb into the passenger seat. Bringing out my notepad and pen, I sit and wait for him to break down his plan. He turns on the engine and the heat because it’s a cool fall day. The temps have already started to drop and we’re just near the mountains so we have a nice cold winter approaching.
“Okay. So here it is. I’m in love with a woman, but I need to have surgery, and I’m not ready to claim her yet.” I’ll keep those thoughts to myself, but that growling sound he let out would make one hell of a story. “I’m worried about her safety twenty-four seven. I know she has a lot of men around to protect her, but that doesn’t ease my mind.” Of course not. An available woman around a bunch of men capable of protecting her also means capable of wooing her.
“Yes. What would you like me to do?” I ask the most important question. There are a lot of lines I won’t cross no matter who it’s for, celebrity or not.
He grips the steering wheel tightly and then lets it go before taking a deep breath and turning back to me. “Keep an eye on her. Follow as much as you can and report back to me. Once I’m healed, I’ll go get her myself.”
“Does she have a restraining order against you?” I have to ask because there’s no way I’ll be a part of something I know too much about. No woman needs a stalker that they can’t get rid of.
“No. No fucking way.” He throws his head back as if he’s been slapped hard.
“It’s not meant to be offensive. I just need to know these things.”
“If I had a restraining order against me, it would be all over the internet.”
Nodding, I tap my pen on my notepad, eager to get all the necessary details. “I understand. It’s still a concern. Where is she located?”
“Sammie’s living in a small town in Texas called Steeleville. It’s like all small towns; the people there all tend to know one another, but if you stay under the radar and appear to be new in town no one will be the wiser, especially because you’re a female.”
It explains why he wanted a woman, but we have two others besides me and they have so much more years on the job than me. “Why me? Wouldn’t you want someone with more experience?” Or any experience at all.
His eyes are shrewd as they scan the surroundings. “No. I want someone who can blend in. You don’t have that hardened cop look that most PI’s have, and you’re young.”
“You seem nervous,” I remarked, catching him looking at a parked car adjacent to us multiple times in the past few minutes.
“My image made the papers for all the wrong reasons, and I don’t want anyone seeing us together.” It makes sense considering if an image gets out my cover’s already blown.
“We should have taken the meeting inside. Still, I’ll do it, but we should wrap this up before Richter gets a little too nosy and comes looking for me.”
He snarls toward the doorway of the Richter’s building. “I could belt that fucker if I wasn’t worried about a lawsuit.”
I let out a giggle. “Or murder charges. You’d annihilate him.”
“Thanks.” He smiles that killer smile that causes most females to lose their heads.
“So the details?” I ask, getting back on track.
“I’ll pay for your apartment for the next two months. It’s a month-to-month lease already in the works.” I make my notes frantically as he tells me about the motorcycle club in town that has some trouble, but everyone there is a former serviceman or buddy of theirs, so they’re the good guys or that’s the impression that they give off. I doubt it though.
“She works at the movie theater in town as the manager, so most days she’s working, but it’s the times that she’s off that I’ll worry. Her brother’s a doctor and always busy, leaving her alone too often. Coincidentally enough, he’s after my sister as well.” He huffs at that part which I do my best to hold in the laughter at the irony of his annoyance.