Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44998 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44998 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
“Dinner sounds good. I vote for tacos with lots of salsa and guacamole, thanks.” I ignore the part about Damien as well as the curious look Jay shoots my way.
“Trouble in paradise?” His tone is more sympathetic, which pisses me off for some reason.
“No,” I sigh. “I don’t know. Maybe I need to find another place to stay.” We’re not even in the living together state to already be living together.
“He has other houses he can go to,” Jay says. “He made the offer and it’s better to keep you there than take men off the street to watch after you.”
All good points. “Right.” I shake my head. “Forget about it. I’ll make it work.” I have to. The last thing I want is for the citizens of my city to be left unprotected simply because I’m having a something with my boyfriend. Is he even my boyfriend or just a man I’m sleeping with? “Go. Do your thing that you’re being super secretive about. I’ll dig into how our victims spent their money.”
Jay waves a hand to signal his agreement.
I stand and grab my blazer off the back of my wobbly desk chair. “Hey.”
Jay stops at the door and turns slowly, one brow lifting higher than the other. “Yeah?”
“You good? I mean you have a doctor’s appointment, right?” My heart constricts because I know the only reason Jay is going to a doctor is because something is wrong.
“Did I say doctor’s appointment?”
“No,” I sigh and narrow my gaze at him. “But you’re being squirrely.”
“Or maybe it’s none of your business, kid.”
“Maybe,” I concede even though that hurts. “Or maybe I don’t want to be blindsided by someone else I love leaving me.” I turn away because I don’t want him to see how worried I am.
“Shit, Frankie. I didn’t mean it like that.”
I sneakily wipe my eyes and turn back to him with a blank expression. “Don’t worry about it, Jay. You’re right, it’s none of my business.”
“Frankie,” he begins again but I don’t want to hear it.
“It’s fine. I need to go.” I brush past him and head out of the precinct, walking fast to get some distance from my emotions. The city’s hustle and bustle help shake off the feeling that I’m being ridiculous over a guy.
I make my way to the courthouse to get a subpoena for the victims’ financial records. It’ll keep me busy and distract me from the fact that Damien avoids coming home just to stay away from me. And then there’s Jay—he’s got something on his mind but won’t share, which is his choice, but it still stings.
The case is frustrating; we’re no closer to catching the killer than we were after the first body. But as the minutes go by, I focus on the work.
Not Damien and the things he said to me, the way he made me feel up in Napa. I told him I loved him—something I meant but maybe shouldn’t have said. His reaction was a clear “no fucking thanks.” He doesn’t want my love, and that’s fine. I’m not the type to force my feelings on someone who doesn’t want them.
I’ll keep my feelings in check and enjoy whatever time we have left. No more, no less.
Even back at the penthouse I manage not to stress about the fact that Damien doesn’t come home—again—and instead, pore over the details of the case. I’m desperate to find a thread that ties them together in some way because it’s going to be that little string that leads us to their killer.
When the sun rises on another day, I don’t feel any better about anything, but I put on a good mask and head into the office, ready to get back to work.
“Morning,” Jay mumbles when I walk into our new temporary office space.
I feel his gaze on mine, wondering if I’m still upset about yesterday but I don’t give an inch. “Good morning.” I sound unusually chipper as I unload the files I printed last night. “I think we ought to brainstorm with Amelia and Nate about the victims. Clearly, we need more heads on this.”
Jay’s brows pull into a frown. “Yeah? Because I was thinking that maybe we take a break for a few hours and focus on the cameras found at your place. Maybe if we can trace them or figure out who did that, it might get us closer to the killer.”
“If it’s the killer and not just some nutjob who’s been following the murders on the news.” The local news has made me the face of the investigation, so every wannabe sleuth has someone to fixate on. I stop what I’m doing and look at Jay. “Have you found anything traceable?”
“No,” he grunts. “Not one goddamn thing. Whoever did it is good. Really good.”
“Just like the killer,” I mumble. “The killer isn’t coming after me, he just wants me scared so I think we should focus on victimology. Amelia or Nate might have some insight. Chris did.”