Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 127715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
I jerked in my seat.
“What?” I shouted.
“Unfortunately, my dad caught him after he lit the match. More unfortunately, this for Willie, he tried to get away, Dad took out one of his tires with his shotgun, and Willie lost control of his car and hit a tree. Fortunately, he only has mild whiplash and a sprained wrist. But Dad was able to call 911 and get close to him. Not many people defy the orders of a man holding a shotgun whose barn is burning behind him, and you lit the fire. He didn’t try to make a break for it. The deputies showed. Arrested him. Took him to the hospital. Had him looked at. Then checked him out, and he’s in the cell next to Dern.”
“Oh my God,” I breathed.
“I called the FBI in Seattle. They’re on their way. They took off several hours ago, so they’ll be here soon. I gotta get to the station.”
“Willie burned down your stables,” I said wanly.
“Dad’s fine. Willie’s fine,” Harry assured. “The stables, though, are toast.”
“And your dad had to shoot my ex-husband.”
Yep.
Still talking dispassionately.
Harry grabbed both my hands. “He’s fine, Lillian. And he didn’t shoot Willie, just his tire.”
“Oh my God, what a moron,” I whispered, stunned, embarrassed and pissed, equal measures of all of those, but those measures were overflowing.
“This is the thing,” Harry said after shaking my hands. “He is a moron. He’s fucked right now. So fucked, he’s not going to be unfucked for a very long time. Dad is thrilled. Said it proved he was right to stay there when I fought him on it. He’s been crowing about that since I showed in the middle of the night.”
My lips parted in shock.
Harry kept speaking.
“And we were going to demolish those stables anyway. Now, the insurance can pay us to haul what remains away, and we’ll have extra to build what we wanted to put there. Although my premiums are probably going to go up after all this shit, we still made out good with that.”
I blinked.
“So, Willie kind of did us a favor,” he finished.
“He did you a favor,” I repeated after him.
“More than one. He showed his ass, now I’ve got it in a cell, and we don’t have to worry about his shit anymore.”
There was that.
The Nespresso was finishing its blurting, so Harry said, “I gotta get a move on. You okay to skip Aromacobana today?”
I nodded.
He grinned at me, and I saw it then.
Harry was right as rain and pleased as punch.
Seeing this, I started giggling.
Harry started laughing.
“I cannot wait to tell Ronnie about this,” I said, still laughing. “Can I tell her?”
“Crime will be on the official blotter. It won’t be a secret.”
“What a dope.” And I was still laughing.
Harry kept grinning at me then he came in for an actual kiss on the lips. It didn’t linger (regrettably) because he had stuff to do (understandably).
He pulled away, went to get his coffee and took it into the bathroom with him.
I grabbed my own coffee and took a sip.
Smokey showed and rested his jaw on my thigh.
I stroked his head and told him, “Daddy got a big win last night.”
Smokey’s mouth opened so he could pant, but it made him look like he was grinning.
“I know, it’s awesome,” I shared.
Smokey licked the inside of my forearm.
“Totally,” I agreed.
He kept me company while I drank coffee and only left me to follow Harry to the door after he came into the room ready to roll and gave me another kiss.
“See you later, sweetheart,” he said from the door.
“Later, honey,” I replied.
Harry left for work.
I got up and started my day.
FORTY-FIVE
Go to The Mat
Harry
“Every woman he dated. Every friend he had, though there aren’t many, or ex-friend who got sick of him. Every blood relative. Every relative by marriage. Every bartender he bought a drink from. Every homeless person he roused. Every tweaker he hassled. Every informant we’ve got. We’ve hit them all up, and no one has seen him, they’re too scared of him to say they have, or they’re covering for him,” Rus reported on the latest in trying to find Karl Abernathy. “Wade even went out with Paddy Tremayne to hit up caves and abandoned cabins to see if he’s holed up somewhere. Nothing.”
They’d also searched unlet rentals and second homes that might be unoccupied.
And they got zilch.
It was Friday, nearly a whole week after Willie pulled his stupid stunt.
During that week, the only shakeup was another woman coming in to report that Abernathy had attempted to coerce fellatio, and mercifully, she was one of the ones who told him to go fuck himself.
Dern had found a way to make bail, and he was back home, waiting for the wheels of justice to grind him through.
They’d hauled in the ex-deputies that helped Dern pull his shit and were treated to attitude, bluster, denials, some fear, and a whole lot of “I was just following orders.”