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)
He had to go on carefully, but he’d already learned this was Lillian Rainier. Simon and Avery had raised a strong, smart, loving girl who could take some serious licks.
So he went on.
“But then we get those days we can give answers to people who need them and justice for people who deserve it. There isn’t a job out there that doesn’t come with some heavy, Lilly. Maybe mine is heavier some days, but in the end, it’s worth it.”
She had that look on her face again, the one she wore that morning, and he thought it was about what he’d just said, and perhaps it was.
But there was more.
“You gave me more than a thermostat today, Harry,” she noted.
He did.
She had a new doorbell with a camera and there was also a camera on the side door that led to the backyard from her garage.
“It’s basic safety these days, sweetheart.”
It was the truth, but there was more.
She knew there was more because she cocked her head.
“And I’m not taking any chances,” Harry continued. “I know Ronetta comes and goes as she pleases, but I’m going to ask you to lock your doors when you’re home from now on. You should do it anyway. I just want to be careful. I can get you new locks so Ronetta and George, and anyone you want can get in with just a fingerprint.”
“That might be kinda fun,” she replied.
He was glad she was going to look at it that way.
The kettle whistled and she slid out of his hold to go get some mugs and a box of tea.
After she’d set everything up and poured the water, she handed him a mug.
“Peppermint,” she explained. “The massage therapist told me I had some crazy knots in my muscles, and I might get a little nauseous because she released some toxins. She wasn’t wrong. I feel kind of queasy. Mint helps.”
“You got Epsom salts?” he asked.
She shook her head, cautiously sipping, then she said, “Wait. Someone sent a basket of bath stuff after they heard about Mom and Dad. I think there were some salts in that.”
“I’ll draw you a bath, put in the salts. They leech out the toxins, and it’ll help you relax.”
As answer, she slid her fingers up into his hair and put pressure on his scalp, but Harry didn’t make her try too hard to bend his neck as she came up on her toes and pressed her mouth tight to his.
Harry initiated tongue, Lillian instantly responded, but this wasn’t one of their kisses that fed their fire.
It was thorough, but languid and sweet.
Lillian had had a good day surrounded by family and people who cared. She’d had a massage, and that, coupled with a hot bath, would hopefully help her sleep, and that was what Harry wanted for her.
So this kiss was about intimacy, closeness, togetherness.
This was one of the many types of kisses they’d share thousands of over the decades. A late-evening lazy kiss that said everything, but didn’t have to lead to anything.
Harry absolutely wanted to guide their relationship to the next level.
But right now, this was precisely what both of them needed.
And this was what they had.
Later, while Lillian was in the bath, Harry had the game on and his dogs around him.
And he found he actually liked peppermint tea.
THIRTY-FIVE
See Clear
Harry
Early the next afternoon, Harry was returning to the station from talking to the staff at the bookkeeping firm where Cheryl Ballard worked.
She hadn’t called in sick that day, she was just a no-show, and her boss and co-workers were getting worried about law enforcement visits and Cheryl’s continued absence.
Harry made it worse, because the sheriff coming to call was a strengthening sign things were really not good.
He’d learned what Sean had learned when he’d come out days earlier.
Cheryl Ballard was liked. She was a good employee. Dependable, normally.
Though, one woman who Harry deemed as closer to Cheryl than the others, and as such, she was someone who was cottoning on to the situation, shared Cheryl had very bad taste in men.
This wasn’t news to Harry, and it, along with everything else they weren’t getting meant they were no closer to anything on any of what they were investigating.
The cops in Idaho hadn’t found Sonny’s purse or Avery’s wallet.
Jason and Jesse had been poking around, but along with their inquiries, and those of the police in Coeur d’Alene, they’d been unable to find anyone other than the motel owners who remembered them. Jason and Jesse decided that well had run dry and they were going to return to help dig into things in MP.
No word from the Dietrichs.
Because of this, Rus started putting more pressure on the son in DC, and in return Gerald Jr. started getting nasty, claiming police harassment and throwing barbs “because I know how you all work in Fret County.”