Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69063 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69063 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
“Very little.” Haze pulled into a parking spot in front of Jack’s and parked. He didn’t get out, though. “That’s why I agree with Shasha. You can’t stay at that apartment anymore. It’s too dangerous.”
I waited, trying to digest that news.
“And the lead detective in each case was also murdered as well.” Haze dropped that bomb on me.
“What?” I gasped.
“This case is different, because both John and I are lead on this case. There’s never been two detectives on a case. There’s also never been this long between the first package arriving and the second. Also, the fifth package is the detective’s body delivered on the intended victim’s doorstep.”
I was seriously feeling sick to my stomach.
“How do we know that I didn’t get the second package already?” I asked. “I get a crap ton of them. No joke, seriously.”
“We’re going to have to cross reference all the packages you got with the case files to see if you’ve received any unknown packages that don’t make sense to you, but make sense to the FBI.” He hesitated. “There’s one other thing…I need your help, Shasha. This is why I’m not letting your brother-in-law in on this part.” Haze clenched and unclenched his hands on the steering wheel before saying, “Shasha, I want to help find this bastard. I don’t care what I have to do to make that happen. You want to use my in at the station, I’ll do it. You want to have me rough up some guys, I’ll do it. You want me to arrest someone, I’ll do it. I don’t care what I have to do to make it so that this guy doesn’t kill your sister or me. As long as it helps keep us safe, I’ll fuckin’ rejoice in it. My daughter needs me, because I’m all she has left.”
“You will go to jail,” Shasha said. “If you’re caught. I’m not swinging my neck out there for you.”
“I never expected you to.” Haze turned his angry gaze to meet Shasha’s. “If it keeps my child safe, and the woman that I’m beginning to fall for out of the clutches of a madman, then I’m all for it.”
That was sweet, but also devastating. I couldn’t ask that of him…
“There are probably alternate ways to go about this without having you to jeopardize the oath that you gave…” I started, but Haze stopped me by holding up his hand.
“I’m fairly sure that the man behind all of this is someone with connections. Either a judge or an officer, someone either knows exactly what’s going on and is going out of his way to allow a murderer on the loose, or they’re turning a blind eye. I don’t fucking know. But this is the last goddamn corrupt politician and cop that I deal with. I’m done.” He pulled the keys out of the ignition before declaring, “I’ll stay as long as you want me to stay. Get whatever information you want. I’ll be your detective bitch as long as my kid sleeps peacefully at night, and Nastya doesn’t have to deal with finding me in a box on her doorstep.”
What the fuck, over.
—Text from John to Haze
HAZE
“I gotta go get my kid,” I declared as I stood up. “I’m going to go pack a bag for my daughter and me first, then we’re going to go to a hotel for the night.”
As much as I wanted to stay with the woman that’d been catching and holding my attention since I’d first seen her, I had a kid to protect.
She held up a hand. “You could stay with me.”
“I’m not thinking staying with your brother at his place is the best idea,” I admitted.
Shasha snorted. “They’re not staying with me. They’ll stay at Nastya’s place.”
My confusion must’ve been noticeable because several of the group at the table laughed.
“What?” I asked in confusion.
“The houses that I built after mine, down the street from my own. Those were built as safe houses for my siblings,” he explained.
I frowned. “I thought those were going to be tornado shelters,” I said.
At least, that’d been what they looked like the last time I’d seen them over six months ago.
How exactly had I missed that they’d built houses?
And why the hell wasn’t Nastya staying there?
An obnoxious beep sounded on both of our phones, and I reached for mine as she left hers facedown at the table.
Milena and Maven both growled.
It was Dima who said, “Jesus Christ, Nastya. At least act like you care.”
I glanced at the app and said, “It’s at sixty. You need something other than the rabbit food you fed yourself.”
“I have a honey biscuit in my purse,” Maven offered, reaching in to get it.
“How long has the honey biscuit been in your purse, Maven?” Nastya asked.
“Um, since this morning around eight,” Maven admitted sheepishly.