Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 141428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
It was strange being here now when she felt so different than the person she’d been when she left.
“Yeah, just feels odd.”
Stein had been sentenced to four years imprisonment. Apparently, Sondra had sold up and moved away. She didn’t blame the other woman, she wouldn’t want to stick around, either.
She was slightly worried about running into Vega. She had mixed feelings toward the other man. He was creepy and a terrible person. Yet, he hadn’t harmed her when he could have. She knew that Hayes had asked Zander to look into him. Zander said he would, but that he wanted them to stay fully out of it.
“Wait, stop!”
He stopped and pulled his truck over. “What? What is it?”
“Aaron’s Café. It’s closed. Why is it closed?” She undid her seatbelt and reached for the door handle.
“Stop!” he barked. “Freeze.”
She froze and gaped at him. “What?”
“What are you doing right now?” he asked.
“I’m, um, oh, I’m opening the door myself.” She winced.
“That’s right, little girl. Are you allowed to open the door yourself?”
“No, Daddy.”
“You wait for me.” He messaged someone, probably Donovan. Shoot. They were supposed to be meeting Gwen, Dominic, Mac, and Silla at the Tavern before it opened and she was making an unscheduled stop.
“Sorry, Daddy.”
She waited for him to come around and open the door. Wrapping his hands around her hips, he lifted her down. Then he took hold of her hand as they headed toward Aaron’s Café.
“Wow, this place looks closed,” Donovan said, walking up to them. “Permanently closed.”
“Oh, it closed a week ago,” someone said from behind them.
She turned around. “Mrs Dearsley!”
“Devi, dear. Oh, look at you! I’ve been so worried about you.” The older woman’s gaze flicked to her cheek then away.
Devi had ended up consulting a plastic surgeon in Bozeman. He was certain that he could significantly improve the appearance of her scar. It would cost a lot but she was under strict orders not to worry about that.
“Thanks, Mrs. Dearsley. I’m good, though. Better than I’ve been in a long time.”
“Thank goodness.”
“What happened to Aaron? And the café?”
“Well, after you left, it just all fell apart. I didn’t realize what an unpleasant man he is. He was so rude to all of his customers that we left and started going to the new coffee cart. Lovely girl operates it, she can’t afford to open a café yet but we think if we all support her that one day she might. Anyway he lost all his regulars and went out of business. I’d feel bad, but like I said, very nasty little man.”
Wow.
Devi couldn’t say that she disagreed with any of her sentiments.
“I’ll see you later, dear. Are you back for good?” Mrs. Dearsley asked.
“Uh, no, I’ve got an exhibition of my pottery this weekend. I’ve come back for that.”
“Oh, how lovely. I better go. Bye!”
“I can’t believe that Aaron went out of business,” she said. “And so quickly.”
“He deserved it. The asshole. Come on, baby. Let’s go.”
They headed back to his truck and they drove to the Tavern. As they walked in, she was hit by a whirlwind. Hayes had to brace her and moved his arm over her injured one to protect it.
“Devi!” Silla cried.
“Silla,” she said, hugging her back with her good arm.
“Oh shit, sorry! Did I hurt you?”
“No, no, I’m good.”
Silla put her hands on her hips and ran her gaze over her. “You look fucking amazing. Whatever the big guy is dishing out, I need me some.”
Oh, dear Lord.
Thankfully, Mac came up to hug her before she could say anything.
“Where’re Gwen and Dominic?” she asked, looking around.
“Not here yet. Michelle said she’d see you tomorrow at her place,” Mac said.
“I have news!” Gwen yelled as she walked into the Tavern.
Dominic shook his head behind her.
“What is it?” she asked. “Is it my brother? Is he all right?”
“Better than all right, babe!” Gwen said. “We found evidence that Detective Brown deleted. Evidence in the form of one text message that lured your brother to the scene of the crime.”
Holy crap.
“W-what?” she asked, feeling dizzy. “Is that . . . is Rohan going to be freed?”
“Oh yes, he is. As soon as the wheels of justice move. Unfortunately, sometimes that’s slow but a few threats here and there will help. I’ll get Reuben to help with that part.”
“Good idea,” Dominic told her.
Devi wasn’t following. “What happened?”
Hayes sat and drew her onto his lap.
“All right, so I didn’t like that Detective Brown,” Gwen told her. “And I really didn’t like the way he treated you. And when I discovered that the person who took charge of your brother’s phone was one Detective Brown, well, I got suspicious. And I started digging, until IA tapped on my shoulder and told me to back off.”
“IA?” she repeated.
“Yep, turns out he was already under investigation and they had evidence that he’d tampered with a number of cases. I handed over what I’d found to them, not that they can likely use that. Two days ago, they pulled him in for questioning and he confessed to several things, including deleting a text message off your brother’s phone. They had their tech guy do a deep search into the phone and history and he managed to retrieve the text message that came from the victim.”