Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 133878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
“Because it needs to be changed,” Rye replied, obviously ready to get back to the fight with his sister.
“It was on earlier.” Mel Hughes stepped into the parking lot, and Bay realized their truck wasn’t the last vehicle left. There were two. Mel’s Chevy from like the eighties or something and a big SUV he would bet was Stef Talbot’s. “The lot was well lit when I parked here an hour ago. I had to meet with my friend, Ash. He’s having some trouble with portals opening and needed some advice. Hey, sweetie. I was about to come down and see if you needed some coffee. I hate that Nate has you on nights. You know that’s when the worst alien sightings happen. Ash is worried about an invasion.”
Lord. This was about to take a turn.
“My guys brought me dinner and a big thermos of coffee since I can’t figure out Gemma’s monstrosity. Ash? I haven’t met him. Does he work for the government?” Elisa grinned her father’s way.
Rachel was arguing with her husbands, completely ignoring the deputy and Mel. Brooke was standing beside her sister-in-law.
He wondered where Stef was. That was his Navigator. Had it gotten hit, too?
“Ash and his boy do some work for the government. They’re super soldiers, created and bred for war, but when their galaxy was finally peaceful, the public decided they were too dangerous to live,” Mel explained like all of this was perfectly normal. “He managed to get out with his whole creche, and they’ve been here on Earth for the last several years. Good man. Blends in real well and is always helpful when I need him. Now why are Max and Rye acting like assholes? Beyond Max’s normal level. I heard they kicked Brooke out because they didn’t like her new boyfriends.”
“Not her boyfriends,” Rye said quickly, turning from his wife’s lecture. “They are nothing more than an act of desperation.”
“Desperation?” Brooke asked, her eyes narrowing.
Mel gave him a pat on the shoulder as the Harpers started in again. “Don’t take that unkindly. They’ve been more like Brooke’s daddy than her brothers. You two seem real nice.”
“You had no right,” Brooke declared.
There was a lot going on around him.
“I didn’t notice the lights,” Shane was saying to Elisa. “We got here when it was still light, so they wouldn’t have been on. There were a bunch of cars here then.”
Elisa made a note on her tablet. “It was on earlier when I did a drive-by on my way in. It’s actually two lights, if you notice. They were both fine earlier. We don’t have a big civic workforce taking care of things like streetlights, so whoever’s on duty checks every couple of days. I find it highly suspicious that they stopped working at the same time and right before an act of vandalism.”
“Tell me something, Rye.” The Harper clan ignored the whole police report thing, preferring to do their form of family therapy here and now. Brooke had her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. She was always pretty, even when she was cutting a man down to size. “Why didn’t you get me a chastity belt when I was a kid if you’re so determined I’m going to marry the right person and need to be ready to hand my virginity to him.”
Rye’s jaw straightened, and a stubborn look hit his face. “You didn’t need a chastity belt. Not when we made sure everyone in this town was watching you. Don’t you remember how Teeny and Marie happened to be at the movie theater in Alamosa whenever you were on a date? Or at the Chili’s you thought was too far out for me or Max to follow you?”
That was not going to go the way Rye thought it would. Although Bay would admit he had no idea what Rye thought he was going to get out of this beyond pissing his sister off. He needed to get this thing done so he could figure out how to get them back home. Because the way this was going Brooke might marry them tonight just to piss her brothers off.
“Was anything stolen out of the truck?” Elisa asked as her dad went over to check on his own truck.
Bay had looked through the cab before he’d gone back for Brooke and his brother. “Not that I can find. We didn’t have much in there. We keep our tools in the bunkhouse since we tend to use horses or four wheelers at work.”
“I’m going to go take some pictures and make sure they didn’t hit the other cars,” Elisa said, taking out her phone.
“You had people follow me?” Brooke kind of screeched the question.
“We had people looking out for you, sweetie.” When had Max become the nice one?
“Do you think I made it up?” Shane kept his voice low, his eyes still on Brooke. “Do you honestly believe that I would make shit up to get out of a place I didn’t want to be in?”