Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 68735 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68735 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Not me, though.
And that was okay.
At least, I thought it was.
Once the breaths stopped rattling in the doctor’s lungs, and his chest was still, I said, “Now what?”
“Now we untie him and leave. They’ll assume he did this himself,” Apollo said. “Who wants to ride with me so I can fill them in?”
“You rode in on your bike, you moron.” Audric snorted. “How, exactly, do you think that’s going to work?”
“It’s a joke.” Apollo rolled his eyes. “I’ll meet y’all back at the clubhouse.”
Everyone started to leave but us.
“We’ll be there in a minute,” Audric said. “I need to look through his shit and see if he has anything else that might implicate us in any way.”
I fell into step beside him and we started going through the doctor’s rooms.
We didn’t find anything that would implicate us. But what we did find was a room full of photos and printed maps and locations of women that he’d apparently stalked.
“Who else do you think that he’s targeting this way?” I asked as I moved closer to read the “doctor’s notes” underneath the photos. “Mary, age twenty-five. Victim of sex trafficking. Gets upset easily when you ask her about her sister. Talks in her sleep. Has nightmares that are exacerbated by alcohol.”
“Sick fuck,” Audric murmured as he read the woman’s information that he was closest to. “This looks like all of his stalking victims were his patients. He also learned what they feared the most and exploited it.”
I left the room. “I can’t be in here looking at this anymore.”
“Same,” he murmured as he followed me out, placing his hand on my back to guide me out into the backyard where all the bikes had been left. “This place is about to be a swarm of cop cars once I call this in. Let’s go.”
We wound up back at the clubhouse an hour later with dessert since mostly everyone was full, and sat around the huge table in the clubhouse to discuss what Apollo found.
“First, let’s discuss Goodwin.” He looked at me. “He’s dead, by the way. Let’s celebrate.”
I tilted my head to see him laser focused on me.
“Good,” I said. “I figured, but it would’ve been nice to let him suffer.”
“Dima tried, but he had a weak constitution. He died of a heart attack before he could really get into the meat of it.”
I shook my head, disbelieving that I was smiling.
Yet, there I was with a huge grin on my face.
I was such a sicko.
“In other news, the Combs have gone bankrupt,” he continued. “They no longer have any money to pay a lawyer.”
“Thank Christ,” Audric said. “Would’ve fuckin’ hated to deal with them any longer. Gunner doesn’t need their grief, either.”
“I’m sure they’ll still try, but it’s a lot harder to do anything like that without having money.” Apollo nodded. “Second, sorry to tell you this, but your job is under review by the airline because Dr. Stoker was busy since yesterday. They’re currently putting you on administrative leave pending an investigation. But I’m already working on that. Third, he also decided to move on to another stalking victim. A woman who lost her daughter a couple of weeks ago. Y’all killed him in time, though. He hadn’t gotten too far into her stalking.”
I shook my head.
“There’s more, but I’ll put a halt on it from my side and let this unfold organically since we all got a good look at that wall.” He flicked up his fingers. “I will be calling in a wellness check, though. That way we can get the ball rolling a little faster. I’m not sure the sister won’t clean up after her brother’s mess if we wait for her to call it in.”
Agreed.
“That’s all I have.” Apollo clapped. “Unless y’all want to hear about this bill I’m about to get passed.”
There were groans all around.
But we did all listen as he explained everything that was going on in his life, ending with, “Okay, class dismissed.”
We all left shortly after that, and on the way home, I relished the way it felt to be pressed so close to Audric on our long ride home.
But when we got there, Audric didn’t take me into the house.
Instead, he took me to the porch swing which he sat on and pulled me into his lap.
“Today was one of the worst days of my life,” he said. “When I’d heard they’d taken you…I can’t say that I handled that all that well.”
I pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. “Thanks for fighting for me, Audi.”
“I’d fight the whole goddamn world for you, baby. I’d keep fighting until there wasn’t a single drop of blood left in my body.” He cupped my face. “Kiss me.”
I kissed him.
And kissed him.
And kissed him.
His hands started roaming, and before long, I was naked in his lap, and he was inside of me.