Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 101872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
“You really didn’t have to,” Opal told him. “I was fine.”
He shrugged. “Needed to make sure.”
“So you were just driving by?” Jake asked. “You didn’t stop?”
“I parked up, but I didn’t get out of my truck. I wasn’t scoping anything out. Or committing a crime.”
“You could say he was protecting the neighborhood.”
Renard snorted. “Don’t care about the neighborhood, Gem, unless it affects you.”
Aww.
So sweet.
“Right. I’m not going to relay that to Mrs. Gingers. I’ll tell her that you were making certain that the neighborhood was safe. She also said she had a run in with you last night when you stopped and swore at her repeatedly. And threatened her.”
“For fucks sake. Didn’t swear at her repeatedly. All I said to her was that she better leave Opal alone. Then I went to check on Opal. She wasn’t home so I tracked her down.”
“Tracked her down?” Jake asked. “You didn’t have her number?”
“I was at the club,” Opal told him. “I didn’t have my phone on me.”
She answered the question without out-and-out lying. Impressive.
When she did that with other people, of course. She wouldn’t be doing that with him.
“We finished here?” Renard asked. “Opal needs to eat and take some more painkillers.”
“Shouldn’t you take her to the doctor?” Alec asked with a frown.
“Will be doing that today.”
“There’s really no point,” Opal said. “It feels better already. By tomorrow it will be all good.”
“Unfortunately, there’s one more complaint,” Jake said.
“For fuck’s sake, that woman needs a hobby,” Renard complained. “What is it that I’ve done now?”
“This one isn’t about you.”
“Tell me,” Opal said tiredly.
“Mrs. Gingers stated that she saw someone carrying a dead body in the middle of the night out of this house. That they dragged it out of the house, down the driveway and into the shed.”
Opal started to laugh and then she groaned in pain.
“That’s it,” Renard snapped. “You all need to leave so I can help Opal.”
“Opal, do you need a break for a moment?” Jake asked in concern.
“No, no. Keep going. Let’s get this craziness over and done with. It wasn’t a dead body; it was a roll of carpet. It’s in the shed. I can show you.”
Jake waved a hand at her. “Stay there. Alec and I will go. Renard can get you some painkillers.”
“There’s a key for the padlock under a rock to the right of the door,” she told them.
They headed out the door and Renard walked over to crouch in front of her. “Scale of one to ten, how bad is the pain?”
“About a three,” she told him.
“So that means it’s more like a six.”
“What makes you say that?” she demanded.
“Because you and me? We’re alike in a lot of ways and if I was in pain, I’d downgrade it too. But you don’t have to do that with me, Gem. Got it?”
“Um, right.”
Sometimes it was scary how well he seemed to be able to read her.
There was a knock on the door before Jake and Alec returned. To her surprise, Renard stayed crouched in front of her.
“Right. All good,” Jake said. “Thanks for your patience, Opal. Sorry to get you up on a Sunday morning. You’ll get her to see one of the Docs, right, Renard?”
“Course I will,” Renard replied darkly. “You wanna have a word with Mrs. Gingers about not wasting everyone’s time with all her complaints?”
“I will be talking to her now.” Jake nodded at them all and left.
“Sorry he dragged you away from your family this morning, Alec,” Opal said.
“Didn’t drag me anywhere, Opal,” Alec replied. “You haven’t been to Sunday lunch in a while.”
“Ahh, no,” she said guiltily. She was always invited yet she hadn’t really made the effort to get out there. Usually she used the excuse that she didn’t have a car, which was pretty weak when Raid and Hannah always offered to pick her up.
“Maybe the two of you would like to come soon.” With that, he gave a nod and left.
Did he . . . had he . . . just invited Renard to Sunday lunch? Which was for family?
“Did he just invite me to a family lunch?” Renard asked.
“Um. Yep,” she replied. “And that’s a big deal.”
Renard scowled. “Not sure I like it.”
She barely refrained from rolling her eyes. Of course he didn’t like it.
“Know what happens, you go to lunch, next thing you know you’re part of the cult. Going to every family get together and there’s a lot because they fucking breed like rabbits. Then all of a sudden, you’re in charge of bringing the egg salad and you can’t get out . . . because there always has to be egg salad and you’re the one bringing it. It’s a set-up.”
“Totally a set-up. I’ve never agreed to bringing the egg salad.”
“You making fun of me, Gem?”
“Ahh, nope. I was totally agreeing with you,” she told him.