Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103665 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103665 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
“Yeah,” Amka whispered. “I’m sorry, Christian.”
He placed a kiss on her upturned nose. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” Finally, something made sense. “I’ll take care of Jarod.”
“You can’t.” Tears filled her eyes, nearly throwing him into a rage. He kept his expression calm. “Jarod made copies, and if anything happens to him, he has a friend who’ll send the video to the authorities. I don’t much care about me, but I can’t let Flossy go to prison at her age.”
Of course she was worried about Flossy and not herself. “Don’t worry. This is now my problem.” By the time he was done with Jarod, Christian would have all copies of the video. His phone buzzed from inside the cabin, so he stood with her in his arms and strode inside, placing her gently on her feet before grabbing the phone off the table.
She stretched her neck.
He lifted an eyebrow. “Thought you needed to use the bathroom.”
She shrugged. “Nope. I lied.”
Yeah, he had figured. He lifted the phone, finally relaxing now that he knew what the problem was that he needed to fix. Jarod Teller. Easy enough. “What?”
“Are you at your place?” Brock asked.
Brock didn’t sound right. “Yeah. Why?” Christian tensed.
“Tell me Amka is with you.”
How did Brock know that? Why did it matter? “Affirmative. Why?” Christian stressed the word this time.
“Because Jarod Teller’s body was just found in his truck. In Amka’s driveway. You both need to come in. Now.”
Chapter 25
They’d been driving in silence for ten minutes until Amka couldn’t take it any longer. “What else did Brock say?” She settled into the passenger seat of Brock’s truck. No doubt the sheriff wanted it back.
Christian’s hands appeared loose on the steering wheel. His very talented hands. “Just that Jarod’s body was found close to your house.”
“I need clothes,” she said, glancing down.
“We’ll swing by your place on the way.”
Her entire body ached, and not just from plunging into the river. The aftereffects of last night still tingled across her skin. Christian had been amazing, and he’d actually looked surprised that morning when she brought him coffee. She wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but she hadn’t had the courage to ask.
They reached the end of her driveway, and Christian slowed the vehicle.
Amka’s mouth dropped open at the sight of the yellow crime scene tape stretched across the long drive leading to her house. “More yellow tape.” The tape around the burned building next to the tavern was finally gone.
Dutch walked out of the trees on the far side, his gaze sharp and serious as he moved toward the SUV, looking natural in his uniform.
She rolled down her window. “Dutch, why is there a crime scene—?” Her attention caught on a vehicle farther down the road. The front end peeked out before the turn that led up to her house. Her stomach flipped. “Oh my God. Is that Jarod’s truck?” It was a battered, yellow old Datsun. No mistaking it.
“I can’t really tell you anything,” Dutch said, gaze shifting to Christian. “We’re not on the case. I’ve just been asked to secure the scene until the forensics team gets here from Anchorage. Supposedly they’re on the next flight.”
Christian sat back. “How bad?”
“Can’t talk about it. We need to separate this from your work with the AWT right now.” Dutch flicked a glance at the oversized shirt covering most of Amka.
Her bare thighs chilled. “Can I go inside really quickly? I need clothes.” Heat flushed into her face. She’d obviously spent the night with Christian.
Dutch winced. “I’m sorry, darlin’, but you can’t go inside the house.”
She stilled. “Was Jarod killed in my house?”
“We don’t know. His body was found in the truck.” Dutch planted a hand on the door. “I’m not supposed to talk to you about this. But be smart. Tons of folks saw you punch Teller at the bar, and I also had to report finding you and the doctor falling out of the guy’s crappy duplex. You really do need to go to town and speak with the troopers. This is their case, not Brock’s.”
Christian asked, his voice a low rumble, “No?”
“No. The troopers are in town, and I think it’d be best if outsiders handled this. Not that they’re going to give Brock a choice. Now isn’t the time to fight for the right to have a sheriff.” Dutch sighed. “Trust me, they ain’t happy about that situation.”
“I don’t care,” Christian said. “We’ve always had a sheriff here and usually we’ve stayed out of the troopers’ way.”
Dutch straightened. “I agree. So let’s continue doing that so we can keep Brock as your sheriff, because the town needs him.”
This was too much. How could Jarod have died in his truck right in front of her house? Had he gone inside? He had never cared about boundaries, so it was possible. What if he’d been killed in her home? Amka looked over at Christian. “We should probably get going if they’re waiting for us.”