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)
Daisy jumped in. “That’s enough, Fallon.”
“Bail should be denied,” Fallon snapped.
“No,” Daisy said. “There shouldn’t be any bail. My client has no criminal history, owns a business in town, and has nowhere to run.”
Judge Kerrick rubbed his temple. The screen wavered slightly. “We don’t have a murder weapon. We don’t have DNA. We don’t have fingerprints. Just the punch, the body location, the policy.”
“Which is already a hell of a lot,” Fallon muttered.
The judge exhaled. “Bail is set at fifty thousand. Ms. Amaruq is to remain within Knife’s Edge and check in daily with one of the three troopers in town. I believe we have two Alaska State Troopers and one Alaska Wildlife Trooper in Knife’s Edge currently?”
“Affirmative, Judge,” Fallon said.
The judge banged the gavel. “It is so ordered. Any further developments and we’ll reconvene immediately.”
The screen faded into gray.
Amka didn’t move.
Daisy stood and nudged her shoulder. “Come on. You’re getting out.”
Amka rose on stiff legs. In the hallway, Christian and Brock stood like sentinels, both furious.
Amos called out from the basement. “This is bullshit. Amka wouldn’t kill anybody.”
Amka paused. She’d never, in her entire life, heard Amos swear. “Thanks, Amos.”
Christian looked like he wanted to tear a hole through the nearest wall. “You okay?” he asked.
She wanted to pour herself right into his chest and let him shield her from the world. But the troopers were watching. “Yes.”
Daisy patted her arm. “They’re going to put you in a cell, and we’ll run to the bank. Don’t worry. Christian and I will figure this out.”
Christian nodded. “I have the fifty grand right now. We’ll take care of it.”
Paige slowly smiled, her trooper hat tilting slightly. “Well now. Isn’t that sweet?”
Chapter 31
The tavern was too warm tonight. After being let out on bail, Amka had returned to work. Where the heck else would she go? She found comfort in her bar. So far, word had not gotten out that she’d been arrested or that Jarod had even been murdered. It was crazy how many secrets could actually be kept in Knife’s Edge. She’d had no clue.
Right now, she would just be grateful she could spend more time in this tavern that she loved so much. Christian had almost kidnapped her and taken her to EVE, but she’d protested, as had the troopers. She was supposed to stay in Knife’s Edge. So she’d come to work while Christian had headed out to interview the last few citizens about the eyeless victims. Dutch had offered to go, but he’d looked exhausted, so Christian had insisted he’d take care of it.
He really did protect his friends. Amka wiped a forearm across her brow and shoved the door to the kitchen closed with her hip. Her legs ached. Not just from her stressful day, but from what Christian had done to her last night and this morning and maybe one more time after that. That man had no off switch. She felt immensely grateful for that fact.
She moved behind the bar, her muscles slow to cooperate, and grabbed the lemon bucket to refill the slices. The bar crowd was light but strange tonight. The kind of strange that upped her anxiety.
On Amka duty, Dutch sat in the far corner with a view of both doors, filling out reports and mumbling to himself.
The door creaked open, bringing with it a gust of cold air and the doctor. May had her blonde hair scraped back in a bun so tight it tugged her eyes wider. Her scrubs were wrinkled and there was a smudge of something, not blood, but close, on the sleeve of her hoodie. Her shoulders slumped, and her shoes scuffed softly as she made her way to the bar.
“I need a shot,” May muttered, voice rough. “Something that will make me forget what a shattered femur looks like. I had to send the Japley kid to Anchorage for surgery. She flipped over a four-wheeler.”
Without hesitation, Amka poured a double shot of rye and set it down without a word.
May took it in one go, hissed through her teeth, and blinked twice. “Okay. That helped.”
“You want food?” Amka asked.
“Later. Maybe. Depends on if my stomach forgives me.” May rubbed her temples. “You look like you got hit by a truck.”
Amka snorted. “Feel like it. A very attractive, heavily armed one.” She really wanted to act normal and share gossip with her friend. To pretend for a moment that she wasn’t out on bail for an actual murder charge. “As in a hot bodied loner with an attitude.”
May cracked a tired grin. “Seriously?” She leaned in, her voice dropping. “You and Christian? Finally?”
“You expected it to happen?” Amka whispered back.
May shrugged narrow shoulders. “It’s the way he watches you when he’s in here. Like he has a bead on you at every second. I was hoping you’d both turn around and see each other.” She wiped a hand down her face. “I’m a romantic, you know.”