Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
I zipped my fly and eased the table and chairs back in place before heading over to the stove. I was pleased to see that the pasta wasn’t burnt all to hell and even looked edible. The bread was a little dark around the edges, but after the snack I’d just had, I didn’t mind a bit and doubted Devin would care much either.
When I spotted her coming back into the kitchen, I announced, “The bread burned a little.”
“That’s okay. I like burnt toast.”
“Oh, it’s not like that burnt-to-a-crisp toast you fix for breakfast every morning. This is just a little brown around the edges.”
“Then, it’s not burnt.”
“Well, it’s not ‘not burnt’ either. I was just warning ya.”
“I have two kids, Jameson. I’ll eat stale Doritos and frozen chicken nuggets all day long. I don’t care about toast that’s a little too brown.”
“Noted.” I winced as I said, “But I gotta tell ya, frozen chicken nuggets are a hard no for me.”
“You say that now.” She giggled. “Wait until you have two kids underfoot twenty-four-seven.”
She said it so matter of fact, like she hadn’t just stopped my world from turning on its axis. I considered telling her that I loved her. The words were sitting right there on the tip of my fucking tongue. It wasn’t like I hadn’t said them to her before, but the timing just wasn’t right.
I swallowed hard, hoping it would help the knot in my throat, before saying, “Sounds good to me.”
“Um-hmm.” She gave me a wink. “Why don’t you feed me before your delusions sink in more than they already have?”
“You got it.”
I made us both a plate while Devin poured us both a glass of wine. We decided to go simple and just ate at the bar. When we were done, we cleaned up the dishes and poured another glass of wine. I wasn’t in the mood to watch TV, so I asked, “What about a fire?”
“A fire sounds great.”
I grabbed the bottle of wine, and we made our way outside. Devin set up our chairs while I got the fire started. I threw a few logs into the pit, and it didn’t take long for the fire to engulf them. We sat back and watched the flames dance around.
It was nice.
Peaceful and quiet.
I don’t know how long we’d been sitting there when Devin announced, “I was attacked.”
“What?”
“It was why I quit the force.” Before I could respond, she added, “I made some rookie mistakes that I never should’ve made, and it cost me. It cost my partner, too.”
I didn’t push.
I could tell by the expression on her face that she needed a moment to collect herself and to find the right words, so I sat back and waited. Eventually, she said, “I was close to the end of my shift. We were maybe thirty minutes out when dispatch came over the radio. She said there were complaints about some possible prostitutes in an abandoned mattress warehouse off Fifth. It was late, and I was ready to call it a night. But Cooper answered and said we’d check it out.”
“Cooper?”
“He was my partner at the time. He was a good one, young and eager. And he could make me laugh without even trying.” Her eyes drifted to the fire for a moment, and then, she continued, “Anyway, I didn’t complain. I figured we’d go check it out and be on our way. But the second we pulled up to the place, I got a bad feeling. It was dark and most of the windows were shattered. There were all these old mattresses leaned against the wall and scattered on the floor. It was just a huge mess, and it seemed like no one had been there in months.”
It was hard to stay put.
I wanted to go over and pull her into my arms and hold her.
But I knew her well enough to know that she needed the time and space to get through this on her own. So, that’s what I did, even if it damn near gutted me.
“Then, we spotted this room in the back. The door was locked from the outside, so Coop kicked it down. That’s when we found them. There were seven or eight women lined up against the wall, and they were in bad shape. They were drugged, and their hands and feet were bound to chains secured to the floor. One of them could barely lift her head. The rest were pretty out of it, but this one… She was just a kid, maybe thirteen or fourteen, and when she saw us coming towards her, tears welled up in her eyes like we were her damn salvation.”
It was tough hearing the story. I couldn’t imagine living it. I muttered a curse under my breath as she admitted, “We were both pretty rattled by it, and without thinking, we started cutting them loose. Cooper called it in, but it was too late.”