Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Keane’s hand tightened on hers, and she knew she was going to need way more stress relief than she counted on.
Chapter Ten
Keane frowned as the deputies pulled up to the charming building that housed the business offices of Barnes and Fleetwood. He knew Jack Barnes had an office back at the big ranch house, but this was where Olivia worked and met clients and suppliers. This was where she spent a lot of her time.
And it had been lit on fire.
She stared up at the ruined building with a look he’d seen before in foster kids who couldn’t quite believe what was happening to them.
Garrett stepped up, taking his place on the other side of Olivia before turning to the police deputies. “What do we know about what happened last night? I assume there’s a security system in place.”
Olivia’s eyes closed as if she was in pain. “It went out the day before the wedding. We’re getting a new one installed on Wednesday. Well, we were. Have you called my father?”
“You’re the contact when it comes to this building,” the deputy said. “From what I hear your parents are on some kind of vacation, and the sheriff doesn’t want to bother Jack. He was real certain of that. He said you’re technically the name on the insurance, so we should go through you.”
She nodded. “Good. I don’t want to have to bother my parents. How bad is the damage?”
It looked pretty bad. The building was standing, but the second-floor windows had been blown out.
“You can go in if you’re careful, but I wouldn’t go upstairs,” the deputy replied.
“All the important things are upstairs.” Her hand slipped into his.
He squeezed it to let her know he was there. “Your records are on the second floor?”
She nodded. “I have most of them on my laptop, but there are older records that are…were only on paper. And there’s a desktop with a lot of information. My dad doesn’t trust the cloud. I think he actually believes it’s a cloud. I’ve never been able to fully explain it to him.”
“Do you have a preliminary report?” Garrett asked. He was in sweats and a T-shirt and sneakers, but he was fully in attorney mode. He handled the police back at the ranch, convincing them she needed to see the damage for herself.
The deputy nodded. “Yeah. We think this happened in the early morning hours. The fire department got the call at four a.m. We attempted to call you.”
She winced. “I left my phone at my place and stayed in the main house. I’m sorry. I should have had it.”
The deputy looked at Keane and then Garrett and slowly said, “Well, it’s obvious you were busy.”
Keane felt a flash of anger go through him. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Garrett stepped between the two of them. “Deputy, could we keep this professional? If you can’t handle treating a woman with some modicum of respect, then we’ll need to call in Mr. Barnes.”
The deputy’s face screwed up. “What does that word mean?”
His fellow deputy was a woman who looked to be in her late twenties/early thirties, and she rolled her dark eyes. “Sorry. He’s not into things like vocabulary or words, really, unless they’re insulting. Gil, why don’t you go get us some coffee and I’ll handle this.”
“Ain’t gotta use big words. Makes a man feel small,” he muttered as he walked off.
The deputy turned to Olivia. “Liv, I’m sorry. I got here as fast as I could. My shift didn’t start until eight. Are you okay? No one was in there.”
Olivia gave her a wan smile. “I’m okay, though I will have to call my dad. Hopefully he won’t feel like he has to come back. He and Mom and Papa are having some quiet time. Kelly, this is Garrett Pace. He’s an attorney with our company, and Keane Rollins. He’s the foreman out at Aidan, Lexi, and Lucas’s ranch.”
The deputy smiled, and the whole world seemed to have decompressed. She held out a hand. “I’m Deputy Kelly Morgan. Livie and I went to high school together.”
“Her mom managed the resort’s restaurants,” Olivia explained.
Kelly grinned. “Oh, the good old days. I grew up on a lifestyle resort, though my mother was firmly asexual by that time. She always wished she didn’t need a dick to make her happy since she typically picked the meanest dick she could find. How was the wedding? I was so sorry to miss it.”
Olivia reached out a hand. “It was lovely, but how is your mom?”
“Better since yours sent out some of her favorite soup. They got the tumor and now she’s got radiation therapy, but she’s going to be okay.” The deputy looked Keane’s way. “My mother has breast cancer that might have taken her out if Abby hadn’t gone with her to the doctor. She said she didn’t need a mammogram, but turns out she did. It’s going to be okay, but I wish she hadn’t had surgery when there was a spectacular wedding to go to. I heard you had trouble last night. Lola was down at the station this morning complaining about unfair treatment.”