Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 72715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
An hour after Jake’s departure, Brianne drew a deep breath and walked into Marina Brown’s hospital room. The uniformed cop hadn’t given her a hard time, other than to check her hospital badge against hospital records. Mentioning Jake Lowell’s name hadn’t hurt her cause, either.
“Hello?” Brianne called to the woman curled into a fetal position in the bed.
“Hi.” The girl pushed herself up against the white pillows. “Are you another one of the Social Service people?”
Brianne shook her head. “No. I’m…” She swallowed hard. “My name is Brianne Nelson and I need your help.”
Brianne figured if she heard Marina’s story and discovered how the young woman had gotten drugs from The Eclectic Eatery, perhaps Brianne could attempt to do the same thing herself. It would take some doing, and she’d have to ditch her private investigator, but she’d manage. She’d worked in the hospital for years and knew every back alley and door. She could lose her tail easily. If she could actually get possession of drugs, she could prove the restaurant was the supplier, something Jake said the police had yet to do. After that, the cops could link the restaurant to Ramirez and put him away.
And Brianne would have taken the first step in getting the drug-dealing criminal out of their lives. She didn’t think she was smarter than New York’s finest, she just needed to take back her life and her future. Ramirez had intentionally and nefariously stolen her freedom, while Jake’s behavior—despite the best of intentions—had taken away her control. But between them they had brought back her worst childhood fears. The adult Brianne had to conquer them.
Fifteen minutes later, after an honest exchange with the young woman and a promise to visit tomorrow, Brianne had the general means by which to order drugs from The Eclectic Eatery. She just had no way of knowing which item on the extensive menu was the key. But she’d figure it out.
Brianne rubbed her palms up and down her forearms, then glanced back at the door, behind which the young girl lay with an IV in her arm. She also had a dead boyfriend.
Brianne refused ever to be in that same position. She wouldn’t let anything happen to Jake.
* * *
“You involved a goddamned civilian,” Lieutenant Thompson said in a low growl, eyeing Jake with fury in his eyes.
“Not intentionally, sir.” Jake remained standing before his superior, and waited for the smoke to clear and the older man’s anger to blow over.
Thompson’s face reddened and he kicked a metal garbage pail across the room and into the wall. Obviously the storm wouldn’t end anytime soon. Jake didn’t blame Thompson for wanting a piece of him. At the moment, he’d like to rip a piece of his own hide as well—for not leveling with Brianne the minute he’d realized Ramirez was tailing her.
But that was hindsight.
Now he acknowledged that Brianne was the strongest woman he knew. She’d overcome her past and raised her brother, and if she’d experienced a resurgence of any anxiety, she knew how to handle it. She’d proven that to him this morning. But at the time he’d realized Ramirez was watching her, Jake hadn’t known how she would react; keeping her in the dark had seemed the best means of protection.
But he had another reason for remaining silent—one he didn’t like admitting. The truth was that he hadn’t wanted to give Brianne the chance to turn him away. She hadn’t done it yet but she still might. It was something he wasn’t ready to contemplate.
“You questioned a goddamn police witness while officially off duty,” Thompson snarled.
“I didn’t question her, sir. We had a friendly conversation.”
“Friendly, my ass,” he muttered. “And your shoulder?”
“Hurts some.”
“I don’t care how it feels. Is it operational?”
“Close enough.” Jake winced as the lieutenant took another shot at the garbage pail. “Did you ever play soccer, Lieutenant?”
The older man scowled. “I don’t even want to know the reason you held out on me.”
Jake let out a groan and lowered himself into a chair by the desk. He might as well admit to the lieutenant that disillusionment had bit his sorry behind. “Ever since Frank died…” Jake began.
Thompson waved a hand in dismissal. “I said I don’t want to know. Not until this is over and Ramirez is behind bars. For now, get your ass into the physician’s office and get yourself certified as fit.”
Jake nodded, knowing he had no choice if he wanted in on the official end of busting Ramirez.
“Do I know everything now?” the lieutenant asked.
“Yes, sir.” Everything but the fact that Brianne was more than his physical therapist. If the lieutenant knew things were personal—and they were damn personal—he’d be even more furious than he already was.
This morning, she’d accepted him for who he was, cop and all. No woman had ever done that for him, not even the one he’d married. Jake hadn’t expected the gift from Brianne, not in light of her past, and certainly not after she’d discovered his betrayal. She’d deserved better from him.