Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 51744 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51744 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
“Did you choose Arizona?”
“No, he did. He knew Chance hated the heat.”
“Jeez…” I shake my head. I don’t know what to feel. Numbness. Shock. Anger. Betrayal. Sadness. Disappointment. “I have to go to bed.”
“Not yet. You have to know everything.”
“What the hell else is there?” I rub at my temples, trying to ease the ache, wondering if I’m going to upchuck tonight’s expensive dinner all over my living room floor.
“He had the two of you watched, and he chose the day we had to leave.”
“Right, you said that—” I drop my jaw. “Oh. My. God. He knew. He fucking knew! He knew Chance and I made love. He waited for me to give his son my virginity, and then he took him away from me!” I rise then, pace across the worn carpeting. “He truly was evil.”
“He was, sweetheart.” Mom wrings her hands. “And I’m so sorry for my part in all of this.”
She could have told me the truth at any point in the last fifteen years. Even last week, when I told her I had to go back to Bayfield for a case. Yet, she didn’t. Not once.
I walk to my bedroom and cry myself to sleep.
I jerk when my phone buzzes on the table in front of me with a text message.
“Sorry,” I mumble.
“It’s okay, Marsh,” McGuinness says. “We’re done here. Good job, both of you.”
I look at my phone.
Where are you, kitten?
Chance.
I can’t help myself..
I melt.
26
CHANCE
* * *
I pull into a loading zone in front of the FBI building downtown. I hop out.
Austin takes my seat. “Call when you’re done and we’ll swing back to get you both.”
He’s optimistic to think I might be able to toss Avery over my shoulder and drag her out of a federal building full of law enforcement officers and then fly her out of state on a private plane. I don’t think it’ll be that easy, but I like his hope.
“Want us to grab you a burger?” he calls.
I turn on the sidewalk as I set my Stetson back on my head. Sadie mentioned a great fast-food place that had amazing burgers, stacked two, three, or even four high on a bun. While it’s something to try, we aren’t in town for the hamburgers. At least I’m not.
“I’m good. I’ll keep you updated.”
He nods, Miles offers a finger salute through the closed window, and they’re off.
I stop at the security desk and ask for Avery. Maybe I should have called. Before I left Montana. But my goal isn’t changing. I’ll find her wherever. As the man calls somewhere in the building, I text her.
Where are you, kitten?
She texts back right away.
At work.
Good. I’m in the lobby.
I see the three dots moving, but then they stop.
“She’ll be down in a minute,” the security man tells me.
I nod, walk away from security, and lean against the wall near a potted cactus.
Five minutes later, Avery approaches from a bank of elevators beyond the security stiles.
Fuck, she’s pretty in her corporate skirt and blouse. Heels, too. Her legs are long and lean and perfect. I remember how they feel around my waist.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, a smile on her face as she comes into my arms. She’s surprised, but not upset.
She lets me kiss her in the lobby of an FBI building. Not how I want to, with a lot of tongue and roaming hands, but anytime her lips are on mine is a win.
I brush my nose with hers and murmur, “I’m here for you, kitten. We have things to talk about.”
I cup her hip with one hand, stroke her hair with the other. Fuck, she is so pretty. I tell her so.
She blushes and glances around. “Come on.” She snags my hand.
After giving the security man my ID and getting a sticker pass that I slap on my shirt, Avery leads me through the security area and to the elevators. Once inside, she pushes the third-floor button.
She stands beside me, although we’re not touching. She tips her head toward an obvious camera. Ah. So that’s why we’re not making out right now.
Once the doors slide open, she leads me through an open-concept office area. It’s a vast space of desks, most manned by people working on computers or talking on the phone.
“This isn’t like the movies,” I say.
She glances over her shoulder at me with a smile. “You expected a shootout?”
“Isn’t Arizona where the O.K. Corral was?”
She laughs as she swipes her badge to unlock a door, then holds it open for me. It’s my job to do that for my woman, but I’ll let it slide here at her place of work.
“It is, but a few hours away by car. Want to play tourist?”
“Too fucking hot,” I reply. The building is blissfully cold. Thank fuck.
“I do miss Montana weather,” she replies. “Summers are incredible there.”