Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 68538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
It wasn’t that Athena didn’t want to talk about Gavrel, but she would start crying, and at least the topic of her sister wouldn’t make her cry at the drop of the hat.
Gavrel’s death was still too fresh. Her sister’s disappearance was a long ago wound that still hurt her, but she could cope with it.
“Your sister went missing?” Garrett asked. “What happened?”
“You know what happened, dummy,” Gable said. “This was the little girl who was playing at a park with a friend, right across the street from the friend’s house. Nice neighborhood, even nicer park. Upper crust of Dallas elite. That was why Gavrel joined the DPD. To help other kids who went missing like his sister did.”
“Oh, yeah.” Garrett winced. “I’m sorry. I should’ve remembered that.”
Athena smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“I’m trying to encourage her to make an app that’ll help her compare old missing persons photos. Ones that’ll transform the kids into what they’d look like today. Then create a database with all kinds of helpful stuff.”
“It’s already been playing out in my head for the last ten minutes.” Athena looked far away. “I have so many ideas.”
I grinned. “Go, friend.”
Athena glanced at me. “I was going to go to the lawyer with you.”
“Yeah,” I said. “But I don’t need a ride anymore.”
“You don’t?” she asked.
“She doesn’t,” Auden replied succinctly.
That hadn’t been what I meant.
“Okay then.” Athena stood up. “It was very nice to meet you all. Thank you for the save back there.”
She pointed at Scott and Sheldon who were still at our old table with our drinks, glaring.
Bruise my esophagus.
—Things you love hearing from your girlfriend
AUDEN
I’d, of course, clocked her the moment we’d come in.
I’d also clocked the douchebag and his asshole sidekick, Sheldon.
When I’d ordered, it’d been my every intention to walk right over there and invite the two women to my table.
Only, just before I’d taken a step in their direction, my eyes had caught on my brother, Gable.
He was looking like he’d seen a ghost.
I’d taken the seat next to him, my brows furrowed, and said, “What’s wrong?”
He shook his head. “Nothing I’m really willing to talk about right now.”
I narrowed my eyes at him as my other brothers finished their orders at the counter, leaving us in relative peace for now.
“Gable,” I said. “I will literally force it out of you.”
He opened his mouth, then closed it, eyes sad. “I have to go back under cover.”
I leaned back in my chair, my hand wrapped around my coffee cup, and said, “You don’t have to do anything.”
He snorted. “I do this time.”
“Why are you saying that?” I pushed.
He opened his mouth and closed it with a click.
He looked torn, like he wanted to talk about it, but didn’t know where to start.
“Let’s just say,” he watched as the rest of our brothers headed our way. “This one time, I really don’t have a choice.”
My fingers clenched onto the coffee cup.
For him to say he had to, it meant that whatever was going on was internal.
“Is it someone we know?” I asked. “You’re going to go under cover for something at the department, aren’t you?”
He nodded once.
“What are y’all over here looking so serious about?” Garrett asked, his K-9 officer, Boss, at his side.
Garrett took a seat, then reached into his pocket and produced a bone, which he promptly handed to Boss.
“Where’d that come from?” Quincy asked as he took a seat.
“The chick at the counter,” he answered. “She thought Boss was cute.”
“Or she thought you were cute,” Quaid said as he took his seat beside Garrett. “Nance doesn’t ever have treats for the dogs. Isn’t that the girl who asked about Boss last time?”
Garrett’s eyes went to the woman behind the counter.
Mine went there, too.
The barista’s name was something that started with a B, but I couldn’t quite remember off the top of my head what it was.
“I remember she laughed at Trance when he asked about something for his K-9 officer.” Quincy chuckled.
I remembered that.
Trance, the man we got our trained K-9 from, had asked if Nance did pup cups like Starbucks did, and Nance had laughed in his face and said, “If you want Starbucks, go to fucking Starbucks.”
“Maybe she does like me.” Garrett batted his eyes.
“Or she wants you to fix a speeding ticket for her,” the man at the table next to us said.
I looked over to see a state trooper sitting there.
“What?” Garrett asked.
“That woman is a menace to society,” the state trooper said. “Bindi. Swear to Christ, I think she gets pulled over every other day. She got me to fix a speeding ticket for her a couple of months ago, and like a dumbass I did. I thought it would at least get me her number. But when I came in and told her I took care of it, she laughed in my face and said she’d never date a cop.”