Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
But then, he was pretty sure they weren’t alone. The killer was likely somewhere in the thicket of trees, watching them. They weren’t the first set of joggers to head down this path this morning. Someone had dumped this woman here very recently. Someone who had known that Devlin was running through the park.
Devlin stopped sharply when he was just a few feet away from the woman. She was most definitely dead. It looked as if she’d been dead for at least several hours judging by the paleness of her skin beneath the dried blood and the bloating of her face. He didn’t recognize her. She looked like she might have been in her late twenties or early thirties, but there wasn’t much he could tell beyond that.
Her clothes were ripped and splattered with mud. The killer had stabbed her several times in the chest, but he couldn’t see any other injuries from where he was standing. Her murder had been cruel and brutal. It was wrong. Why was someone doing this?
His stomach churned as he backpedaled toward the other jogger. The woman’s voice trembled with each word spoken to the 9-1-1 dispatcher. He finally grabbed his own phone and shot off a text to Kai.
Can you come to the park? Found a dead woman on the jogging path.
The text had barely been sent when his phone started vibrating in his hand with a call. He answered it, and Kai’s sharp words hammered against his ear.
“Are you hurt? Have you called the police? Are you alone?” Kai demanded. There was the sound of frantic movement in the background. He wasn’t sure if the man was getting dressed or simply rushing through the house.
“Not hurt. Startled. Shocked,” he admitted, his voice wobbling a little. “I found her when another jogger was near me. She called the police. They’re on their way.”
“Okay. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
“No, it’s okay. I can handle the police.”
“Five. Minutes,” Kai bit out before ending the call. There had been zero room for argument, and Devlin hated to admit that he was very glad for that. He wanted Kai there. This was his domain. He could make sense out of it, because it was all simply beyond Devlin at that point.
Devlin didn’t have much chance to think about it as more joggers happened upon them and the body. People gasped and screamed. Minutes later, the cops arrived. He managed to breathe a sigh of relief when he didn’t immediately recognize any faces.
He and the woman jogger were ushered off to the side where their statements were taken. From the corner of his eye, he could see other uniformed officers cordoning off the area and speaking rapidly into the radios on their shoulders.
“Devlin Relic…why does your name sound familiar?” one of the cops started, and Devlin’s heart stopped. His young face was all scrunched up as he tapped the end of his pencil against his lips.
Devlin bit his tongue, waiting. Was it for the death of his husband? That he had been the chief suspect in Adam’s death. Or—
“Did you report finding a dead body in your bathtub?” the officer asked, his voice loud enough that Devlin could now feel several sets of eyes on him. Wonderful.
“Yes. That was two days ago,” Devlin replied in a low voice, not wanting to drag more attention to him.
“And now you’ve just stumbled across another one? Who has luck like that?”
“Apparently I have really shitty luck.”
“Is this the body that was in your tub?” The cop pointed back to his right in the general direction of the dead woman.
“No. The body in my tub was a blond-haired man. Look, you can’t think I had anything to do with this. She was running just a couple of yards behind me through the park. We found the body together. I didn’t dump the woman here. I’ve never seen her before in my life!”
He knew it was a bad idea to start shouting at the cops and getting defensive, but this entire thing had him completely freaked out. Why was somebody killing people and leaving their bodies for him to find?
“It’s okay, baby. I’m sure no one thinks you had anything to do with it.” Kai’s voice suddenly washed over him, purging the growing sense of panic. There was a sweet concern mixed with staunch defense that was like being wrapped in a warm blanket. He turned to see Kai shrug off the last cop trying to restrain him. The tall man enveloped him in strong arms, pulling him in tight against his chest.
Yes, and maybe for a second Devlin let himself go into full-on damsel in distress, sinking into Kai’s strength. For a moment, he wanted to feel safe and protected. He wanted someone else to deal with this nonsense. He didn’t want to be the grown-up in the room.