Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Rory rubbed her hands on her thighs. She had to start somewhere, and she needed to give him a picture of what it was like at the apartments. “We saw them every day, but we didn’t interact with them other than to say hello. None of us were comfortable being alone with them. In any case, a couple of days after the detective was killed, Dustin Bartlet, one of the men, turned up dead in his apartment. We thought suicide.”
“You sound as if you’re questioning the suicide verdict.”
She hesitated. “I can’t speak about that, not even to you. But it might not have been.”
“Red. Who would I tell? Do you think this place is bugged?”
Rory sighed. “It’s one thing to tell you my secrets, but I’m uncomfortable telling you any of my friends’ secrets. It isn’t necessary, and it has nothing to do with what I’m telling you.”
“Go ahead, sweetheart. We’ll talk about relationships and what the expectation for ours is to be later,” he said.
She hesitated. She was doing the best she could. She thought it was very reasonable not to break a friend’s confidence. Janice hadn’t given the name of her friend, but she’d made it clear that if anyone found out she’d been given the information, her friend could be fired. She asked they not repeat it.
“The point is, I think Dustin was murdered. Then Ret was murdered, and his body was in the garbage chute. That leaves Harvey Matters and Jarrod Flawson alive, and both have disappeared. No one knows where they are. The police seem to be looking for Harvey and Jarrod. A few nights ago, when you were hurt, I took an extra shift at the bar to help out. A man came in and introduced himself as Scott Tinsdale. At first, he hit on me and acted like he wanted to take me out. I told him I was with someone.”
Gideon looked pleased. “I’m happy to hear that.”
“A couple of your friends were in the bar that same night. I was really worried about you because I couldn’t feel you when I reached out to you. At first, I wasn’t paying as much attention as I might have been to the man. Eventually, I started noticing that he wasn’t looking at any of the other women. He watched the exits. He paid attention to my conversations to the point I was sure he was trying to record them. He made me very uneasy.”
“Why didn’t you reach out to one of my friends?”
“I don’t know them. I did ask them to check on you.”
“Yes, and you most likely saved my life,” he conceded. “The bleeding was slow but steady. Thank you for reaching out to them. I know that made you uncomfortable.”
“I didn’t mind since it was on your behalf.”
“But not on your own? Even for your own safety?”
She didn’t have a way to tell him why. She was uneasy around strangers. She knew they would have insisted on walking her home, and she would have been just as awkward with them as she was with Tinsdale. She preferred to rely on herself.
“I didn’t have to close that night, so when I was certain Tinsdale had left, I started home. The fog was thick, and I was extremely worried about you. In fact, I was thinking more about you than about him and where he might be. I should have been more alert. The closer I got to home, the more uneasy I felt, and I thought it was because of you. Then he came out of the fog, and I realized my radar had been going off, and I’d put my warning system down to the wrong thing.”
That envelope in the inside pocket of her jacket was so hot that she swore she felt it burning her skin right through the material of her blouse. What if she was doing the wrong thing, and telling Gideon would get him killed?
“Don’t stop now, Red. I can see it on your face that you’re hesitating again. You’re afraid for me. What did he do? Did he want you to do something for him? Did he threaten you in some way? Who is he?”
“He’s an associate of Harvey’s. That’s my best guess. I don’t know for certain. He told me he wanted me to give Harvey a message. I told him I didn’t know Harvey, I wouldn’t be seeing him, and I didn’t know how to contact him. Nothing I said mattered to him. He was adamant that if I didn’t do it, there would be consequences, and I wouldn’t like them.”
“So, he did threaten you.”
She nodded.
“Javier showed up. I knew you were in trouble. I sent him to you. Doc wasn’t happy with me, but I wouldn’t go under until I knew you were safe. You didn’t tell Javier much.”