Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
As if sensing my expanding anxiety, Katherine strolls into the office. Captain Adler’s stiff shoulders relax. “Just in time. I was telling Chloe about the assignment.”
Katherine’s icy blue eyes rake over my uniform, evaluating if I’m up for the job. “Do you think you’re ready for this?”
“Yes,” I reply, without missing a beat. Even if Captain Adler would make a better Greedy Girl than me, I’d never let on to my superiors about my insecurities.
I joined the police academy at twenty-one because my cousin, Vin Mills, always made working in law enforcement look so thrilling. He’s a federal agent rockstar, and I idolize him. While I thought about joining the agency too, I wanted to travel my own path in this world, and not follow in his footsteps. So, I signed up for the Saint Pierce Police Academy, and haven’t regretted it since. I always dreamed of helping others in some capacity, so being a cop was the best way to accomplish that goal.
A few years later, I realized I wanted more, to be the one solving the cases and giving the victims closure. Yet, in all those altruistic goals, I never really imagined I’d go undercover. I can’t wait to tell my cousin, Vin about this. He’s always undercover.
Saint Pierce is a town built on tourism. People travel from all over the country to experience its entertaining nightlife—casinos, nightclubs, and Club Greed, our infamous sex club. While we have the occasional reveler who gets boisterous and disorderly, what we’ve never had in Saint Pierce is a serial killer.
Until last week when some psycho started murdering Greedy Girls. It has dominated the news, shocking our thriving city to the core.
Beyond the fear that has settled over the community, there’s Saint Pierce’s livelihood to think about too. We need to solve these crimes before any more girls end up dead and our local economy is on life support because Club Greed closes its doors for good.
You’d think Saint Pierce’s residents would oppose such a salacious business, but there’s no arguing that Club Greed draws members with enormous bank accounts who spend their money around town, enriching the community. The club boasts they make sexual fantasies come true and guarantees anonymity through confidential membership. But an atmosphere that grants such a claim comes at a price, and the current cost is the welfare of the seductive women it employs.
I can only imagine what the job of a Greedy Girl entails, but considering the way Katherine is critically eyeing my body, I think I’ll be discovering firsthand what the patrons expect of a Greedy Girl.
Am I ready for this assignment?
I don’t know.
I should be thrilled. This is an excellent opportunity for my career and for me to make the difference I’ve always wanted to see in the world. Instead, I feel entirely unprepared.
Finn Grant, another homicide detective, enters the room, interrupting my internal turmoil.
He gives me a once over before moving to stand in front of the captain’s desk. “Her?” he asks, sounding appalled as he jabs a thick thumb over his shoulder. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Yes, her,” Captain Adler breathes out in an irritated flurry. “Do I look like I’m kidding?”
I don’t dare speak. I don’t dare breathe. Instead, my eyes ping-pong around the room, taking in the conversation as if I’m some tween on a take-your-kid-to-work day.
Finn prattles on about how I look too innocent, how I have no experience, how his thinning hair has a better chance of regrowing than I do of pulling this off.
“Enough, Finn.” Finally, Katherine commands the room. “She’ll have to do. She’s the only one who can do it.”
I’ll have to do? That’s inspiring.
Finn turns around, staring at me with fire in his eyes. “If she screws up, I won’t be there to have her back.”
Anger emanates from Katherine’s slim frame. “You will have her back, Finn. Because she is now a member of our team. And we always watch after our own.”
My eyes shoot over to the Captain. “Are you sure about this?”
“You’re our only option, Bardot.” He opens a file and pulls out a picture, tapping it with his index finger. “This is Devereaux Huxley, owner of the notorious Club Greed, and a person of interest. Everything points to him. But if he’s not behind this, I’ll bet he knows who is. We just need the evidence to bring him down before anyone else ends up dead.”
I step closer and lean over Captain Adler’s wide metal desk, glancing at the image of the potential suspect.
Wow! For a split second, my breathing is suspended.
I pick up the photo, needing a better look.
A brown-haired man stares back at me. Not exactly what I imagine a murderer to look like. But they say Ted Bundy was a looker too. My gaze travels from his caramel irises to the sharp cheekbones carved on his face before settling on his chiseled jaw. My eyes linger there, noting there’s enough tantalizing scruff present to consider it a full beard before I’m drawn to his perfect lips.