Total pages in book: 17
Estimated words: 14425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 72(@200wpm)___ 58(@250wpm)___ 48(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 14425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 72(@200wpm)___ 58(@250wpm)___ 48(@300wpm)
Spending the rest of my night at my desk doesn’t bother me, but my mind drifts to Chelsea. She told me I'd always put the job first because this was my chance to make up for the chaos we caused.
We justified wreaking havoc on this town after our mothers were gunned down in a botched robbery. We were barely fifteen when it happened, but the older we got, the angrier we became. Our mutual grief sparked rage and sent us down a path of revenge.
For at least five years of our lives, we targeted every business that was linked to the assholes who murdered a bunch of innocent people in a store on a random afternoon. We were calculating, sloppy at first, but smartened to the streets quickly.
We were twenty-two years old when the police finally caught up to us. My father pulled some strings to make it go away, to make us go away. I made him a promise to never be a part of the problem terrorizing our town, and I've been a man of my word ever since.
Chelsea, on the other hand, couldn't stand the idea of upholding the law that failed us. Her anger never subsides. It's always there, just under the surface. The last time I saw it unleashed, it was a bloody mess. We caught up to the men who murdered our mothers. Sure, it took us six years, but we found them. They never made it to trial.
I barely feel my eyes close as my mind reminisces on the past. Dreams find me at my desk and stay with me until someone nudges me awake hours later. The sun is up, and it's time to work my case. My first stop is to the hospital to check on Chelsea's father.
Fortunately, Nigel Emerson is awake, but it's uncertain for how long.
"Good morning, Mr. Emerson. How are you feeling?" I ask him while slowly approaching his bedside.
Nigel stirs in discomfort, a bandage around his head and a cast on his arm. "What kind of ridiculous question is that, Victor? My head was kicked in, still throbbing to the point I can barely see out of my left eye. What kind of jeweler will I be with one eye?"
"Still the best in the tri-state area, Mr. Emerson. There's a reason you're still in business after all this time. Which brings me to last night's events."
He grunts and turns away from me. "I can't believe that you were assigned this case. Or did you have your father call in more favors?"
"Jealousy over what other men can do for your daughter is pointless. Especially when everything done was for her own good."
Anger has him clutching the rails of his bed until they vibrate with his fury. "Her own good? You take her on a fucking killing spree and then—"
"I didn't take her anywhere she didn't want to go. But I'm not here to rehash our history, old man. Is there anything you can tell me about the robbers or why they targeted your store?"
He shrugs. "How am I supposed to know? I got hit in the back of the head while I was closing up, waiting for Chelsea. Oh shit, where is she?"
"Chelsea's okay, Mr. Emerson. She walked in on it, but the robbers managed to knock her out before she could do too much damage to them. She left the hospital last night. Why don't you tell me about changing the name of the shop?" I ask him.
"I've been fighting off debt collectors and finally settled a few. I wanted a fresh start." He sighs and avoids my gaze as if he's afraid someone is listening to our conversation. "Francine is a family name."
Whose family name? I wonder.
A nurse interrupts us. "I need to take Mr. Emerson down for a CT scan. Can we finish this later, Detective?"
I nod and move out of the way for the doctor and nurse to work on Chelsea's father. He glares at me as if I'm still the teenage boy desperate for his daughter's attention. I'm not desperate, and I don't have to beg for her attention. Chelsea is mine, and I am hers whenever we choose because we've done things together that not even my brothers on the force will understand.
It's because of this I'm going to look the other way for what's coming. But, I can't do that if Chelsea blatantly breaks the law. I'll have to put down my badge for her if it comes to that. Hopefully, she's more careful than we were in our younger days.
The hospital is quieter than the ideas racing through my mind. The quiet doesn't last long as I head outside, where an ambulance screeches to a halt at the curb.
A squad car pulls up behind it, with two homicide detectives scrambling out of it. The body coming out of the ambulance has EMS workers doing everything they can to revive the patient. It's a bloody mess.