Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 127715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
But Lillian took it from him, she cuddled with him, she fed him, she made him laugh.
She didn’t erase it, but by damn, she sure as hell made it better.
He hadn’t walked into this station feeling this unburdened since he lost his wife.
Two dates (or, he smiled to himself, in Lillian’s estimation, four) and she gave him that.
Oh yeah, they were exploring this because she wasn’t just gorgeous, soft, generous, a great cook with fantastic taste in movies and television who was strong and smart and tasted fantastic.
She didn’t get loaded down with his job.
In the days before Winnie, he’d dated, and he’d done it while he was a deputy. He’d had colleagues share it took a certain kind of woman to marry a dedicated cop. And he’d learned that quickly when his job got in the way of him paying attention to them.
It was early days with Lillian, but she didn’t throw a fit when he showed way later than they expected, and she’d noticed immediately the toll that crash had taken on him, and she set about doing something about it.
So yeah, fuck yeah, he hadn’t felt this unencumbered coming to work for years.
And he fucking liked it.
So yeah again.
They were going to explore this.
To the fullest.
He shrugged off his jacket, hung it on a hook, settled behind his desk, turned on his computer, and Polly strolled in with his Aromacobana.
“Just so you know, I have to pay attention to catch you coming in, and then I have to bring you your coffee in your office,” she griped in a roundabout way about the sign in the front being gone and Harry now parking out back.
“You used to watch for me to show out front, met me at reception, and now, I walk right by your office, and it’s right next to mine,” he pointed out, and added, “I’ve also told you repeatedly you don’t have to buy me a coffee, but if you insist on doing it, I could just walk into your office and get it so you don’t have to walk to mine.”
“If I don’t go to the front, I can’t look over the boys and girls and make sure they’re getting themselves settled and taking care of business,” she retorted.
He usually arrived around morning shift change, and Polly was always in first, so he saw she’d want to do this, because Polly kept her finger on all of their pulses.
He should have known there was a method to her madness.
Even so.
“I’m not putting the sign back up,” he warned.
She rolled her eyes.
Rus showed at the door carrying his own Aromacobana cup.
“Hey, Pol,” he greeted her.
“Heya, Rus,” she replied, then sashayed out.
Rus’s attention came to Harry. “Know you just got in but wanted to know if you saw that file on Clifford Ballard.”
Harry motioned for him to come in, Rus did and sat opposite Harry as Harry pulled out the file.
“At the time Ballard died, his mother came in and had a dustup with Dern. She left, shouting that he was a piece of dirt,” Harry told him, plopping the case file between them.
“You good with me poking around?”
Rus was ex-FBI, just like Cade. But whereas Cade was a profiler, Rus had been a field agent, and a celebrated one. He hunted down the Crystal Killer, aka Richard Sandusky, even if, in the end, the man had essentially turned himself in.
During this, Rus had fallen for a local, so he left that life and started a new one in MP.
One could say, even if there was always someone doing some punk-ass shit in every corner of the country, things were a good deal quieter and less challenging in Fret County than working for the FBI.
In other words, Rus needed something to sink his teeth into, and he was raring to do it with the Ballard case.
“I’d start with his mom and then retrace Dern’s steps with the friends who reported Ballard was showing signs of depression,” Harry suggested. “Those read hinky to me.”
Rus reached for the file. “They read the same to me.”
“Also, if you got time, sniff around the Dietrichs.”
Rus angled his head in question. “The Idaho bodies?”
“I don’t know, but my gut tells me yes, and if it is a yes, I want to hit the ground running.”
“’Spect you know, the station and the entire town are talking,” Rus reported, referring to Lillian.
And that was Rus.
He didn’t get up in Harry’s business. But he’d be right there if Harry needed to share that business.
“I know,” Harry sighed.
“Hear word she’s gorgeous, hard-working, no-nonsense, sweet,” Rus noted.
“Correct on all accounts.”
Rus’s gaze got intense. “Pleased for you, buddy.”
“Thanks, man,” Harry replied.
They both looked to the door when Polly filled it.
And neither of them liked the expression on her face.
“There’s someone here who would like to talk to you, sheriff,” she said.