Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 135696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
“Yeah,” she repeated to the laptop where she was now closing all the documents.
“And it’d be masterful, considering what I bought this property for, because it’s probably around the same amount Roosevelt bought it for decades ago. So they took a massive loss on that investment by being a pack of hyenas.”
“Yeah,” she said again.
“It could just be they’re all greedy fucks who are so intent to suck off the teat of two men’s hard work, they’ll grasp at anything to get the golden milk, so dedicated to the task, they aren’t realizing they’re sucking that teat dry.”
She slapped the laptop closed and shot him a smile. “A colorful metaphor, but also very likely.”
“How old are the parents?” he asked.
“I don’t know that either, but considering the ages of the three principles, my guess is that they’re all in their seventies by now, at least.”
“That’s dedication,” he stated.
“I’ll say.”
He then did something else he shouldn’t do.
He caught a lock of her hair and started twisting it in his fingers.
It was softer than he would have guessed.
Shit.
He did this before he asked, “You doing okay after today?”
“I am. Of course, preliminarily, it was a shock. Now I’m just annoyed. We can just say it takes more than that to bring an Antonov down.”
He had no doubt.
“And Ledger was around, so you didn’t give the full brief of your afternoon,” she continued. “What’s up with that?”
“I don’t know, and Bubbles isn’t conscious yet. The only thing I can tell you is something you already know. It has something to do with the wine. Harry is as baffled as me. It sucks, but we gotta wait until Bubbles wakes up. He’s the only one who might have answers.”
It wasn’t the entire truth, but close enough to it, and seeing as Harry had trusted him with what he’d shared, he wasn’t going to break that trust, even for Nadia.
“I think they got what they were looking for, so I don’t think they’ll be back,” he told her. “But I’m still doing that work on the cabin, and I want you to put my number and the sheriff’s office number in your favorites so you can get to us fast if something tweaks you.”
“I can do that,” she agreed.
“And I’m just gonna put it out there that immersing yourself in a fifteen-year-old double homicide is a lot easier than facing the tragedy that’s happened to your own family. But I’ll remind you, you got a resource and a sounding board close at hand who gets you, so think about taking advantage of that.”
When he stopped talking, she did a face-plant in his shoulder.
Oh yeah.
She was avoiding it.
He was forced to let her hair go with her movement, but he cupped the back of her head when she landed.
He also bent his neck so his face was in her hair.
It smelled phenomenal.
“Sorry, honey,” he murmured there. “Although, I’ll share I don’t think you need to do a deep descent and get mired in that shit, because bottom line, it’s someone else’s shit, not yours to take on. But since the fallout for you is extreme, I also don’t think it’s healthy to flat-out avoid it. Obviously, this is all about me. I don’t want Maribeth showing and finding out I’ve fallen down on the job.”
She laughed softly and lifted her head.
And fuck him, he kept his hand where it was.
“I’ll start dealing,” she promised.
“I wasn’t pushing you, just reminding you. And while I’m doing that, from what I can tell, my mom likes you. And she might have some insights too.”
“Does she know about what happened?”
He shook his head. “Not that I know. I can ask, and I can tell her so you don’t have to, if that’s what you want.”
She seemed surprised. “So you didn’t tell her?”
“I told her you’re my neighbor, you’re a good sort, you’re dealing with some deep shit because your dad was an asshole, and considering the last part, that was all she needed.”
“Right,” she whispered.
“We need to unwind. You don’t watch Witcher, so what do you wanna watch?”
“There’s an Only Murders in the Building fest in town this weekend. Have you seen that?”
“Honey, I have no fucking idea why, but they’ve had that festival since that show started. I made the mistake of being in town when it was on last year, and I ran into Kimmy wearing a fake fur with a fake bird stuck to the shoulder and weird glasses with her telling me all weekend, if I saw her, I had to refer to her as ‘Bunny.’ Then she shoved a tray full of bowls of dip in my face. I haven’t seen the show, but I’m already traumatized by it.”
She started laughing even as she said, “You have to see it. It’s hilarious.”
“Whatever you want,” he murmured.