Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
I couldn’t see a bit of Traveler in him. Except the eyes. She had his dark, almost black, eyes.
“You saw me?” he asked.
“Didn’t the nurse tell you?” she asked, sounding a little hurt. “I was here a couple of times. I meant to come yesterday, but I just… I didn’t get here,” she said.
Because she’d been celebrating my birthday.
“You’re okay, though?” he asked, gaze moving over her.
I had no idea what he’d looked like that first day, but one side of his face was still swollen. His nose was crooked enough that it must have been broken. And one of his eyes wasn’t opened as much as the other, bruises smattering all around it.
In fact, the bruises all over him were still pretty intense. And there was a cast on his arm.
But he had good color.
And, clearly, his brain was working pretty damn good.
“Yes,” she assured him, but there was that false note in her voice again.
I caught it.
So did her old man.
His eyes narrowed at her.
“What happened?” he asked, voice brooking no fucking argument. I knew that voice. It was the one our fathers and uncles had used on us as kids when we were fucking around or trying to bullshit them.
“Dad, we can talk about that when you’re—“
“Traveler,” he barked. Then, softening a bit, “What happened?”
I was close enough to see her throat move as she swallowed hard.
“Guys broke into the shop. They smashed the window and most of the stuff inside.”
“When it was closed?” he asked, the cop in him clearly strong, trying to get all the facts.
“Yes.”
“You were there,” he said, reading between the lines. He went to shoot up on the bed. “I swear to fucking—“
“Dad,” Traveler said, pushing a hand into his shoulder, forcing him back down. “I’m okay. I hid. I’m okay.”
“Hid? Hid where? There’s nowhere to hide. You should’ve run out the back,” he said, voice soft as he gave her the rebuke.
“They were in the alley too. Smashing my truck,” she said, still bitter about that even though we’d told her we’d gotten it fixed. “I hid in the oven and called August,” she said, motioning toward me.
“The oven?” he asked, brows pinching. “August?” he went on, following her motion toward me.
It was time to step closer.
“Chief Moon,” I said, nodding at him.
His gaze moved over me, keen, observant.
“You called the fucking mafia?” he asked.
To that, Traveler’s lips twitched.
“How did you know he was mafia?”
“Look at ‘em,” her father said, rolling his eyes a bit. “Nice suit. The slicked back hair. The cocky posture,” he said, waving a meaty hand.
“This is August. Augustine Grassi,” she added.
“Grassi?” he asked, even more confused. “The fuck you doing around here?” he asked, looking at me.
“Looking after your daughter,” I said. Because it was the truth. “Pulled her outta that oven. Got her somewhere safe.”
He swallowed hard at that and gave me a nod. “I appreciate that. But why? Why do you even know about my daughter?”
“Remember that shithead Colin?” she asked.
“Yeah. Remember ‘em all,” he said.
“Well, I sort of helped the Grassis save a woman who was caught in his world. They… they made it clear that we were friendly. I just… I don’t know. That’s who I called when they broke in.”
“I feel like you need to know that it doesn’t stop there,” I said when Traveler didn’t say anything else.
“No?” James asked, tensing. “What else?”
“We were dropping a donation of her shop’s milk off at the soup kitchen a couple days ago. And there was a drive-by. There’s… there’s no way it was a coincidence,” I told him, watching his jaw go tight.
“No, there’s not,” he agreed.
It was then, though, that his monitor started beeping faster, issuing a warning to the nurses, one of whom came rushing in.
There was some fussing then, the nurse suggesting we leave, so he could settle back down. Her dad getting increasingly agitated because he wanted to keep talking to us. Then the nurse getting more firm.
“Dad, it’s okay. I will come back in the morning, okay? Just rest. Relax.”
“I’ll continue keeping an eye on her until you can do so for yourself,” I told him, and that seemed to make him relax just a bit.
“Make sure you do,” he said, a little threat mixed into the words. And, hey, I couldn’t blame the guy. This was his little girl, and he’d worked hard to make sure his shady dealings didn’t negatively impact her. You had to respect the guy.
“That was a lot,” Traveler said to my silent question as we made our way down the stairs.
“Yeah, I bet,” I agreed. Especially since she hadn’t seen the man in a long time. “It’ll be less intense next time, since he already knows about all the shit. And will have had time to process it all.”
“True,” she agreed. “I want ice cream. And sleep,” she declared.