Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69537 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69537 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
We would’ve listened.
“Ahh,” Bindi said. “And did you ever hear a honk that indicated that the car was trying to start?”
Homeless man one looked at homeless man two, and they both turned back as one and said, “No, ma’am.”
“You can’t trust them!” Delphine said. “They’re breaking the law every day. We’ve kicked them off of this patch four times this week. What makes you think they’re just not bitter or lying?”
“How close do you have to be to get that remote start to work?” Bindi asked.
“Hundred feet or so?” another officer guessed.
“Will it start all the way from the front door?” Bindi continued.
“Certainly not,” my mother said.
“Then she had to have come out into the parking lot, which y’all’s cameras will show,” Bindi said simply.
She was right.
If Delphine was lying, we could tell.
“Could get a code reader to see how many times the remote start was canceled, too.” The skinnier of the two homeless men added his credentials when everyone just stared at him. “Used to work on cars before I lost my house and decided to say fuck it to everything.”
“You know, she’s right,” Quincy offered up as he crossed his arms over his chest. When he’d gotten there, I didn’t know. He didn’t even work here anymore. “Remote start works for fifteen minutes before it turns off and you can restart it. She had to be gone for a while, and the air conditioning not work for more than fifteen minutes, for the dog to get that hot in here.”
“It was in the police department parking lot,” Delphine said. “I wasn’t gone that long, but it’s a black top.”
That was true. Black tops seemed to retain more heat than most…
“Your dog is lethargic and needs to go to the vet,” Bindi disregarded her. “His nose isn’t wet, either, indicating dehydration.”
I looked over at where Rufus had his head resting in Bindi’s lap while she slowly poured capfuls of water into his mouth.
Fuck, what a mess.
“Media’s gonna have a heyday with this,” I heard my mom mutter. “Goddammit.”
“Are you going to arrest her for destruction of government property?” Delphine grumbled.
I narrowed my eyes at her.
“If this is the type of bullshit police department that lets things like this slide, then perhaps I might want to rethink my job acceptance, Mrs. Carter,” Bindi snarled.
My mom’s eyes narrowed on Delphine, though, and not Bindi.
As she should have.
“Delphine,” my mom said. “We’ll be taking over care for Rufus for now, pending review on the matter. No, we will not be arresting Ms. Howe for doing her civic duty to protect the innocent. Bindi, would you like to ride with me to the vet?”
“Obviously,” Bindi replied angrily.
“We’re not going to ruin whatever plans you had today?” Mom asked.
“No,” Bindi said. “You tend to have no life when you can’t see.”
I felt something inside of my chest start to thicken.
“You should go with them,” Gable suggested. “I’ll take Boss. You’re off shift, anyway.”
I looked at my brother. “She’s pissed.”
“You left her behind when you thought you were protecting everyone from Baron Harper. Can you really blame her for being mad, though?” he asked.
“No.” I felt a tingle at the base of my spine, just like I always did when I thought about Baron Harper.
I was right to be afraid of him.
The asshole had shot my brother, thinking he was me.
And though it’d been months now, I still felt that weight on my shoulders every fucking day.
I might never get over it.
I walked over and picked Rufus up, hauling him with me to the closest cruiser that was running.
The air conditioner felt like it slapped me in the face when I sat the dog on the bench seat in the back.
“Are you getting in, or are you just going to stand there?” Bindi asked tightly.
My lips twitched.
“See,” Gable whispered. “It’s all these crazy women working at this police department.”
“I’m not crazy,” Bindi pointed out. “And I haven’t even started working here yet.”
“Just give it time,” Gable teased. “I’m sure it won’t take more than a few days.”
Bindi got inside and shut the door on Gable’s reply.
I hurried around and got into the driver’s seat, accepted the keys from the cop, and drove my mom, Bindi, Rooster, Rufus, and myself to the closest vet hospital.
People think they can have their cake and eat it, too. Well, wrong bakery, bitch.
—Bindi’s secret thoughts
BINDI
I might or might not have been a complete bitch to Garrett when I first encountered him.
I felt bad about it now.
It wasn’t like it was his dog that’d been mistreated.
The only thing he’d done was have the audacity to have a woman in his apartment that also happened to have hurt her dog today.
Jesus, I was still so fucking mad about that, it wasn’t even funny.
Poor Rufus.
The vet had whisked him away.
We’d sat there, talking quietly, for hours—Garrett, his mom, and me.