Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 95676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
"Are you on the road already?" I ask, pouring lavender and chamomile bath salts into the running water.
"Yeah, I left about an hour ago." She curses again and then the horn blows. "Why can't people in this state freaking drive?"
"Is Livvie going to the lake with you?" I ask instead of answering that question. She's a crazy person behind the wheel. Riding with her gives me serious anxiety. And there is no talking to her about it. She just tells me I'm overreacting. Maybe I am. But I lost my family in a car accident. I don't want to lose her the same way.
"No. Apparently she's failing calculus, so my mom has her on house arrest."
"Ouch."
"Yeah." Erin sighs, sounding dejected.
"I'm sorry I couldn't get away." I hate the thought of her moping around by herself all weekend. While I wasn't exactly crazy about her dating a guy who lives on the opposite coast, she's bummed about the break-up. I never met him, but he made her happy. I hate when she's feeling down.
"It's okay. I'm just going to chill for a couple of days and get my shit together. And you can make it up to me when I get home. We'll go for drinks."
"Uh, hell no."
She laughs. "Fine. Dinner."
"Deal."
"Love you, bestie."
"Love you, too. Drive safe and call me when you get there."
"I will. Oh, wait! You said you called a cop a whore and told him you're naked. Was it that detective?"
I groan loudly. "Yes. He called a few minutes ago, actually."
I quickly relay our conversation to her.
She laughs her ass off when I tell her exactly how I humiliated myself, and then she sobers. "So, he thinks you know this missing kid?"
"I don't know. I guess so." I frown again, thinking back over our conversation. "It was weird."
"What's his name?"
"Detective Cameron Lewis."
"Not the detective. The missing guy."
"Oh. Roy Clark, I think? No, Rory. Rory Clark. I guess he's a college student. The detective didn't really tell me much about him. He just asked a bunch of questions and told me to find out the date I last played at Antonio's bar."
"That's freaking weird, Ivy," Erin says.
"Right?" I turn the faucet off and trail my hand through the water to check the temperature. It's perfect. "Anyway, he's going to get in touch at some point in the next few days to show me a picture of the kid, see if I remember him from one of my shows. And I guess he wants to talk to Antonio and see if he saw him around last time I played there? Maybe he goes to school in L.A. or something? I don't know. I guess I'll find out next time I talk to the detective."
"Well, keep me posted," Erin says.
"Yeah, I will. Talk later."
"Yeah, later!"
I hang up and then stand there for a long moment. The conversation with Detective Lewis replays in my mind, unsettling me again, but I'm not sure why. It was just odd, I guess. Why is he so interested in where I played and when?
Deciding I'll find out sooner or later, I shake off the feeling and step into the bathtub.
Chapter Three
Cameron
If Ivy Kendall is a gold-digger or a danger to society, I'm Bigfoot, I decide, watching her from the back booth of the Red Room as she prepares for her set. She's got her back to me, talking quietly with her band. She hasn't noticed me yet.
I'm looking forward to the moment she does. She wasn't thrilled about me staring at her last night, but I couldn't take my eyes off her. With her dark hair and bright blue eyes, she's stunning. And those curves of hers? Goddamn, I want to know what they feel like with me all over them. Which is a bit of a problem considering that she's currently the only suspect in what will likely be a manslaughter case in a matter of days.
As soon as we find Rory Clark's body, she'll be charged. Which is another problem since I'm certain she's innocent. That's not the lust talking either. I've been at this for a long fucking time, long enough to know women like her don't risk everything to bleed dry a college kid.
She's too smart for that, too driven.
She lost her mom and sister in a horrific car accident when she was a teenager. They managed to pull her father from the wreckage, but he was in a vegetative state for half a dozen years. Somehow, she juggled college and taking care of him while launching a lucrative career as a model.
She stopped modeling after he died three years ago. But I'm guessing she could step back into it at any time and make another small fortune if she wanted to do it. She could launch an actual music career instead of moonlighting around town and make a killing with that voice. There's no logical reason for her to scam a college kid out of a few thousand dollars. Hell, there's nothing logical about this entire case. Nothing adds up.