Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 65948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 330(@200wpm)___ 264(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 330(@200wpm)___ 264(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
I rolled my eyes, then crossed my arms over my chest and said, “Tell me about how you found him? I’ll tell you everything I know. But I’ll let Luce start.”
“Luce?” Sunny looked around, confused.
“Diana,” Luce said. “He calls me Luce.”
“Only I call her Luce,” I corrected. “Tell us what’s going on?”
“Around two thirty, a call came in about a body in a ditch on the side of the big truck stop outside of Accident,” he answered. “Guy is naked but for a crumpled business card in his hand. That business card had your name on it.”
I sighed. “Luce?”
“This all started a long time ago,” she said. “He started coming into the diner and the only person he would allow to serve him was me. He’d always been handsy. As in, really handsy. A touch here and there on my hand. A squeeze of my shoulder. Uncomfortable closeness as he left and entered his booth. But the night that Bain got home, Bart got handsier than normal and I didn’t notice because my attention was focused on Bain, I guess and not him. Therefore, when he grabbed my ass, I was startled.” She continued to tell the story, ending with the night that Bart choked her over the wallet.
“And that was the last time that y’all had contact?” Sunny asked.
“Yes, sir.” Luce nodded, looking uncomfortable.
I moved so that my back was against the wall beside the chair she was seated in, my thigh not quite touching her shoulder, but close.
“And where do you come in?” Sunny asked.
“I can’t say that I come in anywhere,” I admitted. “Other than seeing him that day at the diner… I haven’t really talked or interacted with him at all.”
“Where were you last night between the hours of nine and eleven?” he asked.
Probably doing something that would implicate me.
“Riding around town with my friend, Kobe Sano,” I went on. “You want his number? We went out to eat around nine at the diner—Moe’s. I have a receipt that shows the time.”
“We also have cameras at the diner,” Luce interjected. “We had to get them because there was a waitress that was stealing. You can see when Kobe and Bain were there. But you can also go back to when Bart was there. When he gave me his wallet.”
“Did you threaten him at all when he gave you the wallet?” Sunny asked her.
“Not overly.” Luce shrugged. “I just threatened to allow Bain to escort him out—from there, I didn’t have any control over what Bain did to protect me—or him giving me his wallet. He chose to give me his wallet and left.”
“Tell me about this place that you picked up from the wallet,” Sunny urged. “Do you think that y’all can locate this place?”
Could we?
I didn’t really know.
But Wake might be able to point it out to him.
I hadn’t cared beyond trying to find the douche who’d hurt Luce.
“Wake might be able to help you,” I suggested. “I didn’t know the place. Nor were we able to get into the website that it led us to any further. It was all password protected. The alarm guy that was over at my place putting in the alarm might be able to help you more. He actually knew what he was doing when it came to the code on the receipt.”
“Gotcha.” He glanced down at his notes. “If your alibi checks out, I won’t be bothering you again unless you can help. Not sure we will ever figure out what was going on here, but I think you are all out of the story.”
I offered him my hand, and he left, taking the porch steps two at a time until he reached the concrete that led to the road.
My mom and Luce held their tongues until Sunny was in his car.
“Did you do it?” my mom asked the moment that he pulled away.
I snorted. “No. I didn’t even see him at all yesterday.” I looked at my mother. “What the hell? You thought I was lying?”
She shrugged as she got up and walked into the house.
But what she called over her shoulder had me grinning. “It’s not like you haven’t gone to jail before for Diana. Why would I think this time would be any different?”
Before I could say anything to that, Luce was passing me, her head down.
I caught her around the upper arm and halted her forward progress.
“You okay?” I asked her.
She licked her lips and nodded. “Fine, why?”
“Because you seem off,” I said. “I’m sorry you had to stay here last night. I just wanted to make sure you were safe. And with all of us out there looking for Bart… I didn’t want you to be alone.”
“It’s fine.” She tried to smile. It didn’t reach her eyes. “I got a lot of studying done. Not to mention, you don’t owe me anything, Bain. You’ve given enough of your life for me.”