Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
“Jesus Christ,” Andrews said, shooting her a quick glance. “Jesus fucking Christ, Hannah. We—no. We’ll talk about that later. Right now, we focus on making this go away. How solid is your plan?” he asked me.
My hunch had been right.
“It’s solid,” I told him. “Everything is in place. We only brought in Mandy and Hannah to get him here and set up what happens next.”
“The girls will need an alibi,” Andrews said. Hannah seemed confused by what was happening, but Mandy’s eyes widened in understanding and something like wonder. She’d figured it out. “I can provide that, but your club has to deal with the evidence. This conversation never happened. As far as I’m concerned, I saw the bastard’s car here and stopped by to check on Hannah. Randy was inside picking up some stuff and I thought he was bad news, so I’m taking Hannah and Mandy with me. We’ll grab the kids and do something that will take the rest of the afternoon and evening. Something public.”
The deputy glanced behind me toward Hannah’s ex. “Do what you have to do and don’t give me any of the fucking details.”
I exhaled slowly, part of me sure it was a trick. Logic said it was—Heath Andrews upheld the law and he didn’t fuck around. Everyone knew that. But the look on his face… I knew that look. He’d decided to do something ugly and he didn’t care.
“Why?” I asked, needing the words.
“Why do you think?” Heath said. “It’s for Hannah—her and the kids. If you and I work together, I think we can pull it off. You’ll need to burn down the trailer, though. Destroy the evidence. I can’t see any way around it.” He shot a glance at Hannah. “Sorry, sweetheart, but it’s gotta go. The trace evidence will come back on us otherwise.”
Andrews looked back to me, holding my eyes as he lowered his gun. He set it on the floor slowly and steadily, then took a step backward.
“I’m all in,” he said, his voice steady.
“We burn the trailer, the girls lose everything,” Dopey said in a low voice, coming up behind me. I studied Heath, considering. I hated to give up on the place, but he was right. Burning it really would be the best solution. The trailer was contaminated as hell—not just with meth, but blood and hair and a thousand other tiny pieces of evidence. People would be suspicious when Randy disappeared, but if he disappeared because he’d accidentally torched his own trailer, leaving his kids homeless…
Hannah and Mandy would have airtight alibis if they were with a cop, and it wasn’t like he didn’t have plenty of enemies.
“We’re losing everything anyway,” Hannah said slowly. “I don’t even want to live here anymore. The place is contaminated—meth is poisonous and I was already prepared to leave with the kids. I don’t see how it burning would be much different. I’d like to grab a couple photos and keepsakes. Anything else can be replaced.”
“We’ll need to do it right,” I said, thinking out loud. “Get out clean. This will draw a hell of a lot of attention. We’re good but nobody’s perfect—how professional is your fire inspector? He know what he’s doing?”
“He’s the best,” Andrews said coolly. “He’s also my brother. You do what you have to and I can guarantee you he’ll draw the right conclusions. Nobody will second-guess him.”
Damn. Hadn’t seen that coming. I lowered my gun, studying him. “You’re surprising the hell out of me, Andrews. I thought you were the real deal. Straight cop.”
“I am a straight cop,” he replied, dead serious. “Don’t ever try to pay me off—I’m not interested. But this isn’t about money, it’s about family. My brother will back me up.”
“Why?” Hannah asked, her voice almost a whisper. “You hardly know me.”
“I’ve known you for years,” he said simply. “You think I need to buy groceries every damned day? I stop by the store to see you. I watched that piece of shit cheat on you and use you, but you never lost your smile. When it finally ended, I waited. I gave you time to heal before I asked you out, but there was never any question in my mind. This is serious, Hannah. We’ve only been on four dates, but I’ve known you were for me from the first time I saw you. Six years ago. You were at the park, laughing. You had on a red sundress and you smiled at me and I thought, ‘That’s the girl I’m going to marry.’ Then I learned you were with him, and for a while I gave up on that dream. Now it’s real again, and I won’t let him take you away from me. He had his chance.”
Hannah melted, wrapping her arms around him. Mandy watched them thoughtfully, crossing her arms. She wasn’t convinced—not so much a romantic, I decided. Neither was I…but here I was, committing a series of felonies for a woman I hardly knew.