Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“Here,” he said as he handed me his. “Call your woman.”
I grimaced. “I don’t know her number off the top of my head.”
“Then call Simi.”
Heart in my throat, I went to the side of the house, then out the back yard gate, to spot Winston handing over his PI license to the cops there.
He kept gesturing at the criminals on the ground and waited for them to respond.
Meanwhile, I called Simi from Autry’s phone.
“Did you get him?” Simi asked on the first ring.
“I’m here,” I said. “What’s wrong?”
Simi explained everything.
And I couldn’t say that I handled it well at all.
• • •
It took me three hours to get home, and I promised myself that I would move well away from downtown Dallas the moment I could.
I arrived at my apartment to find it rather empty.
“Where. Is. She?” I said the moment I saw Coffey.
He pointed from the doorway of my office to the living area, and I rounded the corner to find her curled up on the couch.
The moment I was close enough, she erupted off the couch and into my arms. She took a long, steadying breath.
She didn’t cry, though.
“I shot him in the foot,” she crowed proudly.
I squeezed her tight for a few seconds before saying, “Good.”
“Also, the cops took your gun,” she admitted sheepishly. “Since I used it to shoot someone. They said you’d get it back after the case was closed.”
I couldn’t care less about the gun.
I sighed. “I’d give them every single one if it meant you kept yourself safe.”
She pulled back, and her eyes gleamed. “I thought you’d be taking care of him… so I was surprised to find that I had to do it myself.”
I couldn’t help it.
I laughed.
“I thought I was looking for him,” I admitted. “I found his five other wives, instead.”
She blinked at me, surprise evident on her face.
Her mouth fell open, but it took a minute before the words would come out. “You what?”
“You heard me right. Five. He also has upwards of twenty-five kids. All of them living in a three-thousand-square-foot house. I thought it was some trafficking holding house or something when I first got there. Not to mention his place was guarded by some violent criminals, all armed with automatic weapons, might I add,” I grumbled.
“It’s not like you knew,” she said. “You were doing what you thought you needed to do. But at least now you’re here.”
That was right.
That didn’t magically erase how badly I felt for not being there when she needed me, though.
She pulled herself back into my arms, then bounced a little bit. “Did the cops come?”
I chuckled, pulling her in close and then explained everything.
“Well, we called the cops only after we disarmed the men out front. With Winston having his PI license, we were able to legitimately say that we were there looking for Abraham. Cops came and arrested all of the men who had the automatic weapons. Then the FBI showed up, because that’s a serious no-no. In all states. Then we talked to a few of the wives, but none of them were able to give us any information on where they thought Abraham might be,” I grumbled.
“None of the wives were talking and didn’t feel like sharing.” She shook her head. “That’s so crazy. I just feel like… How did my sister fall for that? She’s not usually one to be that…”
She searched for the word, and found it, but I could tell she didn’t want to voice it.
“Gullible?” I asked.
“Yes,” she admitted guiltily. “Gullible. That’s not her. She was raised with my brothers and me. She could spot a liar from half a mile away. It just doesn’t make sense.”
“Love blinds,” Quinn said, reminding me that he was still there.
I looked at her brother and realized that Quinn would know.
He was in love with Shayne, after all. Whether he was willing to admit it or not.
Love made you do funny things sometimes.
“Do we have any leads?” I asked Quinn. “Were y’all able to find the vehicle?”
“The one that you said was missing from the yard was the one we found abandoned,” he admitted. “But they’ve narrowed him down to a single apartment building complex. Though, that complex has over a thousand apartments in it.”
I sighed, leaning my head against the crown of Ande’s head. “What a douche.”
“He’ll be found,” Quinn promised.
“I know he will,” I voiced. “That doesn’t change the fact that he had to be found in the first place.”
“I can’t believe the Air Force isn’t out here storming the banks,” Ande said.
“The Air Force hasn’t been informed yet,” Quinn admitted. “We wanted to keep this to only us at first… the Air Force will get him in the end, though. But we’ll get our licks in.”
There was a commotion, then Coffey entered the room with Simi on his heels.