Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 147967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 740(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 740(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
“Who are you?” the old lady asked.
Reeves glanced around at the people milling about assessingly. “My name is Detective Clayton Reeves. I received a call that there was an incident.”
That had to be a lie. Maybe he’d overheard it on the radio. Because a detective wouldn’t attend an incident like this.
“You can all be on your way,” Reeves said, waving his hand at everyone.
“Don’t think we want to do that until this officer is gone. We want to make sure this young lady is all right,” the older lady said.
Wow. That was kind. And heroic.
But the last thing she wanted was for Vince to turn his attention on this poor old lady who was just trying to help her. And Vince would do that. He would happily make this woman’s life a misery.
She had to get his attention off her.
“Everything is fine, thanks! I know Detective Reeves and I’ll be fine with him,” she called out to everyone still watching. “Thanks so much for trying to help me, though.”
She didn’t mention knowing Vince. That wasn’t something she wanted anyone to be aware of.
“You sure, young lady?” the woman asked.
“I am. Thanks again. You all get home and keep safe.”
“Well, we might rest easier if we had a police force we trusted,” the younger guy said, glaring at Vince.
Vince glared back. Then Detective Reeves got between him and the young guy.
She didn’t know if it was on purpose or not. She wasn’t entirely sure how much Reeves knew about how much of a dick Vince was.
Still, he drew Vince’s attention off the younger guy and back onto Reeves.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Vince demanded once everyone was gone.
“What am I doing here? What the fuck are you thinking, Vince? Were you really going to arrest the chief of police’s daughter? Or just manhandle her in front of half a dozen witnesses?”
Had that many people stopped?
Okay, Maya didn’t often have a good opinion of most humans. But it made her feel good that that many people had stopped to check on her.
Or maybe just watch the show.
“She wouldn’t get out of the fucking car! And she punched me in the nose!” Vince whined.
Jesus.
How the heck did anyone think he was attractive? He was an idiot.
“Yeah?” Reeves continued, sounding even angrier, which surprised her. “What did you do to make her smack you in the nose? Because as far as I know, most women don’t go around hitting people for no reason.”
Well, with Vince they really should.
“And why were you so close that she could smack you in the nose?” Reeves added.
“I pulled her over. I was talking to her.”
“Why? Was she speeding?” Reeves asked.
She could tell Vince wanted to lie.
“I wasn’t,” she said quickly. “He had no reason to pull me over. But he likes to do this once in a while. It’s called police harassment.”
“Yeah?” Vince sneered. “Lay a complaint then, bitch.”
“That’s enough, Officer Mason!” Detective Reeves snapped.
“We both know you won’t,” Vince continued, ignoring Reeves. “Because you know your own father wouldn’t believe you over me.”
She tried to hide the hurt of that statement.
The truth hit hard.
Her father wouldn’t believe her over Vince. He thought Vince was a good guy and a great cop. And he thought his daughter was a fool for not wanting to date him.
There was no point in even telling him about this incident, he wouldn’t believe her.
“It’s time you left, Vince,” Reeves said in a dark voice. “Or I’ll be writing up the complaint. And believe me, it won’t get ignored if I’m doing it.”
That surprised her.
Maya wasn’t used to anyone going to bat for her. Why would Reeves do that? Sure, he was a decent guy, but Vince was known to be her father’s favorite. It would only create issues for the detective at work.
Vince sneered at him. “Go ahead.” Then he turned to her. “Your father wants to see you. Call him.”
That was all he had to say?
All of this really was about delivering a message from her father? So why hurt her? Why drag her out of her car?
“For fuck’s sake,” Reeves said. “Why didn’t he call her, then?”
“She’s not answering his calls,” Vince said. “And it’s important.”
Right.
So important that he couldn’t, say, come and find her? At her work? Come to her home?
Sure, she hadn’t been answering his calls. But that was because he mostly called her to berate her. And she didn’t need to listen to all the ways that she’d disappointed him for the 644th time. There was only so much of that a girl could take.
And she seemed to have reached her limit.
Which is why she’d dodged his calls for the last few days. However, if she’d known that he was going to send Vince after her . . . she’d probably have answered them.
Probably.
This was so typical of her father. He loved to use dynamite when a match would work.