Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 23115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
“The man had dropped the knife when Gareth beat him. Took three officers to drag him off.”
This is a spiderweb. Felch’s spiderweb. And I’m being tangled up in it. But I can feel the threads starting to slip.
“I see,” I reply, leaning back in my chair. “Sounds like he was just protecting his mom to me.”
Something snaps, and Felch leans forward, smashing his fists onto the table. I almost jump back, but he grabs me by the wrist, holding me in place.
“Listen to me,” he growls. “Gareth is going to go down for something. Understand? It was just a matter of when and how.”
“Yeah, going down on me,” I counter, flashing him the fakest smile ever.
“Do you know what happens to citizens who side with corrupt cops?” His voice is low and biting, like he doesn’t want to be heard. “Especially young truck stop waitresses? They lose their jobs. Their moms get visited by Social Services. They end up on lists they didn’t even know existed then wonder why they can’t find a job anywhere in the state.”
I wish Sarah was here. She’d know what to do. She’s used to dealing with men. But you know what? I’ve been friends with her a long time. And I have some bite in me too.
“Are you threatening me, Captain Felch?” I ask, breathing strength into my voice.
“It’s not a threat,” he replies. “It’s a promise.”
“A promise? I don’t understand…”
Letting me go, he nods, pulls a lighter out, and strikes a flame to his cigar. “I promise that I will do everything in my power to take down Rawls, and if you get in my way, I’ll take you down with him.”
My heart is crackling. Beads of sweat pool around my temples as I squeeze my thigh with one hand, trying to keep calm.
“What have I done…Captain Felch?”
He shakes his head dismissively like I’m a child. “Doesn’t matter, missy. You don’t play ball, and I’ll trump up some charges on you and have you in a cell by the end of the month.”
That shell inside me finally gives way as Felch reveals the truth: He’s been lying this whole time.
I don’t know who that poor woman was in the photos, but it definitely wasn’t Gareth’s ex, and that arrest report was certainly fake.
I never should have doubted you, Daddy. Never.
“But then again,” Felch says, his voice slow and sleazy like a snake as he stands and comes around my side of the table, “if you felt like doing me a…favor…I might be willing to let you out of this.”
Without even hiding it, he reaches down between his legs and cups his bulge. He squeezes it and winks down at me like it will turn me on. All it does is make my stomach turn.
If only Gareth was here. I can’t even imagine the amount of ‘excessive force’ he would use.
Grabbing my purse, I quickly stand, and getting right up in Felch’s smoky, disgusting face, spit, “I’d rather suck off a hippo!”
He snatches out at me, but I duck, and his fingers close around empty air. I race for the door, and my hip catches the corner of the doorframe. I’ll have a bruise tomorrow, but so what?
I dash out of the room and back into the station. My heart is pounding as men glance at me while I run for the door. All it takes is one shout from Felch and any one of them could grab me, hold me here indefinitely.
But to my surprise, no one intervenes. I manage to make it out to my car without being caught or having a heart attack. My body is still ready to give out on me, but I can’t help but smile as I pull out of the parking lot.
It’s only a few minutes’ drive to Gareth’s, but it feels like an eternity. I watch every tree go by out the windows, counting every second that passes. I’m so on edge as I get out and race up his steps that I nearly collapse into his arms as he opens the door.
“Briar. Where have you been?” he asks, concern in his voice. “I’ve been trying to reach you all morning.”
“I’m sorry,” I sob, tears flowing from my eyes as the tension in my body releases. “I’m so sorry.”
The warmth from his body and the strength from his arms as they hold me up, cradling me with such love and such care, is enough to break me down.
“For what?” he asks. “Not answering my texts?”
Shaking my head, I reach into my purse pocket and pull out my phone. The recorder app is still running. I press stop and rewind it to the start. “You need to hear this, Gareth.”
He looks at me, confused, but I just stare up at him with trust and admiration. Every fiber of my being is his. I belong to him. I know he’d protect me with his life, so being able to do this one tiny thing to help him fills me with more joy than I can process.