Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 131387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
“Fuck yeah, I can,” Hutch told him.
“See you in a few. Heads up, Cade is coming in too.”
Hutch didn’t wonder why Harry tapped into a local resource that might give them deep insights into what was happening at The Lion and The Lamb.
Cade Bohannan wasn’t just a retired FBI profiler. He was generally known as one of the best in their history, he had deep roots in MP, he lived there with his family, and as such, often volunteered his expertise to the Fret County Sheriff’s police.
He and Harry said their goodbyes, and Hutch pulled into the alley, backing in behind Mabel’s store.
He used the keys Mabel had given him that morning to open the back door (there were several of them, including her cabin keys, to which she’d said, “Just in case”).
Singing all the way, Tonks came to greet him, and she got a quick rubdown before he went through to the front of the store.
Mabel was doing something behind the counter. Moxie was curled up in a snug, little cat bed on the counter close to her momma (Barry at the feedstore had to be falling in love with Mabel, or at least her wallet, probably both).
Moxie was proving to be resilient.
Mabel had told him she wanted Tonks and Moxie to be like some cat and dog on some social media account she used to follow. Two animals that went everywhere with their adventure-loving mom and dad. Camping, hiking (the cat in a backpack), van life.
He knew she’d had cats before, but he still cautioned that not all of them could handle a constant change of scenery. It could get very stressful for them.
Her reply was to cup his jaw and say, “I know, baby. I just want to try it out and see where she’s at. I won’t push her too far. And if it seems like she’s not taking to it, I’ll stop.”
Moxie had sat in a cage for six months.
She knew what she had in Mabel and Tonks.
Whether it was for that reason, or just that she was a chill cat, so far, she’d taken to it.
From behind the counter, Moxie’s pretty momma looked his way. “Hey, honey.”
“Obviously, I’m here. I’ll unload.”
“I cleared some space in the back room for you. I’d help but I can’t leave the shop.”
“It’s not much, babe. No worries. I’ll be back when I’m done.”
She smiled at him.
He returned it and went to his truck.
With Tonks’s company, he unloaded, went back to throw up the gate on his truck, then he and Tonks returned to the front of the store.
“All in. Now I gotta be somewhere,” he told her.
“Do you have just two minutes?” she asked.
He had whatever she needed him to give her.
He did (and didn’t quite) communicate this by walking her way.
“What’s up?” he asked when he came to a stop across from her.
“Look,” she said and pointed her phone at him.
On the screen there was a professional picture of a very pretty woman, a tall, good-looking guy, and two cute kids walking through some palm groves. The man and woman were gazing at each other moonily with smiles on their faces. The photo had been filtered to the limit and looked like a dreamscape.
Problem was, Hutch had no fucking clue who they were.
He’d seen pictures of her friends…Mona, Kacey, Olivia, Marcy.
That woman was none of those ladies.
“That’s Tara,” she said.
“Tara?” he asked.
“That’s Tara and her new man’s engagement picture. Tara being Bryce’s ex-wife.”
Right.
Now he got it.
And he was glad for this Tara chick who looked like she’d moved on to good things, but he didn’t know why this required him to delay what he was doing.
“Babe, I got things to do,” he reminded her.
“Right, right. You don’t know Bryce, so you don’t get it. Yes, Bryce was crashing out when he saw that video of you and me. Now, how do you think Bryce feels after someone showed him that picture of his ex-wife and his kids, in all their filtered glory, smiling and walking metaphorically into their bright future. Don’t guess. I’ll tell you. He’s lost his mind.”
That made Hutch smile. “So he’s turned his attention from you?”
“My friend Kacey sent this to me. I called Tara to congratulate her. She told me Bryce had activated his premium plan of re-wooing. He’s showering her with gifts. Flowers. Begging. Groveling.”
Hutch didn’t like that. “He’s up in her shit?”
Mabel’s grin nearly split her face in two. “She’s having the time of her life.”
All right then.
And at least she was out of that fuckwad’s line of fire. For now.
“And before you ask, her new man not only knows what Bryce did to his fiancée, he knows he’s no threat, and he thinks it’s a scream,” she finished.
“Fantastic, baby,” he said through another smile. “Now gotta go. Kiss.”
They both leaned over the counter to touch lips.