Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 120186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Tanner’s mouth drops open. Too bad I only get a pinprick of satisfaction in his shocked expression seconds before his brown eyes harden into chips of flint. The mask slips, and he knows I see him now. He stops hiding.
“Exactly what do the Bishops have to do with any of this?”
I won’t apologize for the laugh that bursts out of me, especially not when it makes him flinch. He might have joined the police force with the hope of making life better for people, but he’s fallen mighty far from that goal. And he damn well knows it. “For one thing, when I ran into Calder Bishop and told him Saint was missing, he acted all sorts of sketchy.”
The corners of his mouth twitch. “That’s not exactly proof of anything. Calder isn’t what you would call warm and charming on his best day.”
“Have you even looked into him? Any of them, or are they so far up your ass, you can’t see them?”
His eyes narrow, and his jaw sets. I know I’ve pushed him too far, but I’m not willing to give up. Not on my best friend.
“We have nothing to lead us to believe—”
I cut him off before he finishes. “He knows something, and I don’t care if you don’t have evidence to make you see the truth. You need to check. Dig deeper.”
“I know you want an answer, Allie, but blaming anyone you see fit ain’t how we do things.”
“I want more than an answer. I want you to give a fuck that a young woman from your town is missing!”
“We do care, and we’re doing everything in—”
“Stop with the bullshit. Stop pretending. You aren’t doing shit, and we both know it,” I growl. “I guess if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”
I don’t miss the slight twitch of his jaw and the rage flickering in his eyes. He’s fed up with me, and that’s fine, because I’m fed up with him too.
I shake my head and shove out of the chair. I’m done relying on cops who don’t deserve the badge they wear to do something.
“Don’t be stirrin’ up trouble, Allie,” Sheriff Tanner calls out as I walk away.
Every muscle in my body tightens. The motherfucking audacity. I whirl around and lean over his desk, staring straight into his eyes.
“You’re not my daddy, Tanner, so don’t try to tell me what to do. And trouble isn’t what I’m going to cause. I’ll find Saint since you all are too incompetent to do your job. If you stand in my way, I’ll call some of my friends at the FBI. Have them all over this place in hours.” I want him to know that I’m not afraid of him—of them—and I won’t stop until I find her.
He draws himself up like I’ve finally, finally reached him. “Threatening an officer is a crime.”
“Then arrest me,” I counter, then smile when he doesn’t say a single word. My grin grows, turning a little feral. “That’s what I thought.”
Unfazed by his anger, I walk out of the police station with my head held high and ignore the disgusted looks from the other two officers. I hope they know if Tanner goes down, they’re going down with him. I’ll expose every dirty secret they have.
Once I’m outside, the evening air washes some of the heat from my skin, though it doesn’t help the pure fury still simmering through me.
I scan the mountains along the horizon, the peaks rising into the darkening sky, while I try to calm down. All the frustration, fear, and anger coursing through me make it hard to draw a full breath. Tears sting the corners of my eyes, but I blink them back. None of these assholes will wring tears out of me.
Think. Think.
Saint is out there somewhere. I know she is. And no one seems to care, except her father and me. The thought tightens my chest as I duck my chin and walk to my car, my hands deep in the pockets of my leather jacket. I sigh, lifting my shoulders around my ears, as if it will do anything to ease the fear that has been rooted inside me since I found Saint’s house suspended in time.
But this is more than fear. I’ve never considered myself someone who doesn’t understand the world and how it works. Some might call me jaded. I like to think of it as wisdom. I’m well aware certain people would never garner a search party. Their disappearances are ignored or, even worse, shrugged off as inevitable. People who live on the wrong side of the law, or who walk the line between life and death.
Saint isn’t one of those people.
That’s what makes this so hard to believe. If someone as kind and giving as Saintlyn James can go missing and not get even a shred of concern? It has to mean foul play. Tanner is covering for someone. And I highly suspect it’s the Bishops. It has to be. No one in this town would hurt Saint. No one except one of them.