Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“Tell me,” she prodded him.
“Okay. So, without too much digging, I found out that people did in fact leave because of you.”
“Oh no,” she whimpered.
“No, no, it’s fine,” he soothed her, smiling. “It’s not because you did or said anything bad about Elevation, it’s because they love you.”
“What?”
“People wanted to go where you are because they loved it when you filled in as a teacher, and because, apparently, when it’s hot, you insisted that Mindi turn on the AC.”
She grimaced. “I did do that. I was a pain about the AC,” she told him. “I mean, it is the summer, so I’m thinking that should be a thing.”
He chuckled. “I would agree. They also like that when only four people showed up for class, and the instructor cancelled, that you would step in and teach.”
“I wasn't supposed to,” she told him, biting her lip.
“But you did, and people really appreciated it. Especially those coming across town to be there, or parents carving out time for self-care. It's a very big deal.”
“Or was, since I’m not there anymore.”
“Exactly. I mean, all she really has to do is read her Yelp reviews, and we’re drawing her attention to that in the letter that’s being drafted to answer her suit.”
“You're sending her a letter?”
“Oh yes. She’s going to get slapped with a hell of a countersuit if she doesn't cease and desist.”
“I'm loving this,” she told him.
“Also, there’s no evidence, anywhere, that you said anything about her. The wives of the men she’s slept with, on the other hand––”
Hannah gasped. “She’s married.”
“Yes, I know,” he said, arching an eyebrow for her. “But apparently that didn’t stop her. It’s those women who are calling her a whore, not you.”
“I can’t believe this.”
He chuckled, and it was both flirty and filthy at the same time. “Believe it. Between that and her harping on religion when people come in to do yoga—she’s bleeding customers.”
“So what does Mr. Jenner think?”
“That she’ll drop the suit. But if she doesn’t, he’s confident that he can get hers thrown out, and then he’ll go for blood. He’s a lawyer after all.”
“Oh, that’s great.” She exhaled sharply. “I was worried.”
“Don’t worry,” he said softly. “We got you.”
Hannah was staring at him with her big brown eyes, and I was thinking his brain was melting right there in front of me.
She smiled at him. “I would love to take you to dinner to say thank you.”
I wanted to ask my daughter if she’d lost her mind. He was too old for her. And she was underage.
“I would love that,” he said, his voice a sultry whisper.
I was going to throw up.
Thankfully, at that moment, Sam Kage arrived home. I didn’t look at my husband. I rested my chin on my palm instead and kept my eyes on Erik Dahl.
To him, I was guessing, it was like those wildlife shots of grizzly bears. The ones where the bears started off small and far away and then they got bigger the closer the bears got until the entire frame was just bear.
Erik looked over at the garage, and Sam from there, not so bad. But then he moved, crossed the driveway—I could hear his dress shoes in the gravel—and the man in front of me started to realize that the chief deputy was larger than he appeared at first glance.
There was the squeak of the gate, and then Sam’s feet on the stairs, and the groan of the wood under his weight. Moments later, Sam’s shadow came over the table.
“Who’re you?” Sam asked with his usual growl. He never, ever, liked people he didn’t know in the house when he came home. He was very much not a man who enjoyed strangers.
Erik stood slowly, offering his hand to Sam, no smile now, all business. It was good that he seemed to have some self-preservation instincts. “I’m Erik Dahl, in-house investigator for Richard Jenner.”
Sam grasped his hand. “Sam Kage, Hannah’s father.”
Erik nodded. “Pleasure to meet you, sir. I’ve been working on Hannah’s case, and I think we have it all sorted at this point.”
Sam dropped his hand and just stood there, scowling. “Well, that’s good to hear.”
Hannah’s phone chirped then, and she caught her breath.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her.
“Crap,” was all she said, getting up fast and rushing to the back door. She stopped suddenly and turned around. “I have your number, Erik, so I'll call you.”
“Please do,” he croaked out, not at all confident with Sam Kage hovering over him. He looked smaller, but Sam tended to have that effect on most men.
She then bolted into the house.
We both looked at Erik.
“This Mindi Bisbee business will be put to bed quickly.”
“We appreciate that,” I said before Sam could speak.
At the same moment, a black sedan pulled up beside the fence in our driveway, and after the car was turned off, out stepped George Hunt, resplendent in a Hugo Boss suit that fit like a glove. He buttoned his suit jacket and started over to the gate.