Chapter Ten Bree #3
“Prick,” Brad hissed as he sat down next to me. “He refuses to close. Profit is more important than people’s lives.”
“Then the next death is on him.” I yawned.
“How was your coffee date with Hayne?”
My mouth dropped. How did he know?
“Oh, he made sure I knew about it.” He looked down at me and was about to say something else when his phone rang. “Damn, one second.” He stepped away, and I guessed it was Sherry. I was sure she’d gotten wind of what had happened and knew I’d be with him.
“Damn, Sherry has been blowing up his phone continuously. Sometimes I think she totally forgets we have a job to do,” Kennedy muttered. “So how was your date with Hayne?” He grinned.
“It was far from a date. Did Brad tell you that?”
“No, I was there when Hayne made sure Brad knew.”
“Shit, Bree, I have to go.” Brad slipped his phone into his pocket. “Here.” He pulled out a set of keys. “Sleep at my place—you’re too tired to drive home.”
All I could picture was him and Sherry coming back to his place with me there. No way. “I’m fine. I’ll text you when I get home. I need a shower, change of clothes, and a large pizza all to myself.” I pushed off the wall and gave my neck a stretch.
“I have a shower, I have clothes, and I can have a pizza sent to my house before you even get there.”
He walked me outside, and I shrugged off his coat, and he hesitated. “Brad, let’s not poke the bear. Clearly, Sherry needs you right now, and I’m fine.” When he huffed out an exasperated breath, I raised a brow. “Thank you, but I’m good.” I handed his coat to him.
His mouth pursed as he studied my outfit again, then he brushed his hair back from his eyes. “I’m sorry. Okay, let me deal with her, and I’ll check in on you later. Ray!” he called out to the older detective. “I want you to walk Bree to her truck.”
“All right.” Ray didn’t look pleased, but he just shrugged.
I shot Brad a slit-eyed look.
“My place or you let him walk you to the truck.”
“I don’t think he likes me,” I said quietly as I pulled my purse over my arm.
He checked the time. “You’ll be fine. Just call me when you get home. Okay?”
“Yes, sir.” I rolled my eyes, then he leaned in with a grin.
He let his lips linger at my jawbone, but to anyone else, it would look like he was speaking to me quietly. “That’s my girl.”
His three simple words sent my libido into overdrive. My skin heated, my chest heaved, and my thighs clenched together. I felt sixteen again. But as quickly as the thrill went through me, flickers of Sophia’s lifeless body pushed through, and our moment quickly faded.
“Call me later.” He tapped my bare thigh as he pulled back. I blinked and tried to gather myself from the grief that had taken over me. “Night.”
I watched him race off in the opposite direction of my truck with the phone to his ear. “Night,” I managed to whisper as I clung to the thrill that ran through me.
Ray walked over to join me, and I took a deep breath of chilly air and folded my arms. I wished I’d kept Brad’s jacket. Mine was in the truck along with my warm boots.
I fought for something to say. “I forgot how quickly the sun drops this time of year.” Ray wasn’t good at small talk. He barely got words out before he questioned someone.
“So, you think you saw him?” Ray grunted in the normal cranky voice he used with me.
I nodded. “Yes, I do, which is why I want to see all the footage, not just what the owner offered us.”
“There’re protocols in place.”
“And I understand that,” I said and tried to curb my frustration. “I’m just saying I hope that something shows itself before anyone else dies.”
“Does this mean you’ll be sticking around town?”
I looked over at him. “Would that bother you?”
“What bothers me is Cap bringing in someone with no experience and no education or understanding of the justice system just so we can bend the rules a little.” He made no move to start walking.
“My truck isn’t far. Can we go?” I was frozen, and now he’d pissed me off. “And to address your comment, first, I am educated and have a very good understanding of the justice system. Second, from what I hear, you have quite the reputation for bending the rules from time to time as well.”
“Stone tell you that?”
“No.” I would never toss Brad under the bus. “But people talk.”
“Yeah, well, don’t believe everything you hear.”
I chuckled. “Shouldn’t that go both ways?” I winced as my feet throbbed. Wearing heels for so many hours was a bad idea. I groaned as we made our way through the parking lot and onto the street. “Ray, you seem to have had a problem with me since the day I arrived. Why is that?”
“The guys don’t need the distraction. We need to stay focused—not showing up at a club to find our consultant dressed like a pinup girl in some sleazy tattoo parlor.”
“Wow.” I laughed in disbelief. “Please don’t sugarcoat your answer.”
“I never have, and I ain’t startin’ with you.”
I turned to face him dead on, tired of his attitude.
“Fine, have a problem with me, snicker behind my back about how I dress. I had to play the part of a female looking to blow off some steam. I did everything by the book, just like you would have if you were undercover. I know I was close to luring him out.”
“But you didn’t lure him out,” he said, and I saw red. “Fuck.” He suddenly held a hand up in my face as he answered a call. Wow, he was rude.
I stepped back with a curse of my own.
“Yeah, all right.” He hung up and looked over his shoulder in the direction we came from. “I forgot something.”
“As much as this conversation has been the highlight of my evening, please go.” My voice dripped with sarcasm as I waved him off. “My truck’s just around the corner in the parking garage.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice.” He turned on his heel and headed back toward the club.
“What an asshole.” I felt the exhaustion kick back in as I rounded the corner and headed through the parking lot.
Normally, I’d make an extra effort with people to try to make them see me for who I was, but Ray could suck it.
I didn’t think he even wanted to see me any differently.
He’d made up his mind about me. “Stubborn ass.” I shook the stress from my body as I thought of the comfort I’d soon have in my favorite jammies.
The idea of curling up in the back of my pickup also appealed.
A ripple of fear suddenly went through me as my ears picked up a sound.
I focused on the footsteps that I could hear behind me.
I turned, but no one was there. “You’re fine, Bree.
” I needed to keep my head focused, or it could spin out to dark places.
I pulled out my keys and threaded them through my fingers.
Solar plexus, instep, nose, and groin. I chanted the Sing self-defense moves repeatedly.
I’d taken several classes over the years, and though I wasn’t the best at self-defense, at least I tried and knew the basics.
My biggest hurdle was always my mental state—anything remotely terrifying brought me right back to that day at the river and the way his eyes had paralyzed me.
One of my teachers told me my head would be my downfall if I were ever attacked.
Maybe he was right, but therapy just wasn’t for me.
I kept my quick pace and even contemplated removing my shoes to stop their echo, but that would mean having to slow down.
Again, the sound found its way to me, and my fingers flexed around my purse strap.
There was no need to panic. I wasn’t the only one parked here.
A car from above came rolling down, looking for the exit.
They slowed when they saw me, and I fought the urge to flag them down.
I didn’t want to be alone in the garage.
Finally, I spotted my truck and breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived.
I heard a sudden quick footstep behind me.
With terror coursing through me, I forced myself to turn around.
Then, like in my nightmare, I saw a figure step out from between two cars.
My entire body went cold as the person, dressed in jeans and a dress shirt, with some sort of rag over his face, took a step toward me.
His ball cap cast a shadow over his face, so I couldn’t see his eyes. My knees felt weak.
“Bree Jaminson,” he called out. My mouth went dry, and my hands shook. “I thought it was time we met.”
No.
“You’re so much prettier than your videos.” The ringing in my ears made it hard to think.
“How.” I struggled to get my words from my brain to my lips. “How do you know my name?”
He lifted his head, and for a split second the light above him revealed his eyes. The wrinkles around them seemed like he smiled, but then they were masked by the shadow again. He pulled his hand out of his pocket, and I saw the stain on his thumb. “I know a lot more than your name.”
“Who are you? What videos?” I tried to buy myself a moment to think while my brain spun out on me.
His head tilted. “I think you already know who I am.” He took a step toward me, and I lost it.
Fight or flight kicked in, and I flexed the keys in my palm as I counted in my head. One, two, three. I took off running toward my truck, my heels pounding the pavement as I fought for traction. My fingers shook when I desperately tried to insert the key into the old truck door.
I glanced at the reflection in the window to make sure he wasn’t coming up behind me.
Finally, I yanked the door open, hopped inside, locked the door, and started the beast’s engine.
I didn’t look for other cars—I just pulled out and tore toward the exit, then checked my mirrors, but there was no sign of him following.
My heart beat out of my chest as it looked for some kind of escape, and it only slowed when I got out of there and into a more populated area.
At a stoplight, I pulled out my phone with shaky hands and called Brad.
It went straight to voicemail again. Damn.