Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 63139 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63139 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
He chuckles. “I don’t have back hair, babe.”
“Are you sure about that?”
He grins. “Pretty damn sure.”
“Well, if it’s not the back hair then it’s ...”
“Gabby, it’s fine. You don’t have to play it off. I get it. I feel it too.”
Oh.
Right.
Straight to the point.
I bite my lip. “You do?”
“Yeah, I do. Especially when you got arrested. Fuck, it made me crazy.”
“Oh. Well. In that case, I guess I can sleep in your bed. You should know, sometimes I snore and it’s not a sweet, innocent snore, it’s like a bear with a cold.”
He chuckles. “I’ll take it, now, let’s go. I’m not done with you.”
Well.
Okay then.
14
“OKAY, SO, WE ONLY HAVE one chance at gettin’ this right,” Riggs tells us all the next day in the garage, as we try to get back to a semi-normal life until this can get sorted.
I insisted on coming back to work, I need something to take my mind off it.
“Any suggestions how we do that?” Remy asks him. “The man is smart; he’s covered all his bases. It’s not goin’ to be easy to catch him out.”
“No, it won’t be easy, but it’s not impossible. He was the one who buried that girl and because of that, his DNA will be all over her body.”
“Wait,” I say, shaking my head, “you want to find her body?”
“He couldn’t have gone far. Fact is, he is smart but he’s not a killer which means he likely didn’t think everything through. If we can find her, we can not only put her family’s minds to rest, but we can have him locked away for life.”
“You don’t just go find a body, Riggs,” I say, shaking my head. “That’s not how it works.”
“No, you’re right, it isn’t, but Bradley knows where that body is.”
“Brad isn’t going to help. Brad is so far up my father’s ass they’re one of the same,” I mumble.
“You think there’s not a reason for that?” Riggs goes on, crossing his arms. “Bradley wants what your father has, and if we can convince him of how well off he’ll be if your father is locked away, we might just sway him in our direction.”
I shake my head. “He’s so loyal, he won’t do it.”
“I think you’re wrong,” Remy says, carefully. “I think he will do it. The man is as fuckin’ selfish and power hungry as your father. He wants to run that empire and, given the chance, I think he’ll take it.”
“And if he doesn’t take it,” I snap. “Then what? My father knows your little plan and that body will never be found again.”
“It’s the only chance we have, Gabby,” Remy says carefully. “Your father is too powerful for us to use what little evidence we have. Even if Becky testifies, there is no proof her story is true. It won’t hold up.”
“Maybe what they have against me won’t hold up either,” I say, almost desperately. “Maybe we just let this play out. They don’t have much against me, surely no jury is going to believe I did it.”
“Are you goin’ to take that risk?” Hugh pipes up. “Are you honestly okay with that?”
Fuck.
I close my eyes, struggling for calm. “Okay, so let’s say we do get Brad, how the fuck are you going to convince him to risk everything and help you?”
“We’re pretty persuasive.” Riggs grins. “And he doesn’t have to help us, he just needs to tell us where that body is. Then he can go back to sucking up your dad’s ass, he’ll never know anything better, and by the time he does, he’ll be in prison for a very fucking long time.”
“What about if he calls a hit against Brad, for telling, that’s a possibility,” I point out. “Brad will be too scared that’ll happen and won’t say a word.”
“Your father wouldn’t know where to fuckin’ start,” Riggs mutters. “This is our only option, Gabriella. If we can’t find that body, we’ve got nothing but he said she said, and that ain’t enough to keep you out of prison.”
“Fuck,” I mutter. “Fuck. What if I can get him to confess? I can go over there wired ...”
“Your dad ain’t that stupid, honey,” Remy says gently. “He’s not goin’ to say a word.”
“There has to be something,” I cry. “This is the worst plan ever.”
“It’s the only one we’ve got, and we need you on board. Becky agrees, and she’s willing to help.”
I bite my tongue, so hard I taste blood.
I don’t have a choice here.
They’re making that clear.
“I need a break, for just a second,” I say. “I’m going to Wildflowers.”
I turn and walk off, because, honestly, I don’t know how much more I can take.
If this doesn’t work ... which it won’t, then I’m going down.
Forever.
God dammit.
“HOW ARE YOU, DEAR?” Doris asks me when I sit down beside her table with a muffin and a coffee.