Mike chuckled.
They went back to the station, did what they had to do to end their days, and Garrett got to his place just in time for Cher to give him a kiss and rush out to work.
Taking one look at Ethan on his couch, he shrugged off his suit jacket and installed the Xbox.
Ethan went for it with some video game, but he did it jabbering to Garrett about his day. The sound of the TV and Ethan talking made his condo seem a lot less crappy-ass than it always did.
Garrett listened as he went for some food, finding he had more of it in his kitchen than he’d ever had in his life, including the part of his life that he shared with his ex-wife.
He made a sandwich.
And later, he and Ethan polished off one of the three bags of Oreos Cher had stocked, doing this while watching sports talk shows before they both hit the sack—Ethan, because he was a kid and was supposed to go to bed early; Garrett, because he’d been woken up early by a murder and was glad to put the day behind him.
But before he turned out the light, he made one call.
“Was pissed at you. Now pissed that I’m worried about you,” he told Ryker’s voicemail, then ordered, “Call me, Ryker.”
He hung up, hit the lights, and stretched out in bed.
He fell asleep.
Ryker did not call.
*
He approached the car.
It wasn’t a Fiesta.
It was a blue Equinox.
He didn’t want to approach, but his feet kept moving, taking him there.
He stopped outside the driver’s side door.
Shards of glass in her hair and on her clothing, sitting in a pool of her own blood, her top drenched with it.
Cher.
Garrett’s eyes shot open as his body jolted.
He stared at the dark, feeling cold because of the dream and the slick of sweat on his skin.
“Fuck,” he whispered, lifting his hands, pressing the pads of his palms to his eye sockets, forcing stars to shoot through his eyes in order to obliterate the residue of that dream. “Fuck,” he repeated.
He got it.
Finally, he got it. He understood.
His poison was different from Rocky’s.
He thought it was the same.
It wasn’t.
Now he understood.
He just had even less of a clue what to do about it.
But he knew who did.
*
Cher
At quarter to four in the morning, I let myself into Merry’s.
I shrugged off my jacket and silently put it and my purse on the dining room table.
The Xbox was not on the floor but in one of the shelves that had been empty, but now was not, under Merry’s TV.
My kid was sleeping on the couch.
It was a pullout that Merry had pulled out and put sheets and a thick blanket on.
But it was still a couch.
Something had to be done about that, but Ethan didn’t look uncomfortable.
He looked out.
Tomorrow.
I moved down the dark hall and saw Merry standing outside the door to his bedroom.
A near-to-four-in-the-morning welcome home.
Nice.
I said nothing.
He said nothing.
But when I got close enough, he hooked me with an arm around my waist and pulled me into his room.
The door catching barely made a noise.
Merry shuffled me back as I lifted my hands to his chest.
“Need to get my kid a bed, baby,” I whispered.
“I’ll talk to the guys. See what we can arrange for tomorrow.”
I nodded.
“Catch a killer?” I asked.
I saw his grin even in the dark.
“Not yet.”
My legs hit bed, then Merry and me hit bed, him on top.
His mouth went to my neck.
“You tired?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I answered.
His hand slid up my side, taking my shirt with it. “How tired?”
I shivered the good kind of shiver. “Not that tired.”
His hand slid over my ribs and started going up.
“Can you fuck quiet?” he asked.
My hands slid down his bare back until they encountered pajama bottoms.
Soft.
Flannel.
Nice.
“Absolutely,” I answered.
His mouth came to mine and I felt his smile before he kissed me.
We fucked hard. We fucked quick. It was great.
And we managed to do it quiet.
Chapter Nineteen
Hoping I Was Wrong
Hold On
Kristen Ashley's books
- Holding the Dream
- Dance Upon the Air
- High Noon
- Moon Island(Vampire Destiny Book 7)
- Illusion(The Vampire Destiny Book 2)
- Upon A Midnight Clear
- Son Of The Morning
- MacKenzie's mission(MacKenzie Family Saga #2)
- Loving Evangeline(Patterson-Cannon Family series #1)
- A Billionaire's Redemption
- A Convenient Proposal
- A Dishonorable Knight
- A Headstrong Woman
- A Passion for Pleasure
- Atonement
- Beyond a Doubt
- Beyond Control
- Cavanaugh on Duty
- Colton's Dilemma (Shadow Breeds)
- Conceal, Protect
- Conflict of Interest
- Confessing to the Cowboy
- Dreams Don't Wait
- Explosive Attraction
- Find Wonder in All Things
- Forbidden Fires (Bondage & Breakfast)
- Galveston Between Wind and Water
- Game On
- Gone with the Wolf
- Honor's Players
- Illusions of Love
- Intaglio Dragons All The Way Down
- Just One Song
- Living London
- Lone Wolf (Shifters Unbound)
- Love Resolution
- Lyon's Crew
- Mountain Moonlight
- Need A Want Companion Novel
- Of One Heart
- Once a Bad Girl
- Once a Thief
- Once Again a Bride
- Once and Again
- Once Touched, Never Forgotten
- Once Upon a Kiss
- Once Upon a Prince
- One Desert Night
- One More Kiss
- One More Sleepless Night
- One Night of Misbehavior
- One Night Standoff
- One Texas Night
- Only Love (The Atonement Series)
- Operation Endurance
- Primal Bonds
- Questions of Trust A Medical Romance
- Reflection Point
- Retribution
- Savage Redemption
- Second Chance
- Secure Location
- Someone I Used to Know
- Son of a Preacher Man
- Soul Bonded
- Sunset Seduction
- Sweet as Honey (The Seven Sisters)
- Sweet On You
- Tempting Cameron
- That Carrington Magic
- The Bridgertons Happily Ever After
- The Demon's Song
- The Dragon and the Pearl
- The Lone Rancher
- The Millionaire Cowboy's Secret
- Translation of Love
- Twisted Perfection
- Vision In White
- When Love's Gone Country
- The Lost Tycoon
- Down on Her Knees
- Love, Your Concierge
- A Demon Made Me Do It
- Campbell_Book One
- The Lady of Bolton Hill
- Born to Ride_A Clubhouse Collection
- A Question of Honor
- Blood on Copperhead Trail
- Passion and the Prince
- Top Secret Twenty-One
- Dungeon Royale
- Make Me Bad(Private Lessons)
- My Fair Billionaire
- Writing Our Song:A Billionaire Romance
- Kissed by Moonlight
- Redemption in Love
- The Masterful Mr. Montague
- Diamonds are Forever
- Every Second with You
- If You Only Knew