Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
I’d even taken out a guard at one point—a man that’d had it coming to him after his fourth punishment.
Lucky for me, no one knew exactly who’d taken him out.
The dumbass cop had tried to play it sneaky to get to me when no one was around.
The only problem was, no one was around to save him from me when he’d tried to take me off guard.
“Creed.” Romeo’s impatient voice jolted me out of my thoughts. “What do you want?”
I winced. “Okay, so I think she’s okay, but your sister-in-law was in an accident. She slipped on some oil that was coating the road and slid headfirst into the grill of my department vehicle. She’s on her way to the hospital.”
Romeo cursed. “Goddammit. We can’t get out of here tonight, either. We’ve already tried. Vito and Grace were in an accident involving an elk in Idaho.”
“Damn,” I murmured.
Vito was Birdee biological father and Cody’s stepfather.
Cody was Mable’s best friend, and Birdee’s stepsister.
Grace was Cody’s mom.
All of them were still somewhat hesitant when it came to Birdee.
Vito and Birdee’s mother had a tumultuous relationship. From the moment Birdee was conceived, Whitney had started her scheming. In the end, Whitney kept Birdee away from Vito. Vito had stayed away from Birdee because he’d given up trying to fight Whitney.
Honestly, if you asked me, Vito had fucked up.
He should’ve never stopped fighting.
I wouldn’t have.
If I had a child out there that was mine, I would move goddamn mountains to be a part of that child’s life.
“What do you want me to do?” I asked.
“I’ll call Cody and tell her what’s going on. But she’s likely going to be with her parents. Nothing against Birdee but…”
But Birdee was still a bit of an outsider.
It was understandable.
You couldn’t change your opinions on someone when you’d been thinking you hated them for your entire life.
Cody had despised Birdee because of what she’d done to Vito—or what she’d been told that Birdee had done.
Vito had been the father to Cody that he should’ve been to Birdee.
Sure, they were trying to work together to become what they always should have been, but things like that took time.
“Okay,” I said. “I’m keeping tabs on your dog, and I’ll keep you updated if I hear anything.”
Romeo grunted out a “Thanks” and I hung up.
Shoving the phone back into my pocket, I turned to Gentry.
“What’s the next step?” I asked.
“Well, first off we’re going to document the oil spill like it should’ve been documented. Then we’re going to get the city out here fast to clean it up so we don’t have anyone else hurting themselves. Then we’re going to have to make a few calls, because if I was Birdee, I’d contact a lawyer and sue the pants off the sheriff’s department. If they’d been out here like they should have, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“No,” I agreed. “It wouldn’t have.”
It took another forty minutes to get the scene cleaned up, and I left just as the cleaning crew from the city arrived.
I headed home after checking on Brawny, even though something inside of me told me that I should go to the hospital instead.
Three
I have selective hearing. I’m sorry you weren’t selected today.
—Creed to his boss
Creed
I was home for an hour—still thinking about a certain curly brown-haired woman—when my phone rang.
Not recognizing the number, I answered it with a hesitant, “Hello?”
“Hey, Creed. It’s Cody.”
I sighed. “Cody, what’s up?”
“I wanted to see if you could go get Birdee from the hospital,” she said. “I called a few other people, but they couldn’t go. Her options are to walk home or get a ride, and I was hoping you’d give her a ride. I don’t want to worry about her getting home.”
I looked at the clock. “You think she won’t have a problem getting into the car with a stranger?”
“Birdee has no sense of self-preservation,” she said. “She’s a thrill seeker. She’ll probably have no issue getting into a vehicle with a practical stranger.”
“Why do you say that about her like it’s a bad thing?” I laughed. “She can’t be that bad.”
“She’s a snake milker.”
I blinked.
“Your sister does what?”
“She’s a snake milker,” Cody repeated.
I blinked hard, and I wasn’t sure if that was why I couldn’t hear Cody correctly.
“You’re serious?” I asked.
“Dead serious,” she promised. “Though, that’s not all she does. She’s a scientist in real life. But she does the snake milking and works at the medical facility that also makes anti-venom for people that get bitten by poisonous snakes.”
“Venomous,” I corrected automatically.
Cody scoffed. “She’s the smartest person that I know.”
“Yet, she’s terrible with computers?” I found myself asking.
I’d met Birdee several times in a group setting, but I’d yet to spend time with her alone.
And getting her from a hospital that was thirty minutes away from her home and driving back with her when I barely knew her?