Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 136425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 682(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 682(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Her mom was an excellent judge of character.
“I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt.”
Lacey gently closed the closet door. “I’m sure you didn’t mean to hurt your aunt or cousin, but you absolutely meant to hurt Zach, and good on you. You scored a perfect hit since both his parents are wanted criminals and they’re the reason he’s in this position, though you know everything, so I’m sure you knew that. Way to kick a man when he’s down.”
Oh, she knew nothing. “He didn’t talk about his father. He just told me his mom was in and out of jail and his aunt raised him.”
“I’m surprised he mentioned them at all. He was vulnerable with you, and you stabbed him right where he told you to. Like I said, now I believe you’re a Taggart. Should I move the cat or can you leave her be?”
Devi blinked back tears. He had told her about his mom. They laid in bed between bouts of ridiculously hot sex and he talked about his childhood and how hard it had been.
And she’d slid the knife in.
But damn it, he lied to her. He wrecked her damn life.
“I’m not going to hurt the cat.”
“Then I’ll let you be. Like I said the sea is that way,” she said, pointing to the east. “You can walk right in and swim your way back to your fabulous life where you don’t have to worry about the world exploding or burning, or well, any of the tragedies we’re on the verge of. You can swim off and go back to your happy life. If you don’t, we have tea at four and supper at 7:30. I’m off to town to pick up the list of shite Zach thinks you need. I should also apparently pick up something stronger than Mum’s tea since Zach is going to end up on the couch, and it won’t fit him. He was right about the one bed. I’m certainly not giving up mine.”
Lacey walked out and shut the door.
Guilt swamped Devi but she took a deep breath and sat back on the bed. To the side, the cat hissed again.
Yeah, she knew how that feline felt.
* * * *
Zach was still reeling three hours later as he looked out over the peaceful pasture. It was all green and covered in grass and wildflowers. Beautiful. There were goats and chickens and a number of alpacas, and the weird shaggy cows Lacey gushed about. There were mangy dogs hanging out with kind of mean geese. It was not a place he ever thought to be. Most people thought he was a country boy when he mentioned he grew up in a trailer. Nope. He was urban white trash. Land cost money, and his family never had that, despite all the crimes his parents participated in. Shouldn’t there have been some kind of upside?
A horse wandered by, huffing as he moved. The horse was old and probably slated to be glue when Lacey’s group swooped in and brought him to the farm so he could eat grass and fart and die peacefully.
Zach wished there was a farm for spies.
After the debacle with Devi, he’d gone over the reports concerning the night before. None of them mentioned that Zach had been at the Virginia estate that burned to the ground. Devi’s name hadn’t made the reports, either. According to the reports filed by his former team members, it had been Cooper McKay who saved the day and the team.
Kala Taggart had done pretty much everything she promised him when they met in the Colorado woods, and Cooper finally figured out who he truly was. Instead of arresting him, Kala had listened and told him she would help. Made him promise to come home when he had what he needed.
It was almost surely Kala who sent him the writeups of the fallout from burning down Huisman’s place in Virginia. He sent her a single name.
Raymond White.
His dad. Biological dad. That man hadn’t given a real damn about him except in how he could use his son to manipulate Shannon Reed.
And it looked like nothing had changed with dear old Dad.
Kala would put it together quickly, and he had no doubt she would have Lou on it before they got back to Dallas.
Had he made a terrible mistake? Devi hated him. Hated him. Somehow he hadn’t thought she would hate him. He’d known she was mad. He’d kind of viewed her acting out as a call for him to pay attention to her, but what if this wasn’t about him beyond the fact that he was the bad guy?
He stood outside the pretty cottage he was going to have to share with her for now. He should call her mom, send her home, and pray she followed directions this time.