Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 36019 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36019 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
“Think she’s involved?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But she’s connected somehow. I’m texting you her info along with the address of the parking garage. I’ll email you everything else we’ve collected on the situation.”
I glanced around at the shit show we were still cleaning up. “You need me to go there now?”
“I don’t think there’s any need to go right this minute. Besides, don’t you live like over an hour from Chattanooga? It’s the fucking ass crack of dawn.”
“More reason to go now. I’m over two hours away,” I grunted.
“You’re in Nashville?”
“Yeah. Dealing with club shit.”
A second later, my phone buzzed. One image. I didn’t see anything else.
I opened it without thinking—and then fucking stopped breathing.
The photo wasn’t much. A snapshot taken from a distance, but it was sharp, making it easy to pick out the details. But even through the pixel haze, she was…gorgeous. Black curls tumbled down her back in a riot of soft chaos. Her skin had a warm glow, her jaw was tight with focus, and she was squinting at a set of blueprints like they’d personally insulted her. Long legs in fitted jeans, safety vest flung open, clipboard balanced on one hip.
But what stopped me cold were her eyes.
Even in low res, I could tell they were violet.
Who the fuck had eyes like that?
My dick woke up like it had been shot full of adrenaline. The damn thing hadn’t twitched for a woman in longer than I wanted to admit. But now it roared to life.
Heat spiked low in my gut, fierce and instinctive. I didn’t know her name yet—but I already knew she was mine.
“What’s her name?” I asked, voice rougher than I wanted.
“Peyton Carr. Twenty. Civil engineering student. Finishing up her junior year. We thought she was just nosy, but now I’m not so sure.”
I let the silence stretch for a second, still staring at her photo.
“Reid?” Kelley prompted.
“I’m on it,” I muttered. “Send me the garage specs. And the collapse reports.”
“You still got access to your old blast modeling shit?”
“You think I’d ever throw that out?”
He snorted. “Didn’t figure. Call me if you find anything.”
The line went dead.
I just stood there for a minute, phone still glowing in my hand, her photo burning into my brain.
Maverick’s voice cut in behind me. “That your rescue bat-signal phone?”
I didn’t look up. “Something like that.”
He wandered closer. “You okay?”
I didn’t answer.
He stepped up to my side, and I glanced up to see him staring at the screen. Saw her picture. And the way I was looking at it. Fuck.
His mouth curled into a shit-eating grin. “You better not be falling for a woman off a damn photo.”
“Don’t,” I growled.
Maverick laughed, full-bodied and wicked. “Oh, this is gonna be fun. You gave Hawk so much hell for that shit.”
“Fuck off.”
“I’m just sayin’. She’s cute. Real sweet lookin’. Might even like you back, once she gets past your resting murder face.”
I glared at him, but it didn’t land.
He just slapped me on the back. “Go handle your shit, brother.”
I shoved my phone back in my pocket and stalked toward my bike. The night was thick and still, but the pulse in my throat was rapid.
I didn’t know what I’d find.
Didn’t know if she was part of the problem or the key to the truth.
But after I checked out this site, I was gonna find her and figure it out.
2
PEYTON
“Tell me again why you’re doing this so early on a Saturday morning instead of sleeping in like a normal college student?”
I rolled my eyes at my roommate as I shoved an infrared camera into my backpack and zipped it shut. “Because I want to be employed after graduation.”
Jennifer leaned against the doorframe of our bathroom, arms crossed over her chest. “How many times do I need to remind you that you’re not even a senior yet?”
“As often as I have to explain that it hasn’t stopped me from being obsessed with my capstone project already.” I tucked my phone into the back pocket of my jeans before glancing up at her. “I’m telling you, something suspicious is going on here. These collapses can't be random.”
She gave me a familiar look. One that made it clear she was equal parts amused and concerned. “You sound like one of those true crime podcasters who think everything is a conspiracy.”
“And look how many cold cases have been solved because they can’t stop digging into them,” I pointed out.
Jennifer shook her head with an exasperated sigh. “And you’re off to investigate alone. What happened to centering your project around peer-reviewed research? Or even just field work that doesn’t require you to traipse around buildings could be falling apart, for all you know?”
I paused in front of the mirror to pull my hair into a low ponytail. “I just want to check the parking garage out and compare it to the blueprints and inspection records I pulled. I’ll be in and out in thirty minutes.”