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Chapter Eight
Ethan
Leaving town was kind of tough, especially after the way things ended last night with Riley. I’d thought about stopping by her place a least a dozen times, but I had a plane to catch, and Evan was dropping me off at the airport.
Riley didn’t love me, didn’t want me, so why should I stick around and put myself through it all? I shouldn’t.
I had a future in front of me. A new career path that needed my attention, and I was determined to put my all into it. It was going to be rough, but I would get over her—eventually.
Evan and I chatted on the way to the airport, and then he wished me well and left me standing at the terminal to start my adventure. By mid-afternoon, I was in my rental car and heading to the training center where I’d be staying for the next twelve weeks.
The training center was huge and did a lot more than just polygraph. There were all kinds of law enforcement courses there, including tactical and forensic. Because they had so many classes, they had dorms. There was a specific dorm for the people in my class, call the Liar’s Den. I chuckled as I pulled open the door. There were twenty people in the class, and we would all be in this one building. We had private rooms, although I found that we shared a bathroom with three other people in our quad. We had a good-sized common area with a huge television, pool table, dartboard, and a large kitchen with several tables to accommodate all of us.
There were already two guys there when I arrived, both at least ten years older than me and evidently very seasoned detectives. Man, I was going to have a lot to learn and prove here. I wondered as I got myself unpacked if I would be the youngest guy here.
I checked emails, answered a few texts, and then went to find dinner. In the tavern right down the street, two women were laughing loudly in the corner. One had long honey-blond hair very similar to Riley’s, and I suddenly wished that I could change tables. I didn’t want to do that, but I did switch seats so that my back was to her.
I made it through dinner and returned to my room, pulling out my laptop to read over some information about the class starting tomorrow. When I finished, I put a movie on my computer and started to watch it. I almost went out to the common room, but I heard laughter, and I recognized it as the women from the tavern. Nope. I sure as hell was not ready for that.
The next day, I was up early and started my day with a run. I took off and found a local park with a trail near a small creek. I was walking a circle in the parking lot to cool down when the two women from last night jogged up and stopped.
“Whew! That last half mile was rough!” the blonde said.
I chuckled, forcing myself to be friendly and not turn my back on her. She looked way too much like Riley, for my liking. “How far did you run?”
“Oh, it was supposed to be six miles, but we only managed four,” the brunette said.
The blonde added, “We realized that we shouldn’t have had that last beer last night.” She grinned as she tried to calm her breathing, pacing back and forth in front of me. Her hair was almost exactly the same color as Riley’s. I looked away from her and studied the brunette. She was very athletic-looking, and while she seemed slightly winded, she wasn’t huffing as bad as her friend.
“Are you here for the polygraph class?” the blonde asked.
“Yeah, I assume you guys are too?” I wasn’t going to say that I had heard them last night.
“Yep, we’re from upstate New York,” the blonde replied. She turned to her friend. “I still can’t believe we were lucky enough to be sent together.”
The brunette smiled at her friend and then stepped forward, holding out her hand. “Samantha Revels, and this is Vera Williams.”
I shook her hand. “Ethan Winston, I’m from central PA.” Vera shook my hand after I let go of Samantha’s.
“How old are you?” Vera asked as she studied me carefully.
“Um, thirty-two, why?”
“Glad to see we aren’t the only young ones here. How long have you been a detective?”
I grinned at them. “Would you believe less than two weeks?”
Vera laughed. “You’re kidding.”
I shook my head. “Nope. I’ve been on the force for ten years but worked for a small municipal department. I just got hired at the county level, and the guy who was supposed to come couldn’t make it, so my first assignment was here.”
“Wow! That’s a hell of a training for your first month in investigations,” Samantha remarked.
“You’re telling me. Well, I guess I’ll see you guys in class. I’m going to head in and shower before I find breakfast.”
I couldn’t get away from them fast enough. Vera was just a little bit too much like Riley, and it put me on edge. How was I going to get over the woman if I had a freaking look-alike in my class for the next three months?
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