AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Val, I know. It was all over the news.”
“What?” I breathed, sitting up slightly.
“Yeah, some weird weather phenomenon,” she answered. “I was worried about you. You didn’t call or answer me but, then I figured it was due to the weather. Did you make through all right?”
“Yeah, I did,” I lied.
No, I didn’t.I witnessed a murder by a man I can’t get out of my head.
What’s worse is that I believed him. Mr. Langston said that man wasn’t innocent, andI believed him.
What the hell was wrong with me?
I needed to get out of this town and away from Hallow Ranch.
For the next ten minutes, I proceeded to tell her everything, aside from the murder and my feet getting hurt. By the time I finished, I was exhausted. I didn’t sleep at all last night.
I had laid in a murderer’s bed, thinking about how good his touch felt, how good it was to be taken care of, despite everything that I’d witnessed.
Then, this morning, when I walked down those stairs, I was mentally ready to give myself a clean break. I would be professional and leave. Unfortunately, Denver Langston didn’t give me the chance to do that.
Woman, you saw me kill a man yesterday. I think we’re well past that.
His words rang in my head over and over, etched into it. Along with the memory of his touch. The memory of being lifted into his arms. The memory of being pinned against the wall by him, his smoke and strength surrounding me as he pressed himself into me.
My nipples hardened at the thought.
“Valerie, what in the hell is wrong with you?” I asked aloud, falling back onto the crappy hotel pillows. Maybe I just need therapy.
No, you need sleep. You’re delusional.
I set my phone on the charger and got what I needed. Sleep. When I woke up, I would deal with everything, but right now. I just needed to sleep.
Hayden, CO. Tinkles Bar.
Thebarwasnearlyempty.
There was one stripper on stage, swinging her body around the pole for a married man in the booth in front of her. There were two more men sitting at the bar, drowning their mistakes and sins in liquor.
Behind the bar was a woman.
She was in her mid-thirties but looked fifteen years older.
Her blonde hair was fake as well as her tits. She wore too much makeup that looked like it was purchased from the drug store. She chewed gum like a fucking animal.
A new man came into the bar, dressed in a navy pinstriped suit. He had blonde hair, slicked back and wore a red tie.
Mr. Tim Moonie.
His greedy eyes scanned the titty bar quickly before landing on the blonde behind the counter. He approached her, an oily smile spreading across his face.
“Hey, beautiful,” he greeted.
Under normal circumstances, the woman behind the bar would tell a man to get lost. She didn’t talk to poor men, but Tim Moonie wasn’t a poor man, and she could tell. She looked up and down with her dull brown eyes, the wheels turning in her head.
“Well, hey there, big boy,” she purred.
It was unattractive, but Mr. Moonie didn’t show it. In fact, he overlooked it.
