AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She walked into the marble bathroom, finding her wet clothes in a pile on the shower’s threshold. Picking up the clump, she dug through it to find her phone, glad of its waterproof case.
Glowing under the time, 1:57 a.m., were several messages from Kensley.
Good luck tomorrow! I put it on your calendar :)she’d sent at 9:07 p.m.
Let me know if you need a ride,she sent at 10:10 p.m.
You won’t ditch the exam, will you?she asked at 10:41.
You are going, right?was the last message Kensley had sent at 11:03 p.m.
She shook out the wet clothes and hung them over the glass of the shower’s half wall, then pulled two thick towels off the rack and wrapped herself in them. She walked back into the bedroom and crawled under the covers, staring at the phone.
I’d LOVE to ditch for derby practice, but we lost our warehouse,she replied to Kensley.So I guess I’m going to sit for the exam.
It was probably mean to text her pregnant former boss at two in the morning, but she was pretty sure Kensley wouldn’t care. Nita passing the bar had become a personal crusade for Kensley.
“At least someone will be happy,” she murmured, going to her calendar and seeingNita Kicks Ass at her Bar Exam????. She smiled as she pictured the very serious Kensley searching for just the right emojis.
She thought back to how nervous she’d been about taking the exam. It meant stepping up and becoming a lawyer, something that had seemed so scary just a few days ago. After last night, though, it seemed like such a mundane thing to sit in a room and write answers on a piece of paper.
This was good, though. She would get on with her life and put everything that had happened that week behind her. She’d write the test, pass the test, complete the admitted process and get her license. Bam! Pretty boring stuff, considering she’s just fallen onto—into?—a dead body.
She looked at the exam time and calculated how that fit into the rest of her morning. An hour to the testing center, another hour to get ready, a half hour to grab a coffee, maybe another hour to sleep, and then a police interview… shit!
How would the police not want to talk to her? She was the one who found the body, so she’d have to at least give a statement.
And see Ryder again.
She threw the covers off and headed into the bathroom. Spinning the knob to hot, she stepped into the hot spray.
It took steely resolve not to flash back to being in the shower with Ryder. To not look at the wall he’d pressed her up against. To not remember the feel of his muscled back, or the narrow hips she’d wrapped her legs around.
She scrubbed shampoo into her hair, then soap all over her body. She stood in the hot spray until the lather was gone, then switched it to cold to help her wake up.
When she stepped out and dried off, she felt like she almost had a handle on her renegade emotions. Only one person could help her get back to her old self. She just had to hope she’d answer her call.
39
Ryder stepped into the refined elegance of the English Manor’s boardroom. The ornate details that had caught his attention five days ago barely registered now.
Jesus, had it only been five days?he wondered. It felt like a year.
At the head of the table facing out the large, antique windows at the dark sky stood Montgomery. He still wore the clothes from earlier in the evening, dry but rumpled.
Sitting to his right at the polished mahogany table was Fontana. She lifted a hand toward him and pressed her lips together in a sombre greeting.
“I’m surprised you came,” murmured Jackal from a chair against the wall to Ryder’s right. He got up and strolled to a chair two places away from Fontana, fastening a piercing stare on Ryder. “I thought you’d be long gone.”
“I will be soon enough,” he replied, staring at Jackal. He had a smug expression on his face.
Ryder strode to the table and pulled out the chair to sit across from Fontana. She had a folder on the table in front of her, her hands folded on top of it.
“The last guest left about twenty minutes ago,” she said to him. “The property is clear. There’s no chance the detective will accidentally run into any of the engagement guests.”
Ryder nodded, acknowledging the information.
“Your team was impeccable,” she continued, giving him a nod. “Gunner gave me a rundown on everything. He said they’ll be back tomorrow… well, today, I guess, to disassemble their cameras.”
