Page 40 of Haunted
“Lies,” I whisper. “I already miss you.”
“I know the feeling,” he says, taking me into his arms. He hugs me tightly for a minute. “Cammie, I have to go. I’ll see you when I get back this evening and we’ll have dinner together.”
I open the door to see one of the guys who have cut my lawn before. “Hey, I’m Crank,” he says with a relaxed smile.
I let out a small laugh. “I remember you. You’ve been mowing my grass. I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s one of the better jobs we’re given to help earn our cut. Besides, you always make sure we have a great lunch. Those peanut butter cookies you sent with us last time are still the talk of the clubhouse. We shared, but I’m kind of wishing we hadn’t. I barely got any.”
“Well, while you’re here babysitting me and Cammie, I’ll have to make you some more.”
“Hey, we’re getting married. Why are you baking for him and not me, huh?” Eli asks.
I look up at the impossibly sexy man who has my daughter on his shoulder, while she plays with his hair. I walk to him immediately and wrap my arms around his waist. “Because peanut butter’s not your favorite. I already have some red velvet ones made for your trip. You have to share them with Dad though.”
“If I have to,” he says with a wink.
“Man, I’ve gotta take a picture of this,” Crank says, taking out his camera. “The guys back at the clubhouse are never going to believe how much of a 9-to-5’er you look, Pez,” he says.
I don’t know if it’s because of me being beside him or why, but Pez holds me closer and lets Crank take the picture without a fight. “Text that to me Crank. I want a copy to keep,” Eli tells him. Then with a sigh, looks at me. “I’m going to have to go, Skittles.”
“Oh, God, donottell me you gave your old lady the nickname Skittles. Skittles and Pez. Shoot me now,” Crank mocks, dramatically.
Pez shoots him a look, but Crank ignores it. Pez places Cammie down on the counter and looks down at her softly. “I’ve got to go for a bit, pretty girl. I’ll be back for dinner though. Maybe we can talk Mommy into pizza or chicken nuggets when I get back.” Cammie proving that she’s her mother’s daughter, fights tears. “Will you huwwy back? Olaf will miss you if you don’t.”
“I’ll be back for dinner. I promise. You be a good girl for your mommy, promise?”
“I pwomise,” she says solemnly, as she hugs Eli.
I don’t like saying goodbye to him either, but we hug as he whispers he loves me, kisses me, and then heads to the door.
“Guard them with your life, Crank,” he orders. Crank nods and he heads out. I have to fight myself to keep from begging him to come back.
I’m totally in love with this man. My traitorous heart speeds up, worried that we fell too hard, too fast. I can’t change it, however. There’s no going back. I have to trust and believe in Eli, and I do. I honestly wouldn’t go back now, even I had a choice.
I’m completely happy.
Chapter 30
Pez
The moodin the room is somber to say the least. My gaze moves around the room, and we all seem at a loss. I rub the back of my neck and deliver the news that I know isn’t going to make none of them any happier.
“I don’t know what Apex was doing at that diner. No one here seems to know. The fact that it was three in the morning is confusing, too. The diner is just outside I territory and he didn’t ask for any of us to come be his backup. That alone is against protocol. The other suspicious thing is that diner had been foreclosed on three months ago. It closed its doors for the final time a month after that. All electricity was disconnected at that location as a result. The security cameras were nonoperative and hadn’t been for quite some time. Me, Sabre and Skull all checked out the facility. It was completely empty and covered in dust. I don’t think Apex stepped foot in the place.”
“Which means the meeting was outside?” King says, but it definitely sounds more like a question.
“It would have to have been, unless someone dropped the body off there. There was a blood pool underneath him, but we have no true way of knowing if he was shot somewhere else and then transported and left to die that would mean the blood waspooling just from the time the body was dropped off—instead of at the time of the actual shooting.”
“Did you do a perimeter canvas?” Spider asks.
“We did. We even went miles either way. None of us saw anything that raised alarm bells.”
“So, dead ends,” King exhales.I nod grimly, hating that it’s true, but fuck if it isn’t.
“What about the 9-1-1 call that was received?” BB responds.
I scratch the back of my neck. “You’ve heard it. We know a woman made the call at 3:10 A.M., saying nothing more than he’d been shot and to hurry. Then, she gave the location. That’s it.”
