Slenderman by CeeRee Fields (good novels to read TXT) 📗

“I love you too Rhys, but sometimes it’s not enough.” She hadn’t meant to say that. His love was always more than enough but things changed, people changed, and life got in the way. That was what was eating away at her-would his love disappear?

“The hell it’s not. Why would you say that?” His arms were like steel bands unmoving when she tried to wiggle away. “Quit wriggling your ass at me and tell me what has you freaking out. I’m the groom, so technically I’m the one who’s supposed to get cold feet.”

She found a lot of comfort in him refusing to let her go. “Do you remember Bobby? Carl’s older sister’s son?”

“Yes, we talked about his wife changing her OBGYN last year at the reunion. Why?”

“He’s on his second wife, and she just filed for a divorce.”

“What? Sandra? Why?”

Jo’s grip tightened on his fingers and dug her face into the pillow that smelled of his expensive sandalwood shampoo. “The job. He was shot while canvassing. Not life threatening since he wore his vest, but for Sandra, it was the last straw. She wants a husband with a nine-to-five job who will be there every night for her and the baby.”

“And she didn’t know this before they were married?” He made a disparaging sound in the back of his throat. “Please. My bet is she was all for the danger when they were dating, but it’s hitting her that her husband could die and leave her alone to raise their child.”

Jo didn’t know what to think since she’d only spoken to Sandra briefly. However, this was the fourth person she’d come in contact with going through a divorce. The one thread they had in common was the spouses were in law enforcement. Was it an omen to her and Rhys’s future? He was as vital as the air she breathed, she couldn’t lose him. Her heart raced with just the thought of how empty he’d leave her if he walked away.

“Here’s the thing. Her nine-to-five dream man could get hit by a bus, die in a car accident, or get killed a million different ways, even by a gun if he interrupts a robbery. She’s just looking for an excuse. Something else is pushing her.”

“What if that happens to us? Brown’s on his third wife. Jones has been divorced five times. The only couple I know who’ve lasted is Terry and Sam.” She forced her greatest fear past the lump forming in her throat.

“We talk. We fight for each other. I know what I’m getting into just like you know what you’re getting with me. My job will be tedious to you. Rian will annoy us. Like right now, we can’t make out in the den with Rian and Evan moving back in the house. We both know it’s temporary, so we talk about it when we the situation frustrates us. You share with me about the hard cases you take. The one where the teenager was showing off his dad’s gun and killed himself by accident. It hit you hard.”

She shivered as the memory of that case hit her. God, the parents were devastated as they’d locked the guns up securely in their vault. But teenagers could be sneaky when they wanted something, and the kid had gotten his hands on the combination.

“I know how dangerous your job is.” He nuzzled the sensitive skin behind her ear. “I’ve experienced it up close and personal. If I were going to run, it would have been back then.” An open-mouthed kiss to the patch of skin made her shiver. “Have faith in me and jump. We’ll have an amazing future together. I promise.”

She hugged the promise to her. Rhys never made them unless he could keep them. “You swear if you have any problems we’ll talk first? Even hash it out with a therapist if we need to?”

“Promise.” He nibbled her lobe.

His arms loosened, and she turned to sink into him as he claimed her lips. She could spend hours kissing him. Hands tangled as each of them tried to touch the other with a giggle she wiggled her arm free and wrapped it around him.

A generic ring pierced the darkness.

“No,” she growled, vowing to kill whoever was on the other end of the line. She rolled over and grabbed her cell. “It’s Redden.”

“Answer it,” Rhys said.

With a disgruntled huff, she took the call while Rhys rubbed her back. “Have you found her?”

“No.”

Her heart dropped. Where could that vicious viper be? Could Lucy be sitting somewhere, planning how to kill Evan? Or had she fled? Not trusting her own gut as it was a tangled mess, Jo gripped the cell and inhaled Rhys’s scent. His presence helped soothe her. “Where do you think she is?”

“I think she’s left the country.” His voice was gritty as if he’d been using it for hours on end.

Rhys’s soft sigh reminded Jo he needed to be up early tomorrow. Needing to share the information she’d compiled, she pushed the covers off of her legs. “Redden, give me a minute.” Leaning over, she took a kiss. “Get some sleep. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Rain check?”

“How about tomorrow night? You, me, and the hot tub.”

His teeth flashed in the semi-darkness. “It’s a date.”

With that promise hugged close to her heart, she rolled out of bed, grabbed her robe from the back of the door, and made her way to her office. After unlocking it, she sat in her recliner in the dark. “Sorry, Rhys needs to be up at five tomorrow. I think she’s left the country too. Abe combed through Lucy’s accounts and discovered that all of them had been closed weeks before she came for Evan. I found out her parents’ house was sold last year after being on the market for a while.”

“So no ties to keep her in the country.”

“No. Which means she’s set up somewhere else. Probably somewhere with no extradition treaty.”