Stepping out from the backseat of the black SUV, Keith pushed open the doors of the police department with ease and walked past the young man at the front desk as if he never existed. The first time he came here, the desk clerk sized him up to be some extortionist— Keith didn't deny it. It was easier when people feared him.
Initially, when he came here almost a year ago, he thought he could have just asked a couple of questions and got the answers he needed. The answers he wanted to hear.
Detective Ryder was the only man he thought competent for the job. He was an ex-soldier sent home with honorable discharge based on his injuries. Keith bonded with him and developed a friendship he didn't see coming. It started out as filing a report and then turned into something much bigger— something that kept him up at night and also kept him slightly sane when the anger and rage boiled within him.
Walking to his office, Keith spotted Janessa closing his door and walking towards him. He froze almost immediately; conjuring up words in his head to say to her. Since the accident, he couldn't face her— he felt too responsible. So, instead he sent her dozens of red roses in his absence. It was the same thing he did during her three month coma. Hopefully, he wouldn't ever send her roses in a hospital ever again.
Their eyes met for a brief moment before she froze mid stride. It did funny things to see him again. To have him so close to her in proximity. He couldn't possibly get any more handsome and yet here he was, knocking the breath out of her. Who did she think she was to deny what she felt for him?
She was foolish to banish her attraction towards this powerful man that had the ability to drive her crazy. The ability to break her despite the last conversation they had together.
"Keith," she breathed as a small smile stretched across her lips. "It's good to see you."
None of them moved though, too rooted in their spot to even blink. Her voice soothed his tensed muscles and he didn't even know it.
The door to Marshall's office opened and broke the spell between them; reminding Keith of their surrounding. What was she doing at the police station? In Ryder's office?
"Is everything okay?" Keith asked her.
"Just fine," she said as quickly as she tried to push past him.
"Evans, good to see you." Marshall welcomed his friend into his office and offered him some coffee.
"Any news?"
Marshall slid the file he had in his hand earlier, across the desk where Keith easily picked it up and sifted through it. He flipped through the different pictures and photocopies of IDs and fake passports until he reached the part he waited almost six months to achieve.
"Vegas? You're kidding me, right?"
"You better believe it, my friend. If you want this guy, you better act fast. He doesn't stay in one place for too long."
Keith nodded and processed his situation before another thought came to him.
"Why was Janessa here?" He crossed his legs with his right ankle resting on his left knee.
Marshall sighed and slumped into his chair. He wasn't supposed to discuss this but he understood what that poor girl went through. Not to mention what Keith had gone through knowing he could have done something before shit hit the fan. It was the kind of guilt Marshall Ryder wouldn't ever wish on his worst enemy.
"She's worried," he cautiously said at first. "He's free and she wants me to find him."
Keith's eyebrows raised in shock. Reese was out of that institution?
YOU ARE READING
Deadly Temptation (Book 3)
General Fiction"The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it." - Oscar Wilde (Book 3 of the Deadly installments. I would recommend reading the other two books first but I'm working on making this book a stand alone if you don't want the hassle of readin...
