Strapping on my holster, I shook my head. After everything that happened with Bruxton, I needed a break. “I hope not. You?”
Jaw tight, he trudged into my office, gray eyes full of turmoil. “Actually, I’m headin’ out for good. I just wanted to say goodbye.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Are you skipping town or quitting the team?”
Blake Evans and the rest of the guys on our team were the best undercover agents in the country. We’d already lost a couple people, including my sister who decided to move away to California to settle down. We couldn’t afford to lose another skilled agent.
A small smile splayed across his face as he sat down. “I’m still going to be a part of the team. This is my life. I’ll just be living it somewhere else.”
“Where to?”
“Wyoming. My grandfather passed away and left me his ranch. I figured I’d go since nothing’s really keeping me here. I’m single, and we’re always traveling with the job. I’m never in Charlotte that much anyway.”
“No shit. I think this is the first week in months I’ve been able to sit back and relax.” I stared at him and chuckled. “Blake Evans turned cowboy. I never would’ve thought it.”
He got to his feet. “Me neither, but it’ll sure be interesting. How about we get one last drink together at Second Street before I go?”
“Sounds good, bro. I was just about to head out.” We got halfway to the door when my cell phone rang. I looked down at my phone and walked back to my desk. “It’s the Chief of Police from Vegas.” So much for the break I wanted. Leaning against my desk, I answered the call. “Ryan Griffin, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“No pleasure in this call, son. Are you still at the station?”
“I was just getting ready to leave. What do you need?”
Sounding tired, he sighed. “I sent you some files. Take a look at them for me.”
Blake took a seat while I sat back down behind my computer. It didn’t take long for it to boot back up and when it did, I found the files. “All right, I have the files opened up.” The first one was a woman who was found dead two months prior, followed by two other murder victims and one who was missing. “What the fuck is this?”
“Whoever this fucker is, he’s cutting them, strangling them, and then leaving them on the side of the road.”
I waved Blake over. “Take a look at this,” I whispered, holding the phone away. While he sat down, I moved back. “Did it all start two months ago with this first woman, or have you had similar cases?”
“Nope, all new. We’ve had eyewitnesses give us descriptions of the people these women were last seen with—all high rollers of Sin City. No one wants to talk. All we’re getting are dead ends. I need someone on the inside who doesn’t look like a cop. My people can’t get close enough.”
Blake moved out of the way and I glanced at the pictures one last time before closing them out. “I’ll be there soon,” I said, hanging up.
“That’s some really nasty shit going on out there,” Blake stated.
Anger boiled in my veins. The pictures of those women were going to forever be ingrained in my mind. “Yes, it is, and I’m going to make sure I find the fucker responsible.”
Three Months Later
“Going out again?” Ryan grumbled through the phone.
“That’s the plan. I can’t exactly do much sitting on my ass.”
“One would think that’s what you’ve been doing since you haven’t figured out shit. Please tell me you have something . . . anything other than the thousands you’ve won.”
Clenching my teeth, I took a deep breath. “I’ve given you more than what you were able to come up with on your own. For three months now, I’ve kicked ass at each casino and learned every single game. I have a name out there, but nothing’s going to make these guys seek me out. I’m nothing to them.”
Unfortunately, two more girls had shown up dead. Both were professional escorts from the same agency, which happened to be run by Ronnie Chatfield, a female pimp. I had yet to speak to her, but was determined to seek her out. The woman was invisible. On her website, it said the ranch was temporarily closed for business, yet more of their girls were disappearing.
The women were beautiful, some fuller than others, and way more expensive than the drugged out prostitutes you’d see on the street. These women were for the elite. Other than that, I did know what my suspects looked like, what their names were, where they worked, who their families were . . . basically, it was tracking them that was a complete bitch.
“But at least you’re enjoying the money in the meantime, right?” he scoffed.
“Kiss my fucking ass. I’m here to help you out. I don’t have to be here. If anyone wants to get this case solved quickly, it’s me. I’m ready to get the hell away from this place.”
Ryan huffed and the line grew silent. I had made a shit ton of money, but that was because I was good at the games. To get in with the high rollers, I had no choice but to learn. As a reward, the casinos offered me free rooms and other amenities. I was living like a king. There was no denying I enjoyed it, but my full focus was on the case, nothing else.
“Look, I hate to be a dick, but the FBI is breathing down my neck. If you don’t figure something out soon, they’re going to intervene.”
I snorted. “I’d like to see them get as far as I have.”
“Either way, they will show up. I just want you to be prepared. I’ve worked with some of those douchebags before.”
“As long as they stay out of my way, I’m fine.”
“I can already tell you now . . . they won’t.”
Keep Reading No Limit Now
MY KIND OF FOREVER
THE BEAUMONT SERIES #5
© 2015 HEIDI MCLAUGHLIN
The right of Heidi McLaughlin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000. This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior written permission of the publisher. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN: 978-0-9906788-4-7
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EDITING: Traci Blackwood
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Books by Heidi McLaughlin
About My Kind of Forever
Dedication
Chapter 1 – Josie
Chapter 2 – Liam
Chapter 3 – Josie
Chapter 4 – Liam
Chapter 5 – Josie
Chapter 6 – Liam
Chapter 7 – Josie
Chapter 8 – Liam
Chapter 9 – Josie
Chapter 10 – Liam
Chapter 11 – Josie
Chapter 12 – Liam
Chapter 13 – Josie
Chapter 14 – Liam
Chapter 15 – Josie
Chapter 16 – Liam
Chapter 17 – Josie
Chapter 18 – Liam
Chapter 19 – Josie
Chapter 20 – Liam
Chapter 21 – Josie
Chapter 22 – Liam
Chapter 23 – Josie
Chapter 24 – Liam
Chapter 25 – Josie
Chapter 26 – Liam
Chapter 27 – Josie
Chapter 28 – Liam
Chapter 29 – Josie
Chapter 30 – Liam
Chapter 31 – Josie
Chapter 32 – Liam
Chapter 33 – Josie
Chapter 34 – Liam
Acknowledgements
About the Author
NO LIMIT
Prologue
Chapter One
Copyright Notice
My Kind of Forever Page 26