Enigma
Page 1
Enigma
Laurel Springs Emergency Response Team #3
Laramie Briscoe
Contents
Also By Laramie Briscoe
New Release Alerts
Moonshine Task Force Members
Author’s Note
Blurb
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Epilogue #1
Epilogue #2
Connect With Laramie
Copyright © 2019 Laramie Briscoe
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, distributed, stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without express permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.
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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, or any events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and storylines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.
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Editor: Elfwerks Editing
Beta Readers: Danielle Wentworth
Proofreader: Danielle Wentworth
Cover: Laramie Briscoe
Cover Photography: FuriousFotog
Formatting: Laramie Briscoe
Created with Vellum
Also By Laramie Briscoe
The Haldonia Monarchy
Royal Rebel
Royal Chaos
Royal Love
* * *
Heaven Hill Series
Meant To Be
Out of Darkness
Losing Control
Worth The Battle
Dirty Little Secret
Second Chance Love
Rough Patch
Beginning of Forever
Home Free
Shield My Heart
A Heaven Hill Christmas
* * *
Heaven Hill Next Generation
Hurricane
Wild
Fury
* * *
Heaven Hill Shorts
Caelin
Christine
Justice
Harley
Jagger
Charity
Liam
Drew
Dalton
Mandy
* * *
Rockin’ Country Series
Only The Beginning
One Day at A Time
The Price of Love
Full Circle
Hard To Love
Reaper’s Girl
* * *
The Nashvegas Trilogy
Power Couple
* * *
The Moonshine Task Force Series
Renegade
Tank
Havoc
Ace
Menace
Cruise
* * *
Laurel Springs Emergency Response Team
Ransom
Suppression
Enigma
Cutter
* * *
The MVP Duet
On the DL
MVP
* * *
The Midnight Cove Series
Inflame
* * *
Stand Alones
Sketch
Sass
Trick
Room 143
2018 Laramie Briscoe Compilation
2019 Laramie Briscoe Compilation
New Release Alerts
JOIN MY MAILING LIST
http://sitel.ink/LBList
* * *
JOIN MY READERS GROUP
fbl.ink/LaramiesLounge
Moonshine Task Force Members
Ryan “Renegade” Kepler – Married to Whitney and father to Stella and Nick. Best friend to Trevor.
* * *
Trevor “Tank” Trumboldt – Married to Blaze, brother to Whitney, uncle to Stella and Nick. Best friend to Ryan.
* * *
Holden “Havoc” Thompson – Married to Leighton, father to Ransom and Cutter. Best friend to Mason.
* * *
Anthony “Ace” Bailey – Married to Violet.
* * *
Mason “Menace” Harrison – Married to Karina, father to Caleb and Kelsea, grandfather to Molly and Levi. Best friend to Holden.
* * *
Caleb “Cruise” Harrison – Married to Ruby, father to Molly and Levi, son of Mason, brother to Kelsea.
Author’s Note
I am aware of the inaccuracies in some of the legal scenes in the book. I’m definitely taking liberties, and I do know that. Please don’t message me telling me these things. Just know that this is fiction, and should be read as such!
Blurb
It’s not how we make mistakes, but how we correct them that defines us…
Karsyn Fallaway
Tucker didn’t stop my car as it drove away from his house that summer night, and the sting of rejection hasn't gone away. Over a year has gone by, and I find myself looking for him in all the places he’d been before. It doesn’t help, he’s still an enigma I have yet to figure out.
My friends are the only thing holding me together. Work is the one thing keeping my mind busy.
Until my life threatens to tear completely apart.
Tucker Williams
She drove away and my pride wouldn’t allow me to stop her. A year later, regret keeps me up at night, forcing me to replay the moment in my head. Working with the K-9’s is the only thing keeping me going. Becoming close with the former MTF is a perk I hadn’t counted on.
When a child is kidnapped, all the hard feelings have to be put aside to save a life.
Secrets are unearthed, and this time as Karsyn threatens to break, I know I’m the one to put her back together.
Prologue
Karsyn
“This isn’t working for me.”
My heart drops as I hear the words coming out of Tucker’s mouth. They aren’t really computing with me though. He can’t be saying what I think he’s saying. “What?” I want to make sure I’m hearing him right.
“This.” He motions between the two of us. “Isn’t working for me.”
I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry.
“You want more from me than I can give.”
“Is this because I told you how I felt? Because I told you I love you?”
“Karsyn,” he starts.
I hold up my hand. �
��Don’t give me the it’s not you, it’s me bullshit.” And cue the tears. They’re falling now, huge and ugly. I’m not a cute crier. Not like those girls who refuse to let people see them break down. I’ve spent enough of my life holding things in, running from a past that would have broken most. I refuse to hold my feelings in. Our time on earth is finite, and I had to tell Tuck when I fell.
“It is.” He reaches out for my hand, but I snatch it away. “I’m not the type of guy who gives into feelings. You have to understand where I came from.”
“How can I, if you won’t tell me?”
I cross my arms over my chest, looking at him, willing my bottom lip not to tremble. It does. No matter how hard I try to hold it still.
“I really am sorry, Syn.”
“Sorry? Go to hell, Tuck.”
“Already there, babe.”
That line infuriates me. “Because you choose to be, and you don’t get to call me babe anymore,” I yell.
“You’re right.” He backs away, holding his hands up as if he’s surrendering.
I can’t take anymore. I grab my bag, tripping over Major as he comes to investigate what’s going on. He barks, unsure of why I’m leaving.
“I gotta go, bud,” I cry harder, scratching his head. I lean down, kissing him. “I love you, and I want you to keep him safe,” I whisper.
He whines when I walk to the door. It’s the whine that almost keeps me from walking out.
Almost.
But it’s not enough.
I walk out with my head high, get in my car, and drive away. I can see them in the rearview, and in my mind, I beg him to stop me. He doesn’t, and when I can no longer see them, I give into the tears. The gut-wrenching sobs and the absolute devastation of this chapter of my life coming to an end.
Chapter One
Tucker
When did I become the kind of guy who sits in a police car outside his ex-girlfriend’s apartment? Especially when we didn’t even put a label on it and it was never meant to be more than a couple of hook-ups.
My conscience blasts me for being the asshole I am. You became that guy when you decided to be a jerk and break it off with her because you couldn't handle the feelings she evoked in you. At this point I tell my conscience to shut the fuck up, even though it's completely right.
If I were anyone else, I'd tell them to get over it, stop going by her apartment and move on, but I can't. Not in a skeevy way either. There’s nothing nefarious in the feelings I have for Karsyn.
I fucking miss her; I miss the way she made me feel, the way she took care of me, and the way she allowed me to be myself, even when the days were harder than I cared to admit. Behind me, my K-9 Major barks, letting me know I've been sitting here for too long.
"I hear ya, but just a few more minutes."
She's just pulled up in her sports car. The one I pulled her over in - it's how we met. I was used to girls being flirty with me; if they’re cute, they're always flirty with a guy in uniform. But her? She was more than cute. Her hazel eyes haunted me - they weren't quite green, not quiet brown, something in between that I desperately wanted to know the answer to. She’d left her phone number on the ticket, but I hadn’t had the guts to call her back. Not long after, I'd seen her at the grocery store and I'd asked her out.
She'd laughed and told me she didn't date cops who gave her tickets and I'd laughed telling her I didn't date women I’d given tickets, but here we are.
For months it went great. Nine to be exact. We were everything each other needed, until we weren't. There was no way to stop the downfall once it started. Once she told me her feelings and I didn't reciprocate, we were done for. I tried though, tried to tell her how important she was to me, how much I needed her to be a part of my life, and how much Major still looks for her. Every week I send her flowers.
Kels tells me she keeps them, including the cards that come with them, but I have yet to get a text message back, or any indication that she knows I've been following her, trying to get a glimpse of what our life together was like.
This is what I’ve been reduced to. Looking in from the very far outside, trying to figure out how to go on with my life without Karsyn Fallaway in it. It's been almost a year since the last time we talked, over a year and a half since we had anything resembling a relationship, and I'm beginning to think it's never going to happen. One day soon I'm going to have to swallow my pride and make a move. Forget all the shit we said to one another and just make it right. Because this right here? It's wrong.
I look down at my laptop, making a few notes about earlier incidents. Major starts barking. "Be quiet, bud, you'll give us away."
Looking up and over to where I know her car is, I see her. Her eyes looking right into mine. For the first time in over a year, she acknowledges me as she gives me a cautious wave. I wave back, grinning like a fool.
When she doesn't come toward me, but turns to go into her apartment, I know she doesn't want me to follow. She wants this to be it, she wants us to start slow, the way we should have before. My radio squawks, letting me know a K-9 has been requested and Ransom isn't available to take the call.
"Gotcha dispatch, Major and I are responding."
I give her one more glance, and as I drive away, I do it with a little sliver of hope, that what I thought was over maybe isn't. Just maybe, it isn't.
Chapter Two
Karsyn
“He was outside my apartment again,” I sigh to Kels as we sit outside the office, on our lunch break.
It’s a seriously gorgeous spring day. One of the first ones we’ve had so far this year. Bitter coldness swept through Alabama this winter, and while the cold temperatures are long gone, ice still encompasses the vestiges of my heart. In many ways, it was the coldest winter in my lifetime.
“When are you going to go over and talk to him? How long will you let him troll around like a creeper?” She giggles as she takes a drink of her decaf. When she was pregnant, she started drinking decaf and never went back once Ella was born.
I shrug. “It’s kind of flattering.”
“Imagine how emasculating it is for him though,” she points out. “He’s trying.”
“He should try,” I insist. “He broke my heart and stepped on it with his combat boot.”
“But look at me.” She takes a bite of her wrap. “I’m here, living the dream, even though you warned me to be careful with Nick.”
Jealous doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about her relationship with Nick. I try to hold it back, because she absolutely deserves to be happy and to have the life she does. I just want my happily ever after too.
“Sometimes, holding on to the thing that hurts you, ends up keeping you from a happiness you only could have dreamed of.” Her voice is soft, pointing out that I’m being stupid, like the mother she is.
Stabbing the piece of lettuce in my bowl, I nod. “I know, trust me I do. The flowers, every week without fail, show me how sorry he is.”
We’re quiet for a few minutes. “What exactly happened between the two of you?”
I haven’t told anyone, because it’s embarrassing, and it broke me.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
The truth is, I need to tell someone. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all the therapy I’ve been involved in, it’s that I need to speak my truth. “No.” I take a drink of my water. “I need to.”
“You don’t have to tell me just because I asked.” She knocks my knee with hers.
“I know.”
It takes me a few minutes to pull my thoughts together, along with a few bites of my salad. Nervously, I take another drink of water before I start. “Tucker and I met in a funny way. He gave me a speeding ticket, and I hit on him.”
“Did you really?” She laughs, shaking her head.
“Yeah,” I admit, a grin spreading across my face. “I’d never been pulled over before, and I knew I was speeding. I was running late that day, and I was so worried
I’d be fired, because I’d made some other stupid mistakes. It was right after I started this job, and I didn’t want to be late.”
Remembering how nervous I was back then, that I would be fired seems funny now. Since Stella quit we haven’t found a good replacement, so basically Kels and I run this show. Most of the time we do a good job, but every once in a while, we find ourselves extremely fucked and have to call for back up.
“Anyway, he pulled me over, when I saw him, oh my god! He was so hot looking, and he walked up to the side of my car like he owned the damn thing.”
“I’m well aware of that walk,” Kels laughs, winking at me. “Nick has it down too.”