Page 84 of Diamonds in the Mud

The scent of sizzling bacon and frying eggs soon filled the air, and my stomach rumbled in anticipation.

Minutes later, Rayne returned with a plate piled high with eggs and bacon, setting it down on the bedside table with a soft thud. “It’s all you had. It’s almost seven at night, but you get breakfast for dinner,” she said, her smile warm as she handed me a fork.

“Since it’s the first thing I’ll eat today, it’s perfect,” I said, digging into the food eagerly, the familiar taste of home-cooked comfort easing some of the tension that had settled in my bones. Rayne watched me eat, her expression thoughtful.

As I finished the last of my meal, Rayne reached out to take my plate, her touch gentle against my bruised skin. “You should get some more rest,” she said softly, her eyes lingering on mine.

I nodded, suddenly overcome by a wave of exhaustion. “Thanks,” I murmured, my voice barely above a whisper. “I’ve missed you,” I added, pulling her down with me. “Stay with me for a while?”

“For a while,” she agreed as she rested her head against my arm.

With her by my side, her long soft hair brushing against my cheek, I fell almost instantly into a deep sleep. Her sexy scent filled my dreams.

When I woke in darkness, the bed was empty and cold and every part of me ached.

Chapter Twenty

“Better a diamond with a flaw

than a pebble without.”

–Confucius

Rayne

“I don’t give a damn, Richard,” I practically yelled into my phone. “I want that report in my inbox in ten minutes or I’m going to haul my butt over and kick your skinny ass myself.” I slammed the phone down without waiting for a response.

I paced the floor of my office until I heard the chime of the incoming email.

For the next hour, I read and re-read the autopsy and forensic reports on Mason John Williamson. The seventeen-year-old Madison High School student and football star had been found at the County Road Thirteen Motel with his throat slashed.

Mason had a few juvie priors, mostly for drugs. His father, Judge Williamson, had no doubt spent a lot of money to brush most of his juvenile offenses under the rug.

Madison County was in an uproar. There were no clues at the scene aside from some tire tracks in the parking lot. Those were from a car, not a Harley, so wouldn’t lead to Jameson.

It was two days since the kid’s death and Jameson getting jumped, and I’d just now gotten my hands on the crime scene reports. I’d spent the last two days worrying whether he’d left anything at the scene that pointed to him being there.

I’d also been keeping an eye out for the Reaper’s payback. If I knew exactly who had jumped Jameson and killed Mason, I seriously wondered if I’d enact my own payback or just do my job.

The Reapers were bad news but, so far, they hadn’t stooped to murdering any high school kids. At least not that I knew about.

When someone knocked on my door, I waved them in without glancing up from the screen.

“Got a minute?” Sabrina asked, stepping into my office and shutting the door behind her.

I groaned and flipped off my screen. “How did you get in here?”

She smiled as she sat down across from me. “I’m dating someone with a badge.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “The hell you are.”

She laughed. “Well, we’ve gone out on a dozen dates in the past month.” She shrugged. “I think it’ll stick.”

“Who?” I asked, still looking at her through narrowed eyes.

She rolled her eyes and, when I didn’t waver, she threw her hands up, and said, “Owen.”

I thought about it for a second. Owen was one of the good ones. Naive, young, and stupid in a lot of ways, but good to the core. No wonder he’d let her go at the Taylors that morning.