Deceptive Truth: Cowboy Justice Association (Serials and Stalkers Book 4) by Olivia Jaymes (reading women .txt) 📕

Not sure what she was going to do, Jenna could only wallow in her own misery. She'd been more than desperate that night she'd "run into" Knox at that bar. The words hadn't been invented yet for what she and Michelle had been feeling. They only knew that their sister disappeared, the cops didn't think it was a big deal, and that Lori would never do that to them. She just wouldn't. Their entire lives they'd barely gone a few days without contact of some sort. The idea that Lori would go off somewhere by herself and not contact anyone was absurd.

"What are we going to do next?" she asked Michelle. "We're going to have to figure out how to do this on our own."

"That's what we've been doing," Michelle pointed out. "And we haven't done such a great job."

"We could hire another private investigator. I was going to offer to pay Knox, after all. Maybe we'll have better luck this time."

"I guess we could do that. I don't know anything about hiring a good one though. We picked the wrong one last time."

They'd picked the first person who had returned their calls.

"I'll do the research," Jenna offered. "It will give me something to do and help me feel like I'm not just sitting around helpless."

"That's the control freak in you."

"I'm not arguing that. But I have to do...something."

As the oldest twin, Michelle had always been the most calm and patient. Lori had been the one with the softest heart. Jenna was far more a person of action, never wanting to sit still for too long. She and Knox had been alike that way.

Don't think about him. He's gone. And hates me.

"We're going to find her," Michelle said. "I just know we will. She's out there somewhere."

Then why hadn't she contacted anyone?

At first Jenna had been convinced that Lori was out there, but as the weeks and then months had gone by her hope had leaked away, leaving a terrible feeling of foreboding. Nothing would keep Lori from calling them or coming home except...something very bad. Something deadly. Each day had chipped away at Jenna's hope until she had none left. Now she wanted answers and for someone to pay for whatever heinous thing they'd done.

"I want you to be right. I want that more than anything."

"We'll find Lori and we'll bring her home. You have to believe."

Michelle always said that Jenna was the optimistic and naive type but she was displaying quite a bit of both of those traits at the moment.

Jenna wanted to believe. It was just about the only thing keeping her going.

It was time for Plan Z. Getting Knox to help them hadn't even been Plan A through D. That's how desperate they were. But Jenna wouldn't give up.

Time for a new direction.

Knox was in a foul mood on Monday morning. He'd spent most of the day Sunday pissed off as well. With everything that had happened with Jenna, he couldn't clear his head. He couldn't even enjoy his damn day and that made him even more frustrated and mad.

He wasn't supposed to give a damn about Jenna and her situation. He was supposed to break the relationship off and walk away, no looking back. That simply hadn't been the case, however. He'd been brooding about it since he'd walked out of her home. He couldn't seem to think about anything else.

He was so tired that he'd contemplated calling into work. Not for very long, though. After all, he hadn't missed a day of work in years. So instead he'd dragged his tired ass into the office and slugged down a couple of cups of black coffee on an empty stomach. That turned out to be a huge mistake because by ten in the morning his nerves were jangled and his guts were hurting. His mood was on a swift sled downhill.

So when Chris asked him about a case file, Knox didn't respond all that well. He growled at Chris and then proceeded to chew his co-worker a new asshole for merely having the audacity to ask if the folder was on Knox's desk. That earned him a trip into Logan's office to talk about it.

"I thought you and Chris had put your feud behind you," Logan said, pointing to the guest chair in his office. "I thought you two were friends now."

With a tired sigh, Knox lowered himself into the chair. "We have and we are. That was just me being an asshole."

Poor Chris was currently in Jared's office probably getting the same grilling. Knox would have to buy his friend lunch to make up for this.

Perched on the edge of his desk, Logan glowered down at Knox. His boss didn't like unrest on the team.

"Why are we acting like an asshole this morning?"

Scraping his fingers through his hair, Knox had no choice but to answer. If he didn't, Logan wouldn't give up. The man was like a dog with a bone when it came to shit like this and Knox already felt like a perp under a bright light being interrogated. It would be easier to get this over and done with.

"I had a rough weekend. Didn't get much sleep."

Logan's brow quirked up. "Party a little too hard?"

If only that was the issue. Knox could take a few aspirin and eat some greasy tacos. He'd be better by mid-afternoon.

"Let's just say that my new relationship has come to its inevitable but messy end."

"She dumped you."

Logan didn't phrase it like a question which only served to irritate Knox a bit more.

"Actually, it was me that