Free All This Time by Marie Wathen Page B

and wandering into the living
room. Seeing the fire and determination in her eyes to get down to the bottom
of my issues, I say, “Other than this job is taking forever, and I miss you
like crazy.”
    “Samantha
Marcel Walker, you are telling one. Now spill or we’re skipping the girl’s day,
fun day activities.”
    Shaking
my head, I challenge, “I’ll leave your ass here alone if I have to, but I’m
going to Birmingham. My car leaves in,” Pausing for effects, I look down at my
wrist to gauge the time, but since I’m not wearing a watch I smirk and say,
“Five minutes sister! Grab your shit and let’s go!”
    Kris
huffs wanting to argue, but moves her ass and we are on the interstate heading
toward Birmingham in my Camaro, which I haven’t driven since this case began.
Luckily and quiet easily, I get Kris talking about her job and a new guy that
she met at a nursing conference in Charlotte, and she completely forgets that
she wanted to ask about what’s bothering me.
    “So,
is it love?” I ask sitting in the booth across from Kris watching the blush
edging up her neck as she begins telling me about the amazing Tate Sylvester.
    She
smirks then drops her eyes to the leftover slice of pizza lying on her plate,
trying to hide her joy. “I don’t know Sam. We’ve only just met. Do you really
think anyone falls in love that fast?”
    Chewing
on my final slice of heaven on earth, I bob my head up and down then say, “No.
That’s just bullshit that romance writers feed the masses.” Suddenly, my
protective instincts kick in, but I keep them in check because I don’t want her
cynical about love the way I am. “Is that what’s happening here? Was it love at first sight?”
    I
watch her expression shift from worried to happy as she recounts the day that
she met Tate and all of their fantastic dates. The sparkle in her eyes tells me
that she is most definitely teetering on the falling in love side of the
relationship seesaw. A weight begins to lift from my chest. I’m happy Kris
found someone. She devotes every minute of her life to working hard so that she
can help pay her half of the bills. It makes me sick knowing that she doesn’t
have to do it. I make more than enough money to cover expenses for the entire
house, but she was adamant about keeping everything fair when we moved in. The
woman is as stubborn as a mule.
    “Are
you done?” she asks, placing her napkin on her now empty plate.
    I
nod and we make our way through the crowd congregating at the front door of
Davenport’s Pizza. We reach my car in the back parking lot before she launches
her attack.
    “So
are you going to tell me what’s going on with you? We can’t spend the whole day
talking about me.” She smiles proudly for directing our conversation back to me
as she sits down in the passenger seat.
    “Kris,
I’m fine. Everything is fine,” I sigh starting the car and blasting the air
conditioning so that we can get some relief from the blazing heat. Seeing her
eyebrows pinch together, I know that she won’t relent so I toss her a bone.
“Fine, I haven’t been feeling well for the past couple of weeks, but it’s
probably just stress.”
    “Stress?”
she places a hand on my arm and with a tremble in her voice, she asks, “why are
you stressed Sam? Has something happened? Can Russ do anything to help?”
    She
means well, I know she does, but Kris doesn’t have any idea about the shit that
really happens in my line of work. She’s an innocent, completely pure of all
the damn hell that runs rampant in my tarnished world, and I plan on keeping
her shielded. Never will I expose Kris to the murkiness and filth, and I vow to
kill the bastard that ever does.
    “Kris,
you know I can’t talk about specifics.” She nods and a frown plays on her lips.
“But…”
    “What?”
I don’t answer immediately and she begins to whine, “Oh, damn Sam give me
something. A crumb, please!”
    Her
eyes are begging and the smile on her face is so