She carefully moved over him, not wanting to disturb his sleep. Then, going back to the bathroom, she silently closed the door then showered to remove the oil.
Her sheets would be a mess in the morning. She had already changed them after their lovemaking before the pizza had arrived. The ones on the bed now were her extra set. She hadn’t gone down to the basement to do laundry in a while. It gave her the fucking creeps, so she always made sure she did laundry during the day.
Yawning, she turned the water off then toweled off, thinking about how she would wash a load before going to work tomorrow.
Returning to the bedroom, she put on a clean nightshirt then went to the wall to turn the light off. She didn’t want the sound of her voice waking Calder. He was exhausted from the ride from Lexington, and she knew he hadn’t slept since being back in town. Crazy Bitch wanted to cuddle with him, but didn’t want to rouse him.
Her mind went over the clue that Calder had read out. He thought someone was trying to stop her from winning the bikes. She shook her head on her pillow, trying to become more comfortable. Someone was trying to stop her. What Calder didn’t know was she was trying to win something more valuable than a thousand bikes. She was trying to save a town.
She woke early the next morning. The morning sun peeking in the blinds had her looking toward Calder to see he hadn’t moved.
Dressing, she put on her least favorite stretchy leggings to hide the monitor and slipped on her sneakers she would change before going to work. Picking out a teal off-the-shoulder top, she finished dressing then picked up the laundry basket. Stopping at the hall closet, she plunked down the laundry detergent onto the clothes before carrying it outside to go down two flights of stairs to the laundry room.
The light was out when she opened the door. Turning it on, she walked around the room, making sure it was empty before she hurriedly separated her clothes and started the washers for a quick wash.
Turning toward the doorway, she nearly screamed when she saw a dark figure coming into the room. When he raised his face from underneath his hat, she gave a relieved sigh.
“You nearly caused me to have a fucking heart attack!”
Her sigh might have come too soon.
Lucky furiously strode toward her. “Have you lost your mind coming down here? How are we supposed to keep an eye on you if you keep doing stupid stunts?”
Crazy Bitch folded her hands over her chest. “I made the last man who talked to me that way regret it.”
“I’m already regretting your involvement. One more thing goes wrong, I’m pulling the plug.”
“You do it, and I’ll keep trying to bring that sheriff around myself.”
“What’s it going to take to make you stop? You going to prison, or worse, being dead?”
“I’m not going to be dead. Your narcotic buddies are watching out for me. I’m not stopping. I told you when my mother died from that OD that I was going to find who was responsible for supplying her with those pills. If I hadn’t screwed up by throwing that drink at Sam, we would have been able to use him.”
“That wasn’t the only way you screwed up. You going to his office had his boss taking another look at him when two women in the office got enough courage to complain about Sam.”
She shrugged. “I told you I didn’t trust that he wouldn’t try that shit on another woman. I wasn’t going to have that on my conscience, knowing we could have stopped it from happening.”
“The Narcotic Task Force was working on getting a search warrant.”
“They get one? Fat Louise said he quit.”
“He did. When his boss was looking into the complaints, he discovered numerous prescriptions to patients he hadn’t authorized. Sam had.”
“So, arrest him. Make him tell you that he’s paying the sheriff off, too. I told you when I found his burner phone in my back seat and gave it to Shade that I would do anything necessary to help, and I’ve done everything you wanted, except when I went to Sam’s office.”
“What you did was spook him when the doctor started digging, which was what the task force didn’t want. You’re no longer a credible witness.” Lucky moved to the side when the washer stopped to put the wet clothes into the dryer.
“Those weren’t my pills, and you know it was bullshit I was even pulled over.”
Lucky nodded. “They know, but the drugs were still found, and now you have a list of charges against you.”
“I guess your buddies on the task force need to make the charges disappear.”
“They can’t just make them disappear. It’s not that simple. They have to have proof he planted the drugs in your car.”