Page 38 of Castling the Rook (Checkmate 3)

Andi:You suck at this game. Are you sure you’re a cop? You can’t detect shit.

Me:Tell me. What are you doing?

Andi:I’ll show you.

The next picture that comes through barely even registers in my brain before I fly off the couch and throw myself into my truck. Engine firing, dick standing, I race across town with my cell in one hand and a picture of her bare tits becoming my new screensaver.

She’s naked. In public.

And I’m both excited and horrified that she might be caught, so I vow to catch her first, before my boss hauls her ass in for public indecency.

I race across town and slide on loose dirt as I approach the lake. I park beside her car and jump out with nothing in my hands except my cell – since people could die if I don’t answer when they call. I leave my keys in the ignition and sprint across dirt in sneakers without socks, and stopping on the pier, I throw my hands up when I don’t find her. I don’t panic like I might’ve before knowing her, because I know who she is now. She has boundless energy and a deep-seated need to play games, so I stand at the end of the pier and stare at the moonlit water. “Andrea Conner. Come out, come out, wherever you are.”

“Take your clothes off,” she coaches with a snicker in her voice. I still don’t see her, and her voice echoes between the water and surrounding trees. “I won’t show you mine till you show me yours.”

“I will not get naked, Andi. That’s illegal. I should arrest you.”

“But you won’t.” Her voice comes from my left. I angle around just an inch, but I don’t make it obvious. “You wanna see more boobies, so you’re not gonna arrest me. Strip down, big boy, I promise not to load the pictures to your social media.”

“Andrea…”

She snickers from my right. “Yes, darling?”

“Do you have a camera?”

“No.” Water splashes not so far from the pier and draws my attention back to the left. “I’m in the water, and my cell doesn’t do well in a hundred percent humidity. I tried it once. I even tried the rice trick. Nothing good came of it.”

“Come to me, Deedee.” I drop my hands into the pockets of my cotton shorts. The breeze is cool enough to put goosebumps on my skin, so that water must be freezing. “Come out and I’ll warm you up. No games, remember?”

“I’m not playing.” Coming into view, she floats toward the center of the lake and barely breaks the surface with her hands. The moonlight shines off the droplets that sit on her lips, and midnight black hair sits wet against her scalp. “I want you to do something out of your comfort zone. I want you to broaden your horizons and relax a little. You’re so tightly wound, your head’s gonna pop off soon.”

“My head’s not going anywhere. Come on, Dee, hop out.”

Pursing her lips, she shakes her head. “Not until you get in. You don’t even have to be in long; just strip off, jump in, then you can get out again.”

“I don’t wanna.”

She pops her bottom lip and stops treading water. “Oh, no. I’m not sure I can swim all the way back there on my own. It’s so far, and I’m so weak.”

“Deedee…”

Her chin drops under the water. “Help me, Riley. I’m cramping up and need your help.”

“Deedee! Quit it.”

“Please help me, Officer.” She drops completely under the surface and sends my heart into a wild thump. A second later, she pops up again with a smile. “Help me. S.O.S! Mayday.” When I don’t move a muscle, she shrugs and drops back under the surface.

I fully expect her to come back up in a second, so I don’t rush. I kick my shoes off, just in case, and set my phone on the pier. Andi’s fucking crazy, and if I have to go in, I can’t fry my phone and risk either of the Bishop brothers blowing up because they couldn’t reach me.

Standing in the cold in shorts and a tank, I watch the water and wait.

And wait.

And fucking wait.

During BUD/s training, many myths were debunked about how long we were expected to hold our breath. Some of the guys made a competition of it, seeing as there’s a Guinness Record on the line and every asshole wants to go down in history as a legend, but I’ve never in my life had to hold my breath for more than two or three minutes. Even that takes practice, and Andi’s already approaching a minute.

“Fuck.” I lift my shirt over my head and toss it on top of my cell, but I don’t dare take my eyes off the patch of water she was last occupying. The water is black, endless, and gets scarier the longer she stays under.

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