In Two Weeks (NY State Trooper Series) Read Online Free PDF

see the day Penny gave her heart wholly to a man.
    “Yeah. I think I do. But I don’t think he loves me.” Penny sighed as she glanced around the room. “Oh, my God. It’s like a freaking high school reunion in here. Doesn’t anybody have anything better to do than hang out in the same old same old?”
    Ryan laughed. “Come on.” She pushed back her chair feeling like a new woman. “This calls for an old-fashioned girls’ night out. I’ll get my brother to make us some wings to go with the tequila I got for my birthday.”
    “Oh, that so works for me.” Penny stood, adjusting her hair behind her ears. “But now you have to explain the major sucking face with Jared.” Her eyes twinkled.
    “Not.” Ryan covered Penny’s mouth with her hand. “Don’t say a word. I know what I’m doing.”
    Penny looped her arm over Ryan’s shoulder. “No, you don’t.”
    A few hours later Ryan and Penny had sprawled out in the lounge chairs on Jared’s front lawn down by the lake. He had never minded her using the yard. She couldn’t help but wonder if the new owners would allow whoever rented the carriage house full use of the lawn. Somehow she doubted that.
    Large shrub hedges lined the lush one-acre spread down both sides of the property for privacy. A few boats hummed by, their wake rolling onto the shoreline.
    “Are you going to tell Chuck?” Ryan hiccupped, feeling the effects of the alcohol. “That you meant what you said. That you love him.”
    “Nope.” Penny shook her head vigorously. “I don’t think I can drive home. Mind if I crash here?”
    “Not at all.” As Ryan pushed herself to her feet, her legs wobbled. “Why do I do this to myself when I have to get up for work?” Pressing her shoulder blades together, she tried to keep herself from stumbling. Drinking had never been one of her strong suits.
    “Because I’m such a bad influence.” Penny’s arm crash-landed on Ryan’s shoulder and they nearly fell over.
    “Yes, you are,” Ryan said, doing her best to guide them to the carriage house. She gasped when she reached the gaping hole that used to be her front door. “Oh, my, God!” She froze. “What the hell?”
    “Holy crap,” Penny mumbled. “I know we didn’t leave the door open.”
    “Maybe I should take a look around.”
    “Are you nuts? We need to call the cops.”
    Ryan glanced over her shoulder and looked to see if Jared was home. Relief flowed through her body immediately. “Jared’s pickup is here, so he’s got to be around somewhere.” Frantically, she looked toward the main house, but all the lights were off. “Where the heck is he?”
    “Right in front of you, babe.” His deep throaty voice comforted her.
    “Thank God.” Her pulse increased as panic set in. Jared stood in her doorway, in his uniform, with latex gloves on his hands. “What happened?”
    “Someone broke in.” He peeled off the gloves. “I’ve got backup on the way.” He directed his gaze to Penny. “Can you drive?”
    She shook her head, jaw gaping open and her eyes wide.
    “Can you call your boyfriend? Chuck, right?”
    “Yeah,” she whispered, then pulled out a cell phone with trembling fingers. “You want to come to my place?” Penny asked, pressing the phone to her ear.
    But before Ryan could answer, Jared said, “Ryan will stay with me. Just sit tight for a little while.” He led her to his pickup and opened the tailgate, hoisting her up onto the cold metal. “Don’t either of you move.”
    Red lights flashed in the sky when a police car rolled down the street. Ryan watched as some local officer chatted with Jared. “Penny?”
    Penny jumped up and took Ryan’s hand. “Is he always this controlling?”
    “This is nothing,” Ryan said. When Jared took over, the world was given no choice but to listen.
    “Thank goodness it was a nice night out. I shudder to think what might have happened if we were inside. But I’m surprised they didn’t go for the main house.”
    “I