Page 6 of Flick

“He hid it well from all of us who are trained to spot abusive behavior. You can only do that if you’ve had a lot of practice,” Sarah muttered.

“So, he’s done this in other places, you’re saying,” Beth said.

“I think Sarah’s saying he’s played this part before of getting close to someone, meaning it’s a pattern,” Winnie said.

“And a pattern means there’s intent. So the question isn’t why Beth. She was the only Franks sister who wasn’t in a relationship. The question is, how did whoever sent him know that? What was he wanting from a relationship with a Franks sister, and what’s the end game? And where has he played this part before?” Remi asked.

Sarah nodded. “Besides the surveillance Beth set up in Dallas, I’ll widen our search. Scoop and I were focusing on Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. Who knows where else he’s been.”

Beth grinned at the way her sisters and she worked together. It was one of the things she adored about her job with them, though they did all get on each other’s nerves sometimes. Add in the hormones ravaging Remi and Sarah’s bodies, and Beth was positive the next months would be a bumpy ride with all of them.

“I think if we start to unravel that, we can figure out how to stop what he’s doing before anyone else goes through what I did,” Beth said.

“Hello, the party’s here!” Regina’s voice yelled as she walked in with Clara, Stella, Tasha, Rose, Della, Ellie, and Meg.

“Oh, pumpkin bread, yum! I’m going to need to start working out if you all keep feeding me as well as this,” Meg said, picking up a plate and getting a couple of pieces.

“Tasha and I run on the track around the compound three times a week. You’re welcome to join us,” Rose said.

Meg laughed, shaking her head. “Walking would be one thing, but I’ve never run. I was always worried one of my tatas would slap me in the face if I bounced that much.”

Beth giggled along with the other ladies. The prim and proper Meg saying that cracked her up. Meg had loosened up a lot since she came to Bluff Creek, but Beth hadn’t realized that until now.

“Oh, you’d be fine with a good sports bra, but if you’ve never run, you should start off with walking. The treadmills at the gym would be a good place to start,” Winnie said.

Beth pulled out the next sheet of cookies and set them on top of the oven. She set her watch for three more minutes.

“Oh, cookies hot from the oven,” Tasha said, reaching for one.

Beth shook her head, stopping Tasha’s hand from grabbing a cookie. “Nope, they need three minutes on the pan before they are completely done. Trust me. I know chocolate chip cookies!”

Tasha bumped her with her shoulder. “Only because I’ve tasted these scrumptious things before am I going to wait. I love that yours are still soft and not little hard hockey pucks.”

“Yeah, hockey pucks are only good in hockey romances,” Sarah said.

“Isn’t that the truth? Dex helped me in the kitchen the other day. I was trying to explain that you can work the biscuit dough too much and they lose all the air in them and become hard as hockey pucks or bricks. He couldn’t get the concept. If kneading it once was good, then kneading it ten thousand times should be better,” Regina said, shaking her head.

“Man can hit a target with either hand from phenomenal distances but can’t get the concept of not over-kneading dough. I’ll be keeping that little tidbit to myself to use when he’s annoying me at the range,” Ellie said.

“Now, how can that fine man annoy you? I mean, the arms on that man look like he could carry me off anywhere,” Rose said.

“Oh? Do I detect a little interest in the man?” Tasha asked.

“I’d just like a date with someone who didn’t think the only place a woman has value is in the kitchen or in the bed,” Rose said.

“Umm, I told you not to say yes to the principal. He is a freakin’ jerk, and I’m not just saying that because my boys end up in the office all the time,” Ellie said.

Rose grabbed a plate and put a cookie and a couple slices of pumpkin bread on it. “I’ve decided I’m going on a dating moratorium. No men who disappoint me. Book boyfriends only and my trusty vibrator.”

Stella chuckled. “Well, at least I won’t need to worry about an unplanned pregnancy or STDs with you.”

Beth laughed along with the other women. She so needed tonight with these women to remind her of friendship, love, and a found family who would always have her back.

“Okay, ladies, grab your snacks and let’s go sit down on the comfy chairs. If a dog’s in your spot, just shoo them off there,” Beth said.

“I’m good with cuddling with the dogs, but if they try to steal my chocolate chip cookies, then it’s on,” Clara said.

Beth moved the cookies off the cookie sheet to the tray and then filled a tray with sliced summer sausage, cheese, and crackers. She enjoyed having the ladies over, and she’d needed a night where she wasn’t by herself, thinking about the past and what the future might hold.

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