Read Online Desert Bound (Cambio Springs) by Elizabeth Hunter - Free Book Online Page B

but knew that doing that would only compromise the larger investigation. She was a consultant. That was all. And she knew she didn’t have the equipment for a full autopsy. 
    And the county would demand one, especially for a victim like this. A well-loved business owner and family man, living out of state, but with strong ties to the community. The county prosecutor had no idea that in Cambio Springs, justice often took a decidedly vigilante turn.
    She heard someone come into the office. From the thump of the boots, she was guessing Caleb. The suspicion was confirmed when he walked right in after a perfunctory knock.
    “Hey.”
    “Hey.” She pulled pulled off her gloves and used a spare rag to tug up the zipper on the body bag. “Call the ambulance. He’s going to the main office.”
    “Murder?”
    She nodded and held up the small bag with the bullet. Caleb took it, looking it over with a practiced eye. He might not have intended to use his formidable deductive skills when he moved from Albuquerque to the small town in the California desert, but sadly, they hadn’t been allowed to get rusty.
    “It’s a nine.”
    “Positive?”
    “Pretty sure. Send it in. Their ballistics lab will be able to confirm.”
    “Nine millimeter handguns are common around here.”
    He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “Common everywhere.” He pulled out his phone and punched a few numbers while Ted started throwing garbage into the red medical waste bags she’d set out before she started the exam.
    “Dev?” Caleb was talking to the Sheriff’s deputy that covered their area. “Yeah, send them over. …Uh huh. …Yeah, I’ll call you when we get the report. Thanks, man.”
    Dev and the elders in his tribe were some of the few outsiders who knew about the shapeshifters of Cambio Springs. But since they didn’t appreciate attention any more than the Springs shifters did, a tentative alliance had formed.
    Ted and Dev had once tried to form a more personal alliance, but Alex had stepped in the middle of that almost immediately. Dev hadn’t given up easily, but there was only so much of her shit that he’d been willing to put up with. When Dev figured out he wasn’t making any headway, he’d stepped back. He didn’t seem all that broken up about it, considering how quickly he’d moved on, but Ted still considered him a friend.
    “They’ll be here in about fifteen minutes.”
    Her eyebrows raised. “That’s quick.”
    “Well, I called awhile ago. Gave them a heads up. I had a feeling.”
    Ted didn’t question it. Whether it was his Navajo uncle’s hatałii blood, or just a practiced sixth sense, Caleb Gilbert often had very accurate “feelings” that turned into substantial leads. And now that he’d married a hawk shapeshifter and drank the water of the fresh spring, developing an ability to turn into other people , the feeling of ‘other’ her cat sensed in him had only grown stronger. Ted wondered if he even realized it.
    She felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. She pulled it out and noticed three calls from her mother and two from Alex.
    “Is that McCann?” Caleb asked.
    “No.” Not this time anyway. “My mom.”
    “No doubt there’ll be an elders’ meeting once this all comes out.”
    “Your favorite activity, Chief.”
    Technically, as a city employee, Caleb worked for the Elder Council that ran the Springs. Seven of the oldest residents of the town, one from each of the seven original families. Her great-uncle was on the council, but her mother would take over eventually, as she was the most dominant in their family. Alex’s dad was also a member, even though he wasn’t the oldest. But then, Robert McCann had always set his own rules.
    “Listen, Ted…” 
    “Hmm?” She was blinking and trying to remember where she left her keys. It was past three o’clock, and even though her air conditioning was cranked, she needed a nap.
    “I know McCann’s going to dig for his own answers. I get