Read Online Easy Prey (Love-Inspired Suspense) by Lisa Phillips - Free Book Online
Authors: Lisa Phillips
Tags: Fiction, thriller, Suspense, Romance, Contemporary, Crime, romantic suspense, Christian, Teenager, Danger, Inspirational, Intrigue, Faith, secrets, widow, zoo, us marshal, Animal Trafficker, Attacked
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Affection wasn’t what she needed, or wanted, from him now.
He drove across town with the radio off, wondering at how much his life had changed in only a day. He’d been on a lonely trajectory, nothing but work and a little family in his mom and Dom. Now Elise had brought her light back into his life.
And Jonah was going to find out who was trying to kill her.
He pulled up down the street from Howard Colombes’s house, donned his vest and grabbed his shotgun from the lockbox in his trunk. Parker, Ames and Hanning met him on the sidewalk. Parker led Hanning to the backyard while Ames backed up Jonah at the front door.
Jonah knocked and it swung open.
They cleared the rooms from front to back, meeting in the middle. Jonah headed to the center room in the hallway. When he opened the door, he saw it was an office, and Howard Colombes was in his chair.
Dead.
SEVEN
B eyond the body, the reporter’s wall safe was open and empty. Howard Colombes had been shot in the forehead, execution-style. His desk was clear except for the computer monitor, and the tower under the desk had been unplugged and removed. The file-cabinet drawers were open and someone had cleaned out Howard’s papers.
Jonah finished up his notes and put his phone back in his pocket. He passed the two homicide detectives the police department had sent, and met his guys in the hall.
Parker’s eyes were dark, the way they always were when he was faced with death. The former navy SEAL kept his past pretty well hidden, but Jonah saw the darkness creep up when their work turned grisly.
Ames was all mouth, and usually at the wrong moment. But he was working on it.
Eric Hanning was the newcomer of the group. Formerly assigned to witness protection, he came to the hunt for each fugitive with a more cerebral approach. And he was excellent at research.
“So, what do we have?”
The three men were used to his testing approach to a hunt. He wasn’t going to spoon-feed them everything, not when one of them would likely be team leader soon. He was sure Parker would take the position when Jonah transitioned to a more office-based role, but he didn’t want to give it up just yet.
Jonah glanced at Parker, who said, “Whoever planted the bomb is cleaning up after himself. Howard Colombes was a loose end, someone who knew too much about what was going on at the zoo before it flooded. Whoever has a vested interest in the story not coming out is getting rid of anyone who knows.”
“Which means he isn’t going to stop until Elise is dead, too.”
“But by that logic, everyone who read the article in the paper should be killed,” Eric said.
Ames shook his head. “Not since he’s destroying evidence. The article is only hearsay if there’s no evidence to corroborate the story.”
Jonah nodded. “That means there’s something about Elise that’s put her on his list.”
“Did she know about the animal trading?” Parker’s eyebrow rose. “Maybe from when she was here years ago?”
Jonah said, “She did work at the zoo. Maybe she knows something, or might remember something. It doesn’t have to be simply her being hired back that’s the reason she’s being targeted now.”
“Guess you should find out.”
Jonah shook his head at Parker’s cynicism. Some woman had clearly burned him if he was this distrusting of any female he met. Jonah would have asked him who she was, but they didn’t talk about their personal lives.
“So, who looks good for this?”
Eric said, “The zookeeper was killed in the flood. The few employees of the zoo found jobs elsewhere. There wasn’t much call for their skills after the zoo was destroyed, and a lot of the staff were volunteers, anyway. The vet moved his practice across town, but he apparently still works with the zoo’s animals at the sanctuary and even houses a few at his own practice. The rest were transferred out of town for the time being.”
“We should go talk to him. If he’s not the one causing
He drove across town with the radio off, wondering at how much his life had changed in only a day. He’d been on a lonely trajectory, nothing but work and a little family in his mom and Dom. Now Elise had brought her light back into his life.
And Jonah was going to find out who was trying to kill her.
He pulled up down the street from Howard Colombes’s house, donned his vest and grabbed his shotgun from the lockbox in his trunk. Parker, Ames and Hanning met him on the sidewalk. Parker led Hanning to the backyard while Ames backed up Jonah at the front door.
Jonah knocked and it swung open.
They cleared the rooms from front to back, meeting in the middle. Jonah headed to the center room in the hallway. When he opened the door, he saw it was an office, and Howard Colombes was in his chair.
Dead.
SEVEN
B eyond the body, the reporter’s wall safe was open and empty. Howard Colombes had been shot in the forehead, execution-style. His desk was clear except for the computer monitor, and the tower under the desk had been unplugged and removed. The file-cabinet drawers were open and someone had cleaned out Howard’s papers.
Jonah finished up his notes and put his phone back in his pocket. He passed the two homicide detectives the police department had sent, and met his guys in the hall.
Parker’s eyes were dark, the way they always were when he was faced with death. The former navy SEAL kept his past pretty well hidden, but Jonah saw the darkness creep up when their work turned grisly.
Ames was all mouth, and usually at the wrong moment. But he was working on it.
Eric Hanning was the newcomer of the group. Formerly assigned to witness protection, he came to the hunt for each fugitive with a more cerebral approach. And he was excellent at research.
“So, what do we have?”
The three men were used to his testing approach to a hunt. He wasn’t going to spoon-feed them everything, not when one of them would likely be team leader soon. He was sure Parker would take the position when Jonah transitioned to a more office-based role, but he didn’t want to give it up just yet.
Jonah glanced at Parker, who said, “Whoever planted the bomb is cleaning up after himself. Howard Colombes was a loose end, someone who knew too much about what was going on at the zoo before it flooded. Whoever has a vested interest in the story not coming out is getting rid of anyone who knows.”
“Which means he isn’t going to stop until Elise is dead, too.”
“But by that logic, everyone who read the article in the paper should be killed,” Eric said.
Ames shook his head. “Not since he’s destroying evidence. The article is only hearsay if there’s no evidence to corroborate the story.”
Jonah nodded. “That means there’s something about Elise that’s put her on his list.”
“Did she know about the animal trading?” Parker’s eyebrow rose. “Maybe from when she was here years ago?”
Jonah said, “She did work at the zoo. Maybe she knows something, or might remember something. It doesn’t have to be simply her being hired back that’s the reason she’s being targeted now.”
“Guess you should find out.”
Jonah shook his head at Parker’s cynicism. Some woman had clearly burned him if he was this distrusting of any female he met. Jonah would have asked him who she was, but they didn’t talk about their personal lives.
“So, who looks good for this?”
Eric said, “The zookeeper was killed in the flood. The few employees of the zoo found jobs elsewhere. There wasn’t much call for their skills after the zoo was destroyed, and a lot of the staff were volunteers, anyway. The vet moved his practice across town, but he apparently still works with the zoo’s animals at the sanctuary and even houses a few at his own practice. The rest were transferred out of town for the time being.”
“We should go talk to him. If he’s not the one causing
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