Read Online THE CRADLE CONSPIRACY by Robin Perini - Free Book Online Page B

come?”
    Trouble let out a bark. Out of his pocket Daniel pulled the keys to the truck the sheriff had loaned him. The casing from his dad’s gun fell to the ground. Daniel scooped it up. He couldn’t lose the reminder. That mutt, and now Raven, had somehow embedded themselves behind the protective wall Daniel had constructed around his heart. All he had to do was look at the cylinder of brass to remind him of what he’d come home to that horrible afternoon.
    Blood and brains splattered on the wall of his father’s bedroom. His sisters’ screams when they’d followed him into that death room.
    He shook his head to dispel the memories. No time for the past.
    With a quick tug he opened the door of the truck. “Well?”
    He half expected Trouble to skedaddle, but the dog surprised him yet again. He jumped into the vehicle and sat on the passenger seat.
    “So you hate cop cars and uniforms, do you, but not trucks? I can’t say that I blame you. Just takes one psycho in uniform to sour the taste.”
    Daniel put the truck into gear and exited the hospital parking lot. Trouble stuck his head out the window, letting the wind blow through his reddish hair, with that crazy dog smile on his face. The trip didn’t last long, though. Within a few minutes, Daniel had traveled from one end of the small town to the other.
    He pulled inside the parking lot of the Copper Mine Motel. The place should have been a dump, but a fresh coat of paint brightened it up, and two iron kettles of pansies lined each side of the screen door entrance, giving it a vintage and welcoming vibe.
    Daniel pressed the buzzer.
    A curtain pushed aside. A tiny woman with scraggly gray hair and piercing blue eyes peeped through the gap. “You Daniel Adams?”
    “Don’t be asking him his name, Lucy. How many times have I told you, you give away too much? What if it’s a bad guy?”
    She pouted, then shrugged. “How many visitors we get at the crack of dawn? Besides, I can spot a bad guy a mile away. Quit babying me, big brother. You’re not my keeper.”
    A large barrel-chested man opened the door. His brown hair was wild, but his beard well kempt. Tattoos covered his arms. A steel loop pierced his lip.
    Incongruously, oven mitts encased his hands, and he held a fresh-baked pan of chocolate chip cookies. “Sorry for the delay. Had to get these out of the oven.”
    So not a picture Daniel had expected. The cookies should belong to his sister. This guy should be greased up, taking a wrench to a Harley. “You’re Hondo?”
    “You got it. This is my place.”
    His sister cleared her throat and glared at him.
    “Yeah, well, Lucy here got it in a settlement from her lyin’, cheatin’ ex-husband.” He glanced at his sister. “But I’m the one who keeps the place from falling down around your feet. Isn’t that right, little sister?”
    “Just don’t you forget who’s in charge,” she huffed. “I’m going to watch wrestling.”
    “Keep the volume down,” he commented with a smile in his eyes. He turned back to Daniel. “She’s far too trusting. I hear you need a room.”
    “For a while.”
    “I also hear you prefer no record that you’re staying here,” he said with a scowl. “I don’t want no problems. I see any funny business goin’ on, I won’t hesitate to call the sheriff. I’m only lettin’ you stay ’cause he vouched for you.”
    “Agreed.” Daniel pulled out his wallet.
    Hondo raised his hand. “Sheriff took care of one week’s rent. We’ll talk after that if we’re both still interested.”
    Daniel studied the man in front of him. He didn’t see deception behind Hondo’s eyes. “That’s fair.” He shoved his billfold back into his pocket. “One week.”
    “Good.” Hondo smiled and held out the baking sheet. “Cookie?”
    * * *
    R AVEN PEERED THROUGH the pickup’s window at a succession of mom-and-pop shops down Trouble’s main drag and clutched the hospital blanket tighter around her. The big stores hadn’t