Read Online Untamed: Duty Bound Book 3 by J.S. Marlo - Free Book Online
Authors: J.S. Marlo
Tags: romantic suspense
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hole or to cover the big chunks of ice dispersed in the snow. The pattern and debris suggested the water had frozen around the snowmobile after it plunged into the creek. The accident would have happened before the cold front that had swept through in December.
Brent took off at the end of November. The window of opportunity was too narrow…
As reality sank in, Hannah hugged her son tighter. Brent had died within weeks, if not days, of his disappearance.
Rory tapped her shoulder then pointed at the woods. The wind had risen and the branches of the evergreens flapped, sending snow swirling to the ground.
Through the white mist, she glimpsed a shadow. A blink later, it was gone.
Chapter Twelve
Ever since Avery had been assigned to the Mooseland detachment, being buried under paperwork had taken a more literal sense. On the left corner of his desk were the cases he’d inherited from Abbott. On the right were the new cases that had landed on his lap since his arrival.
Foxy’s death had been relegated to the bottom of the right pile, buried underneath two acts of vandalism, an accusation of school bullying, a bar fight that spilled into the street, spawning a dozen disturbance calls, eight arrests for public intoxication, and one count of family violence. The belligerent husband was in custody along with the eight obnoxious goons sobering up in the drunk tank. Curses and protests coming from the jail cells floated down the hallway, annoying Avery to no end.
A dull headache burgeoned in his temples. I need a drink.
Alone at the detachment on the graveyard shift, he downed a weakened version of his beloved Red Eye, then poured the rest of the beer in the sink. In the unlikely event that one of his colleagues walked in with a Breathalyzer, the alcohol level in Avery’s system wouldn’t be sufficient to incriminate himself.
Needing to uphold his reputation, he chucked the empty beer bottle in Cooper’s garbage can before returning attention to his computer screen.
After Rachel’s death, Avery had honed his hacking skills, but despite all his attempts, Abbott’s deleted messages remained out of reach. The technician who’d erased the dead corporal’s personal data had either done a thorough job or Abbott had never filed the information on his work computer.
Where did you hide the bloody evidence, Abbott? Your home computer? The guy couldn’t have been that stupid…could he? He’d ended up dead after all, so it wasn’t impossible the late corporal had done something stupid—like trust the wrong person. A mistake Avery had no intention of repeating.
When faced with a dead end, experience had taught him to take a step back and work on something else while his brain drilled a way out.
He flipped through Abbott’s old cases. Names, violations…nothing rang a bell or stood out. I’m looking in the wrong place. The thought brought his mind back to Hannah Parker’s situation.
The report that Reed had garnered on Hannah had raised more questions than answers, but Avery refused to jump at the obvious conclusion reached by his sergeant.
Five years ago, Hannah had filed charges of sexual assault against a man, then recanted them the next day. Upon her grandfather’s death a month later, she’d implicated three individuals only to be proven wrong again when two teenagers confessed to the crime in a suicide note.
What really happened, Hannah? What prompted you to make all those false allegations?
The fire spitting in the stove and the angry husband ranting in his cell didn’t provide any answer. Avery knew a detective posted in Halifax that could enlighten him on the sexual assault charges, but contacting him at this time would be a breach of his assignment. Short of looking into the assault case, he could at least sink his teeth into the grandfather’s murder. The case should be archived in the storage room next to the jail cells.
Without paying attention to the rowdy guests, Avery entered the room and
Brent took off at the end of November. The window of opportunity was too narrow…
As reality sank in, Hannah hugged her son tighter. Brent had died within weeks, if not days, of his disappearance.
Rory tapped her shoulder then pointed at the woods. The wind had risen and the branches of the evergreens flapped, sending snow swirling to the ground.
Through the white mist, she glimpsed a shadow. A blink later, it was gone.
Chapter Twelve
Ever since Avery had been assigned to the Mooseland detachment, being buried under paperwork had taken a more literal sense. On the left corner of his desk were the cases he’d inherited from Abbott. On the right were the new cases that had landed on his lap since his arrival.
Foxy’s death had been relegated to the bottom of the right pile, buried underneath two acts of vandalism, an accusation of school bullying, a bar fight that spilled into the street, spawning a dozen disturbance calls, eight arrests for public intoxication, and one count of family violence. The belligerent husband was in custody along with the eight obnoxious goons sobering up in the drunk tank. Curses and protests coming from the jail cells floated down the hallway, annoying Avery to no end.
A dull headache burgeoned in his temples. I need a drink.
Alone at the detachment on the graveyard shift, he downed a weakened version of his beloved Red Eye, then poured the rest of the beer in the sink. In the unlikely event that one of his colleagues walked in with a Breathalyzer, the alcohol level in Avery’s system wouldn’t be sufficient to incriminate himself.
Needing to uphold his reputation, he chucked the empty beer bottle in Cooper’s garbage can before returning attention to his computer screen.
After Rachel’s death, Avery had honed his hacking skills, but despite all his attempts, Abbott’s deleted messages remained out of reach. The technician who’d erased the dead corporal’s personal data had either done a thorough job or Abbott had never filed the information on his work computer.
Where did you hide the bloody evidence, Abbott? Your home computer? The guy couldn’t have been that stupid…could he? He’d ended up dead after all, so it wasn’t impossible the late corporal had done something stupid—like trust the wrong person. A mistake Avery had no intention of repeating.
When faced with a dead end, experience had taught him to take a step back and work on something else while his brain drilled a way out.
He flipped through Abbott’s old cases. Names, violations…nothing rang a bell or stood out. I’m looking in the wrong place. The thought brought his mind back to Hannah Parker’s situation.
The report that Reed had garnered on Hannah had raised more questions than answers, but Avery refused to jump at the obvious conclusion reached by his sergeant.
Five years ago, Hannah had filed charges of sexual assault against a man, then recanted them the next day. Upon her grandfather’s death a month later, she’d implicated three individuals only to be proven wrong again when two teenagers confessed to the crime in a suicide note.
What really happened, Hannah? What prompted you to make all those false allegations?
The fire spitting in the stove and the angry husband ranting in his cell didn’t provide any answer. Avery knew a detective posted in Halifax that could enlighten him on the sexual assault charges, but contacting him at this time would be a breach of his assignment. Short of looking into the assault case, he could at least sink his teeth into the grandfather’s murder. The case should be archived in the storage room next to the jail cells.
Without paying attention to the rowdy guests, Avery entered the room and
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