Read Online Untamed: Duty Bound Book 3 by J.S. Marlo - Free Book Online Page A

searched for the murder report. The doctor had called the old man Gramp Pike, and Avery found him under the Ps .
    The report was dated February 10 th , five years ago. Marcel Pike. 61 years old. Cause of death: fractured skull.
    A series of pictures showed the old man lying in the snow, his head clobbered in a similar fashion as the fox left on Hannah’s doorstep. An autopsy report detailed the numerous injuries Pike sustained during the attack. It was signed by Dr. G. Murphy.
    No inconsistency jumped out at Avery, so he turned his attention to the police report.
    Hannah had found her grandfather in the woods and glimpsed three suspects as they ran away. No worthy physical description of the individuals had been recorded. A week later, Constable Brent Abbott had discovered the bodies of two aboriginal youths near the crime scene. Percy Foley, 15, and Nelson Bourke, 16.
    Upon seeing Abbott’s name, Avery looked at the bottom of the page. It sported Abbott’s signature. The former corporal had been the one conducting the investigation into Pike’s murder. Is that how you earned your promotion, Abbott? By solving the case? But Hannah had seen three suspects, not two.
    An unsigned suicide note confessing the murder was attached to the next page. It’d been found in Bourke’s pocket.
    As he read the note, Avery did a double take at the capital Bs and Ps .
    ***
    A persistent buzzing roused Terri from her sleep. Rolling onto her side, she reached for an alarm clock she didn’t remember setting, only to encounter flesh—warm flesh.
    Instantly awoken, she sat bolt upright in her bed. “What are you still doing here?”
    She pushed her lover and grabbed a bathrobe. Growling, he cracked an eye open. Another buzz.
    “I need to answer the door. Get dressed and get out.”
    For Lyn’s sake, she never allowed men to stay until morning. Another buzz.
    Hold on to your joystick, bucklebelt. I’m coming.
    Growing more irritated by the second, she swung the door. “If you woke up my—Constable Stone?”
    They hadn’t been officially introduced but she’d seen him roaming around town. With his five o’clock shadow and unkempt brown hair, Stone looked scruffy and shrewd. The man had no business standing on her front porch at seven o’clock in the morning.
    “Mrs. Abbott?” Stone tucked his police cap under his arm and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. “I saw a light in your window, so I thought you—”
    A shadow crossed his face as he looked around her shoulder. Terri tensed like a rubber band, ready to snap at the man she’d bedded for showing his face.
    “I’m very sorry for waking your daughter, ma’am.”
    “My…” She spun around, and relief washed over her at the sight of Lyn sucking her thumb under the archway of the living room. “What’s up, baby?”
    Cautiously eyeing the visitor, Lyn approached in a pink nightgown, one size too big. An unsolicited gift from Brent’s parents. When her daughter stopped at the edge of the doormat, Terri picked her up before returning her attention to Stone. His expression had softened.
    “Your daughter has beautiful eyes, Mrs. Abbott.”
    The compliment rang like a false note, increasing the pounding in Terri’s chest. “Is there a reason for your early morning visit, Officer?”
    From now on, the darn bathroom light would stay off and Lyn would learn to pee in the dark.
    “I’m closing your husband’s cases, ma’am, and it appears some files are incomplete. Do you know if he kept any documents at home? In a filing cabinet perhaps, or on his home computer?”
    “No, he didn’t.” Unsettled by the sudden inquiry, she hugged her daughter closer. “The only thing he ever brought home was his pathetic ass. If that’s all, I’d like to go back to bed.”
    “I’m sorry to have bothered you, ma’am.” He sounded despondent. “You have a good day.”
    As soon as she got rid of Stone, she returned Lyn to bed.
    “Close your eyes, baby.” The light from