Hunt and Prey (Kelsey's Burden Series Book 8) by Kaylie Hunter (novels to read for beginners txt) 📕

to argue, but Spence held up a hand to stop me. “It’s fine. Besides, someone sent a shitload of business referrals my way. I’ll be running my ass off trying to keep up.”

“What about Beast?”

Spence shrugged. “He’s your partner until this is over. He goes where you go.”

Beast barked twice when he heard his name, jumping up. He trotted over and half sat on my feet, leaning his head into my thigh. I gave him a good scratch behind his ear.

Spence slid his now empty beer to the center of the table and stood. “I’ll help load the stuff you’re taking with you, then after you’re gone, I’ll move the rest to the vacant apartment.”

“I’ll help him,” Bridget said. “Then after I take some measurements, I’ll drive your car back to the mansion.”

“Not a good idea,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t want you here alone.”

“I’ll stay until she leaves,” Spence said. “I’ll keep an eye out for Mr. Tricky.”

“Mr. Tricky?” Kelsey asked.

I shrugged. “We needed a name to call the guy who’s after me. The name seemed to sum up the guy pretty good. He’s a slippery asshole.”

Bridget rolled her eyes and walked toward the door, but Spence stopped her with a hand on her forearm before she opened it. After moving her to the side, he unholstered his gun and glanced into the hall before nodding toward me. I grabbed the duffle in one hand and held my gun in the other as I led everyone out to the parking lot.

With Spence’s help, we were ready to roll after two trips. I cornered him before we left. “Don’t stay in the apartment tonight by yourself. It’s not safe.”

He grinned down at me as he lifted a hand and rubbed the pad of his thumb along my jawline. “Worried about me?”

I knocked his hand away. “No. I’m worried about the ribbing I’ll suffer from other cops if there’s a third dead body found in my building.”

His smile widened. “I have surveillance gear in my truck. I’ll leave after the rest of your stuff is moved and the motion activated cameras are installed. Your crappy apartment isn’t worth me losing my life. Hell, it’s not even worth me losing a good night’s sleep.”

I slapped him in the gut, but it just made him laugh.

“You can keep your cameras,” Bridget said, pulling a box from the SUV. “Tech sent some equipment with me.”

Two black SUVs pulled into the parking lot. All four of us pulled our guns.

Bones got out of the first, ignoring our guns as his eyes focused on Bridget. It took him a minute to see Spence standing next to us, but when he did, he smiled.

Not a smirk. Not a half smile. Bones. Smiled.  His lips parted to display his perfectly straight bright white teeth.

“Russell Spencer,” Bones said, walking toward Spence. “I’ll be damned.”

Spence laughed, bear hugging Bones. “Bone-crusher. Good to see you, man.”

“Is my boyfriend smiling?” Bridget asked Kelsey.

“It appears so,” Kelsey answered, watching Bones and Spence.

The door on the second SUV opened and I saw the lightness of the moment fade from Kelsey’s expression as Grady walked toward us. I ducked around Bones and Spence to stand beside Kelsey, offering her my support by proximity.

“Let’s go,” she said to me as her eyes shot lasers at Grady.

I opened the rear door of the SUV and whistled for Beast. He launched the ten-foot distance with enough energy to fuel a pack of toddlers for a week. I shook my head as I shut the door. “I’ll drive.” I took the keys from Kelsey’s hand and slid behind the wheel before she could argue.

When Kelsey slid into the passenger seat a minute later, she asked, “What’s the deal with the dog?”

“He’s my new partner. Spence loaned him to me.”

“We brought Nicholas’ new dog Jager with us. Think the dogs will get along?”

“I hope so. But for now, where I go, Beast goes.” I glanced at her, narrowing my eyes. “You got a problem with that?”

“You’re in a mood.”

“Wouldn’t you be?” I shook my head at her innocent expression as I drove out of the parking lot. “What if I showed up at your house, ordering you around?”

“Maybe I wouldn’t have been so bossy if you’d taken a few precautions to protect yourself.”

“Why the hell do you think Beast and Spence were there?”

“Who the hell is that guy? You’ve never mentioned him before. How do you know him?”

I tried to hide my grin as I turned right on the highway. “I met Spence a few nights ago when I broke into his house. We got to chatting about a case.”

“You know him that well, huh?” The sarcasm was so heated in her voice that I swear it raised the temperature in the vehicle.

“Since our initial meeting,” I said, throwing her a warning glance, “I’ve talked to Uncle Hank. He knows Spence and vouched for him.” I checked traffic before making a left on a one-way street. “I also know Spence is a good investigator. He tracked down Evie, one of the regular bartenders at the Outer Layer. She’d made one minor slip up, calling an old coworker, and Spence somehow tracked her from there. He’s good. And thankfully for Evie’s sake, he hesitated turning the information over to his client.”

“Is his client the reason Tech’s been cussing about an impossible phone trace?”

“Same case, yeah,” I said as I stopped for a red light. I looked around at the nearby buildings and street signs. “Where the hell am I going?”

“I was wondering when you were going to ask.” Kelsey laughed. “You kept driving in the right direction, so I decided not to say anything.”

I gritted my teeth. “You’re aware how annoying you are, right?”

She chuckled. “Our