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

I looked around, realizing that I was alone on a jogging path bordered by shrubbery so tall and thick that I couldn’t see anything except for the grassy knoll at the end of the path. “Yup. Following all the standard precautions and then some.”

“I’m going to pretend to believe you.” I heard the familiar squeak of his office chair, then the shuffling of paper. “Greg sent a forensic report over to the office. I peeked. Looks like your shirt from the truck stop yielded fifteen different hair samples, including dog hair. DNA is out because none of the hairs except the dog’s had root follicles, but he’s running chemical trace and other nonsense. He’s asking though if you can eliminate some of them by detailing your whereabouts earlier in the day.”

“Fifteen seems like a lot.”

“I agree. Also says most of the hairs appeared severed evenly at one end. What were you doing on Sunday? Rolling around on the floor in a brothel?”

“Oh, crap. I went to Benny’s! I sat in one of the customer chairs.”

“Benny’s? Please tell me you are not referring to the Benny—as in Benny The Barber.”

“I needed information.”

“You just walked right inside and sat down? No swat team or bodyguards? Are you insane?”

“It was safe enough. Mickey was there getting a shave.”

“Mickey who?”

I laughed as I answered. “Mickey McNabe.” I mentally counted down from five, waiting for Quille’s temper to explode. When I got to zero and didn’t hear anything, I looked at my phone. Quille had disconnected the call.

I slid the phone into my back pocket, tossed the folders back inside their appropriate boxes and carried the top box with the laptop back toward the parking lot. If the boys were willing to jog the mile route looking for evidence, the least I could do was have everything packed and ready to leave when they were done.

On my third walk back to grab the last box, two things happened at the same time. One, I noticed that the lid on the last box was partially off, though I was certain it had been closed. Two, Beast, with a menacing growl, launched into the brush. I could hear his barking moving in the opposite direction at a fast pace.

Gibson and Chambers came running around the corner, Gibson with his gun drawn.

When they looked at me, I held up my hands in an I-don’t-know gesture before pointing toward the woods.

“I’ll go,” Chambers said. “Gibson, escort Detective Harrison back to her car.”

Chambers disappeared into the greenery.

Gibson holstered his gun and went to lift the box, but I stopped him. “Someone was looking through it. Maybe we’ll get lucky and get prints.”

He pulled on gloves, then lifted the box from the bottom. I pulled my gun, called in for officer assistance, and hurried with Gibson back to Wild Card’s rental. By the time the box was secured in the back of the SUV, two squad cars had arrived and Gibson assigned an officer to wait with me as the rest of them ran toward the back of the park and into the trees.

The officer assigned to watch me looked back at me with a raised eyebrow.

“I know what you’re thinking. Why am I babysitting this chick?”

“Just doing my job, ma’am.”

I reached into my handbag and pulled my badge.

He laughed. “Okay, now I’m confused.”

“You hear about the shooting at the central precinct yesterday?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m the target.”

He looked at me for a long second before pulling his keys and pressing the button on his keypad to open the trunk of his cruiser. He handed me a bulletproof vest before slipping a second one over his own head. Next, he holstered his handgun and pulled a shotgun from the trunk. He looked over at the hot dog vendor. “Unless you got a death wish, I’d suggest you get the hell out of here.”

The vendor rushed to cover everything and release the brake, hurrying along with his cart down the sidewalk in the opposite direction.

“We both know the perp is likely long gone by now. Admit it. It was the smell of sauerkraut, wasn’t it?”

When he smiled, a deep dimple formed on his left cheek. “How can people eat that shit in this heat?”

Chapter Thirty-Six

KELSEY

Tuesday, 1:45 p.m.

Upon entering the mansion, my shoulders tensed as I heard Grady and Wild Card yelling. I walked through the foyer, down the side hall, and into the open-layout kitchen where they were faced off, ready to come to blows. The kids were only a few feet away.

“Have you both lost your minds?” I asked while pushing them out of my way to reach the kids and pass them off to Anne and Whiskey.

Bones, who had followed me to the chaos, walked over to Grady and Wild Card. “What the H-E-double-hockey-sticks is going on in here?”

“Really, dude?” Tyler asked Bones from the veranda entryway.

“Shut the—” he looked at the kids.

“Front door?” Sara asked.

“Not helping, Sara,” Whiskey told her.

I looked at Grady, then Wild Card. “What are you two fighting about now?”

They both looked away. It was against their code to rat on each other.

“Anne? What was the fight about?”

“I don’t know. Whiskey and I were out hanging towels when we heard the yelling start. When we got here, Wild Card was telling Grady he had no business ordering Nicholas to do anything.”

Aunt Suzanne stood in the kitchen with big eyes and a stunned expression. I raised an eyebrow at her and asked, “What’s going on?”

She looked at me but pointed at Grady and Wild Card. “Were they really going to start hitting each other over a sandwich?”

“What sandwich?” I asked.

“Nicholas’ sandwich,” she said, waving a hand to the plate on the counter. “He asked if he could