Running Free (8 page)

Her scent calms me and instinctively, I wrap an arm around her belly.

His eyes never leave mine but his hands do cover hers. The gesture has a growl rolling out of my own throat back at him.

With a tiny shove, she pushes him away from us. He drops his hold on her hands and shakes his head.

“When you get him out of your system, I’ll be around,” he snarls and stalks toward the door.

Her body relaxes in my grip and I use my other arm to pull her tighter to me. My eyes never leave his dilated, dark grey ones. I never back down from a challenge. Even a fucking staring contest.

Finally, his face contorts into a smug grin that he awards us with over his shoulder. “When you get tired of fucking him, you know where to get the biggest dick that’s ever been inside of that sweet pussy. I’ll fulfil your animalistic cravings which this cop douchebag will never be able to satisfy.”

With that, he slings open the door and stalks out. As soon as he’s gone, she turns in my arms and glares at me.

“What?” I chuckle.

“Did you really have to egg him on? Luca’s a good guy, Gun. Don’t let him rile you up.”

I shrug my shoulders and drop a kiss on her nose. “He was disrespectful to you. Tell me you aren’t overlooking that. You deserve someone who will treat you right.”

She sighs and tugs away. “I don’t deserve anything but the crap I’ve been given. Go back to work, solving the crimes of the world.”

I frown and narrow my gaze at her. “Actually, I didn’t come here to make out with you, although that was certainly a bonus,” I tell her with a wink, “and fight with your ex. I came here because they found another body. Another teen.”

Her eyes widen in shock and she grits her teeth in a physical effort to keep her emotions at bay. “Who was it?”

“Kid named John Engle.”

This time tears well in her eyes. “Little badass Johnny… ”

“You know him?”

She nods and a tear rolls out. “He stayed with us for about a month until he turned eighteen. The kid was extremely smart and wanted to go back to college one day. Last I heard, he was dating a gal he met at the diner.”

“I’m sorry, Frankie. He was also gutted. By a goddamned bear. Do you know anything about that?”

She shakes her head. “No, but I’m going to find out who’s doing this. Do you think it could be someone getting back at me? I’ve known all three of the victims, Gun. Not just known in passing but mentored them until they could get their lives straightened out.”

“Unless you’ve pissed off a bear, this has nothing to do with you, Frankie.”

Her eyes cloud over as if she’s contemplating my words. “Could someone be making it look like it was a bear? This worries me. What about Suzie? If someone has some warped vendetta against me, then she could be in danger.”

The thought of anything happening to the sweet little girl who hugged me as if she knew me sends a cold chill down my veins.

“Nothing is happening to Suzie. As far as a set-up, that’s possible. Fitz, TJ, and the others down at the station are sure it’s an animal attack — they say it’s quite common in these parts of Indiana. But I came from Chicago. We had gangs, mafia, and crazy, rich white boys causing all kinds of shit up there. Oftentimes, they would stage murders, especially the rich ones. Can you think of anyone who might be pissed at you? I can go question them to be safe.”

She chews on her bottom lip and casts a glance out the window. “I thought I kept my head under the radar. I don’t make friends aside from Otis and the kids I help. I’m kind of a bitch but never mean. Although, I did hit Jared Thurston once and broke his ugly nose.”

Her eyes find mine and a smile is tugging at her lips.

“Why do I think you enjoyed hitting him?” I ask, matching her grin.

“Because I did. Asshole told me very crudely what he was going to do to me if he ever caught me alone. Not thinking twice, I popped him in the face and told him he better bring a gun because I’d fuck him up if he ever touched a hair on my head.”

A dark eyebrow is lurched nearly to her hairline and her lip is curled up in disgust. The small woman has the bark, and it would appear, the bite, of a pit bull. One more reason I’m captivated by her.

Grabbing her hips, I haul her to me and bring my lips to hers. “I want to get you alone,” I murmur, my breath tickling her lips, “and do very crude things to you. Are you going to hurt me?”

She whimpers when I brush a kiss against her mouth. But after a ragged breath, she shakes her head and steps away from me out of my grasp. “Gun, the only thing I’ll be hurting is your heart. You sure you want to play with the big dogs?”

My heart’s been broken once. I’d like to think the motherfucker is made of steel now.

I wink at her as she backs away from me. “Baby doll, I lead the pack. Do your worst… I’m ready for it.”

“Here’s that list of addresses of homes on Woodland Pond you asked for. Want me to take half?” Fitz asks as he passes me a stack of papers across my desk.

“Yeah, in the morning, you take the south and west where we found the bodies and I’ll interrogate those on the north and east. I’m also going to question a man named Jared Thurston — the one you mentioned Frankie had hit.”

Fitz nods. “Yeah, you think he had something to do with it? Or Frankie?”

I stand and roll my shoulders to work out the kinks from having been sitting at my desk for the past couple of hours. “I don’t think Frankie has anything directly to do with it but it’s a coincidence that she knows all three vics closely. Thurston threatened her and she retaliated. That might be enough motive to try and get to her, especially if he’s afraid of her. And if I were him, I would be. Fucking prick.”

“She punched him in the nose. I’d say he got the short end of the stick, man,” he grunts out in reply.

“He got what he deserved,” I bark back. “Basically, he threatened rape and she let his ass know real quickly that she wasn’t some defenseless girl. He’s probably embarrassed and afraid. And if he did want to get back at her, then he’d do it where it hurt her the most. I’m not saying he had anything to do with these ‘bear attacks,’ but I am certain that I’m not going to ignore the only lead we have at the moment.”

Fitz nods in agreement. “Tomorrow, I’ll call Port Lipman. He’s a Craft County forest ranger and an old buddy of mine from high school. I’ll see if he won’t work with us to find out if he can track any bears or other large animals.”

“It’s probably too late to visit Jared, but I’m going to drive by his residence and see if I find anything fishy,” I tell him as I snag my keys off the desk. “Oh, and Fitz, you might want to patrol around town as well. Two sets of eyes are better than one.”

He stands from his own desk and tugs on his jacket. “TJ already has two officers in squad cars sitting at two different locations on Woodland Pond. He thinks it might prevent any more murders from happening if there is visible police surveillance.”

I grunt out my agreement. “Good call. Let me know what you find out in the morning.”

“You got it, Gun.”

After a wave, I trot out to my Tahoe and climb in. The drive to Jared’s is a quiet one and it gives me time to think about Frankie. I feel like an animal around her. My body craves to mark and protect her — to claim her as mine. When I was with Carla, despite having loved her, I never had such a visceral reaction.

With Frankie, I’m hooked on the drug that is her.

As I pull onto Jared’s street in the mobile home park, my eyes are drawn to the trailer at the end. Five cars line the street out front and several guys are wrestling in the yard. Good. That idiot is still up partying. I’m going to interrogate the pussy.

For intimidation purposes, I grab my shotgun from the back and climb out after. The men, and a few ladies, are laughing and shouting, so much so, that they don’t notice my arrival. The intoxicating scent of weed infiltrates my senses and I shake my head. I’m not here about drugs. I’m here about murder.

“WCPD. Which one of you is Jared Thurston?” I bark out, flashing my badge to the group.

They grow silent, whispering amongst themselves. I don’t have to wait long before a big motherfucker emerges from middle.

“I am. I ain’t done nothing wrong either.” His voice is steady and bold. As he approaches, he squares his shoulders at me and pins me with an icy glare. Tattoos crawl up his neck and are visible on his arms beneath his white tank top which screams trailer trash. His shaved head only adds to the crazy glint in his eye.

Cocking my shotgun, I stop him with a menacing stare. “That’s close enough Mr. Thurston.”

He pauses and fists his hands at his sides. His friends have slowly begun to slink away back toward the confines of the trailer, leaving him to deal with his problems alone. However, two of the men stand nearby smoking, their eyes never leaving the scene between us.

“Where were you this afternoon between five and seven?” I question.

He shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know. The diner probably.”

I shake my head. “
Probably
won’t cut it. Was anyone there to back this up?”

One of his goons waves his hand. “We ate dinner with him. My old lady works at the diner and will tell you the same.”

Jared grunts in agreement.

“Can you tell me about the night Frances Aleen hit you?” I question, unable to keep the bite out of my voice.

He lifts his chin and the moonlight reflects off of his crooked-ass nose. “What’s that got to do with anythin’?”

“Just answer the damn question.”

His friends edge closer and I grip my shotgun, making eyes with each one of them who dares them to do anything stupid.

“She was being a dumb bitch and couldn’t take a joke. Then she hit me,” he seethes.

“Because you threatened her,” I snap.

“I ain’t threatened nobody.”

We have a silent standoff; him sticking by his lie and me glaring at him and his apparent untruth.

I break the silence with an angry hiss. “Don’t lay one goddamn finger on her, got it?”

He smirks and my heart surges with the desire to give him a black eye to match his stupid nose.

“She’s all yours, copper. I hear she’s a biter… ” The three men start yelping and howling like fucking lunatics.

Before I do something that will have me losing my job, I growl out a
fuck you, asshole,
and storm back to my Tahoe.

Frankie

I stare in the mirror above my bathroom sink and frown. My eyes are bloodshot from lack of sleep and dark circles are forming beneath them. I look like absolute shit due to lack of sleep. Last night, all I could think about was him. The way it felt when my soul threaded itself with his. It was out of my control. I’d done the absolute worst and I had no way of preventing it.

Imprinted.

On Gunnar Fucking Mason.

An image of his crooked smirk and dark eyes sends a flurry of heated butterflies bouncing around in my belly. Why’d it have to be him? A human.

I know I should talk to Otis about it, but quite frankly, I’m afraid to admit it aloud. Instead, I beat myself up inside about it.

I’ll never imprint again on anyone else. I ruined my chances of love because my heart foolishly chose a human.

With a sigh, I snatch my tooth brush and then start preparing for my date. On the night before the full moon, with a human I’m extremely attracted to and accidentally imprinted on, and to a date at his house. It all seems disastrous. I worry what will happen but my body thrums in excitement.

A part of me wants to let him fuck me until I can’t walk anymore.

The sane part of me knows this isn’t a good idea.

However, here I am primping and getting ready for our date. At least Suzie will be there. I can’t very well do anything too stupid with a little girl around.

I let out a rush of relieved breath and dig around in my closet in search for something remotely date-appropriate. Everything I own is bordering on goth — not sexy. Eventually though, I find a pair of skinny jeans, black boots, and a charcoal-grey sweater that hangs off my shoulder.

Dropping my robe from after my shower, I walk over to the corner mirror in my bedroom. I lift a brow in shock to see my boobs appear bigger.

“No way… ” I groan and yank a bra from my drawer.