Untamed: Duty Bound Book 3 (20 page)

The scars proved Greta had indeed been assaulted with a knife. The timeline was consistent with Hannah’s story.

“Did you uncover any physical reasons that might explain why she’d want to end her life? Painful or terminal disease?”

“She was a healthy woman, Stone.” He replaced the sheet. “It’s a shame she had to die on her sixtieth birthday.”

That she’d died at the same age as her husband was a coincidence Avery didn’t like.

“Fred, this is irrelevant, but I have a buddy back home who was smacked over the head. He was up and running a few days later, but he can’t seem to remember anything, not even his children. His wife doesn’t know what to do with him. Any suggestions?”

“Head trauma is tricky, Stone. Unfortunately, there’s not much doctors can do. Time will tell if your friend recovers his memory. All I can suggest is patience, and a good psychologist to help him and his family cope with his condition.”

***

A cold wind whipped Hannah’s face, giving her hope it also muffled her steps in the snow. She hid behind one of the few evergreens planted between the detachment and Avery’s house. The lone intruder had moved away from the garage and toward the RCMP building, his flashlight illuminating his steady progression.

Hannah plowed through the snow to the next tree, taking cover as the light swept in her direction. The hooded figure had turned around, and Hannah feared she might have been seen.

This is so not a good idea.
Each second she stayed immobile accelerated the beating of her heart.
I’m not here. Move on.

Not soon enough, the individual resumed his trek through the snow. He stopped under the spotlight affixed to the side of the backdoor, dug a hand into his pocket, and pulled out something too small for her to see. The door swung open. He entered the premises.

A RCMP officer wouldn’t furtively snoop around the detachment, and this is no cleaning lady.
A light flickered through the middle window. A few seconds later Hannah caught a reflection in the one farther left. Determined to yield the identity of the intruder, she crouched low and approached the building from the opposite end. She skimmed her way along the exterior wall. Once she reached the last window, she cautiously peeked through the frosty corner. A lamp was on, illuminating a stove.

Unable to see the intruder, Hannah inched toward the center of the window. As a desk came within view, she gripped the ledge.

The figure hovered near an open drawer, holding some sort of package or envelope. With his hood on, Hannah could only see the lower part of his face.
I’ve seen that smile before…
Blurry images emerged in her mind
. Snow…Lots of snow…Trees…A man…

His head snapped up, and the hood fell onto his shoulders. Hannah gasped in surprise.
A woman, but…

The woman turned the lamp off and her image dissipated.

I know that woman.
Hannah stared into the darkness, the intruder’s name floating at the edge of her subconscious.
Come on memory.
Frustrated over her amnesia, she bowed away from the window.
If I sleep on—

Someone grabbed her by the shoulders, spun her around, and pushed her back to the wall. A scream traveled up her throat and died, muffled by a leather glove covering her mouth. Fuelled by desperation, she kicked and punched, knocking his hand off. He pressed his body into hers, and cupping her face with both hands, he forced her head up.

Their gaze met, and he kissed her.

Chapter Thirty

Hannah, bear with me.

Under the gentle pressure of his mouth, she stopped struggling.

Her lips were cold. Avery wrapped an arm behind her back and pulled her closer. The tension in her body lessening, she snaked her hands between them and gripped the front of his jacket. He brushed her cheek with his thumb, keeping this side of her face hidden from the threat coming around the building.

Stay with me, Hannah.

Her lips quivered under his touch, igniting a fire under his skin. Caught off guard by his own reaction, he swallowed hard.
Don’t lose your head, Stone.
The tip of his tongue inadvertently brushed the tender skin. Her lips slowly parted, her timid response testing his willpower.
Hannah…

A light shone in his eyes. “Stop right there.”

Interrupted by Reed, Avery quickly nudged Hannah’s head in the crook of his shoulder, concealing most of her facial features with his big glove. “Sergeant? I…I didn’t hear you.”

“I see that.” Reed shone his flashlight over Hannah’s body. No sign of recognition crossed his face. “Who’s the floozy?”

“Her name is Lucky. She had a little too much to drink. I was taking her home.” Avery had no idea how much of their conversation Hannah was reading, but he was grateful she seemed to play along.

“Do you take me for an idiot?” His sergeant’s outrage echoed in the night. “You’re in uniform, Stone, and your hands are all over the floozy.
This
is going in your personal record.”

The woman in his arms tightened her grip on his jacket, prompting Avery to stroke her back to appease her apprehension. “But my reputation will…”

“Your reputation precedes you, Stone. You’re
lucky
I don’t charge you or
her
for solicitation.” The threat held no merit, but Reed didn’t seem to care. “Now get out of my sight.”

***

Rowan lowered Savannah in her crib. “Good night, bumblebee.”

A door banged and small steps echoed in the house.
Perfect timing.

As close as Bill and Rory had become, there was one task her grandfather left to her.
Bathing the child.
And Avery’s boy loved water. Thanks to him, the bathroom floor got washed every night. Rowan had no doubt her daughter would do the same in a few years.

She hurried down the stairs before Bill announced their return and woke Savannah. Rory stood at the bottom of the stairs. When he lifted his head, her heart missed a beat at the haunted look in his eyes. Fresh tears marred his round face and his lips were trembling.

“Rory?” She scooped the shaken boy in her arms. Hugging him close to her chest, she sat on the last step with him on her lap. “What’s wrong?”

Shuttering sobs and hiccups wracked his small body.

“Did Bill send you inside?” If her grandfather raised his voice and traumatized Avery’s boy, she would give him an earful. “Sometimes Bill is very loud. I’m sure he didn’t mean to scare you. What would you say if I took you for your bath and we put lots of bubbles in the water? Wouldn’t that be fun?”

More tears pooled in his eyes. As he opened his mouth, Rowan caught herself holding her breath.

“B-Be-Bill…f-fell.”

***

“I followed your steps in the snow.” Avery paced the living room, and to Hannah’s bewilderment, his gaze stayed locked on hers. “What the bloody hell were you thinking snooping around the detachment?”

When Avery had cupped her face to shield her from Reed’s view, his glove only partially covered her eyes. Hannah had read his sergeant’s angry rant, but the way her head leaned against his shoulder had prevented her from seeing Avery’s responses.

If she asked him what he’d said, Avery would know something was amiss. The strength with which he’d dragged her into his house spoke of his anger. To tell him she couldn’t hear would only incense him further. He would call her irresponsible for venturing outside in the dark with limited senses.

“I wanted to know who the woman was.” On the outside chance someone might be outside, listening to their discussion, Hannah forced herself to modulate her voice, keeping it low and even. “And stop yelling at me. I was only trying to help.”

“What woman?” He stilled near the television stand and his gaze softened. “And for the record, I wasn’t yelling.”

Snowflake had cuddled on her lap. Hannah sought comfort in the warm, furry body. “The woman whose steps you missed.”

His face warped into a quizzical look, he joined her on the couch. “I’m listening, Hannah.”

Under his intense stare, she recounted the entire encounter without missing any details, as irrelevant as they appeared to her. Not once did Avery interrupt. After she finished, he placed his hand on her forearm, but remained quiet.

The prolonged silence unnerved her. “Do you believe me?”

“Sorry, I was thinking.” He gently squeezed her arm, and a warm sensation streamed through her body. “Yes, I believe you, but I only saw Reed. He arrived as I caught up with you. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable back there, but I needed to protect you. Kissing you was the only diversion I could think of at the moment.”

In the heat of the encounter, she’d relished the kiss, and his sergeant had mistaken her for a hooker.
How pitiful.
“No need to apologize, Avery, you only did your duty.” The words left a sour taste in her mouth. She was glad she couldn’t hear them.

“Yes…duty.” A strange shadow crossed his eyes as he retrieved his hand. “The only persons with a key to the backdoor are Cooper, Reed, and I.”

“Maybe she picked the lock.” Despite her regrets over the meaningless kiss, her opinion of the man raised another notch. “Avery…I didn’t mean to become a stain on your personal record. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about the sergeant.” His blithe response was accompanied by an enigmatic smile, showing off an upper chipped tooth. The roguish imperfection fired foolish sparks inside her belly. “We have bigger concerns than a few stains on my record. Once Reed goes home, I’ll take you into my office.”

“Me? Why?” Snowflake’s ears pricked up as if the furry female agreed that it didn’t sound like a good idea.

“I need you to recreate every move that woman made inside the building. Maybe it’ll jog your memory of where you might have seen her before your accident. I also want to test the lock on the backdoor.”

“O-kay.” Unfortunately, his optimism wasn’t contagious. Since they had to wait for his sergeant’s departure, they had time to discuss his meeting with Fred. “Was Fred able to say what happened to Greta?”

“Some years ago, Greta was slashed with a knife. I’m guessing it was the attack from which your grandfather saved her. She didn’t elaborate on the assault, did she?”

Hannah shook her head. There was so much she wished she’d asked Greta. “Did Fred say what killed her?”

After Avery gave her an account of the preliminary autopsy report, Greta’s last words came back to haunt Hannah.
I’ve fought for sixty years. That’s long enough. Once dawn comes, I will finally rest.

Chapter Thirty-One

Cooper lived in the end unit of a townhouse near the arena. His RCMP cruiser was parked in the driveway alongside a midsize sedan covered with snow. Curious of its color, Avery brushed off a corner of the trunk.
Red.

The amount of snow that had accumulated on top suggested the vehicle hadn’t been driven in weeks. The odds that it belonged to anyone other than Cooper were slim to none.

Avery had parked at the arena and walked into the neighborhood. Until he ascertained Cooper’s role, he didn’t want anyone witnessing his night visit. The back door was locked. Avery could have picked it, but startling a man who carried a gun for a living was never a good idea. He rang the doorbell, again and again, until someone yanked the door open.

“Stone? Go sober up somewhere else.”

As Cooper slammed the door, Avery propped his boot forward, stopping it from closing. Taking advantage of his colleague’s befuddlement, he invited himself in and shut the door behind him. “We need to talk. Have a seat at the table and keep your hands where I can see them.”

The man stood in the middle of his kitchen wearing nothing but a pair of white briefs. He concealed no weapon, but Avery wasn’t inclined to take any chances.

“Get out, Stone, before I kick your sorry ass.”

Avery’s patience flew into the cold night at the same speed he gripped Cooper’s arm and twisted it behind his back. “I said
sit
.”

“Go to hell.”

More obscenities floated in the kitchen as Cooper struggled to free his arm. Avery caught the other one and cuffed the man to the refrigerator door.

“Come to think of it, you can stand. I don’t care.” Avery straddled a chair and waited for Cooper to stop comparing his mother to Snowflake. “If my mother were alive, she’d shove a bar of soap down your throat until bubbles seep out your…navel.”

A beam of hatred zoomed across the room. “What do you want?”

When Avery had searched the drawer Hannah had seen open, he’d found pieces of tape still attached to the desk. “I was doing some house cleaning in the office. It’s such a mess in there. Aside from chewing gum, would you like to guess what was taped under your drawer?”

The discovery of the secret package deflated Cooper’s arrogant demeanor and turned his face an ashen shade of white. “You’re going to pay for this.”

“I’m short on money this month, how about we settle for an explanation?” With his best poker face in place, Avery slouched in the chair and put his feet on the table. “You can take your time, I’m in no rush.”

The glaring contest ticked into the night and ended with Cooper slumping to the floor, one arm up. “If you need to know, I was cleaning Abbott’s desk after he took off with those hookers. I stumbled onto the paternity test by accident.”

“What do you think I am, Cooper? Stupid?” Avery stifled his surprise at the content of the package behind feigned indignation. “Nobody leaves a paternity test lying around on a desk.
That
would be stupid.”

The bloody idiot squirmed on the floor. “It wasn’t exactly on his desk…more like under his second drawer. What was I supposed to do? Leave it there for the world to find? Terri didn’t need another proof of her husband’s betrayal. I did it to protect her feelings.”

“How thoughtful of you.” Terri was Abbott’s wife, so they had to be talking about Abbott’s indiscretions. Trying to ask the right questions while navigating blind was a challenge. “Didn’t Abbott realize it was missing?”