Untamed: Duty Bound Book 3 (21 page)

“I already told you, Stone. I took the package
after
Abbott went AWOL. Are we done?” A bucket load of frustration had spilled in his voice. “Can I go back to bed?”

It was possible Cooper was blackmailing the mother of the child involved in the paternity test and that she broke into the detachment to retrieve the evidence.
That’s daring.
Avery had examined the backdoor. It was designed to stay locked from the outside. It had taken him ten minutes to pick the complex mechanism. According to Hannah, the woman hadn’t spent more than a few seconds coming in.
She had to have a key.

“If you meant to protect Abbott’s wife, why didn’t you destroy it instead of keeping it? Or are you playing some sort of sick game with it?”

“The test was negative, Stone, and I wanted to rub Parker’s nose in it. The woman doesn’t know who fathered her bastard. She had no right to turn me down like a vermin.” Spit flew with every word pushed out of his mouth. “Don’t look so shocked. She’s a hooker not worth losing your pants over.”

Rage boiled inside Avery’s veins. His entire body tensed, ready to jump at Cooper’s throat. “Who else knows about the paternity test? How many people did you tell?”

“I didn’t tell anyone, but I sure would have loved to see the look on Parker’s face. Too bad she blew up before I paid her another visit.”

“You’re pathetic.” Fighting the urge to punch Cooper’s smirk inside his skull, Avery unlocked the cuffs—and left.

***

The flames licked the envelope she’d tossed in the fireplace, curling the corners black and poking a fiery hole in its middle.

Wrapped in her favorite nightgown, Terri watched her husband’s treachery disintegrate in front of her eyes with dispassionate jubilation. To think she’d believed Lee when he told her he’d destroyed the test. If she hadn’t hinted to it last night, she would never have known he’d kept it to blackmail Parker. For a RCMP constable, he didn’t hold his liquor. By the third drink, he’d been drunk, and by the eighth, he’d forgotten his own name. She’d wanted to know about Stone’s investigation. Not only had Lee enlightened her on Stone’s progress, but his misguided attempt at revenge on her behalf had proven most endearing. It was too bad he’d passed out on her couch and that she had to call Matt to get rid of him. She might have enjoyed a romp in the sack.

With only three officers on duty, timing her access to the building should have been unproblematic. Gregory should have been at the curling ring, playing a late night game against Vic’s team, not coming in as she sneaked out, but the thrill of almost being caught had spawned wild fantasies—too wild not to pursue.

***

The blue-eyed child ran toward her, his laughter echoing in the crisp autumn morning. Love and pride swept through Hannah. She opened her arms, beckoning him into their folds. He reached out with his hands…and vanished into thin air.

A void ripped Hannah’s heart apart, awaking her from the dream. “Rory.” His name caressed her lips, a sweet plea to her battered brain to remember the boy, not only the warm feelings he evoked.

Sleeping in Avery’s bed and pajamas—on his insistence—hadn’t brought any restful sleep, only catnaps haunted with memories of the past. The pillow smelled of him, a reminder of the phony kiss they’d shared.

This nonsense has to stop.
She didn’t know the man beneath the uniform. Sane women didn’t develop feelings for strangers.

Frustrated by the lack of answers, she tossed and turned. Avery had been at her cabin the day of the explosion, babysitting Rory and hacking her computer. That didn’t seem like the normal behavior of a RCMP officer. Maybe they were closer than he’d let on…more than mere acquaintances. “Avery Stone…”

She reached for the fur ball curled up under the blanket near her knees. When Hannah pressed her hand down to pet the affectionate terrier, the blanket flattened without resistance.

“Snowflake?” The small dog had been there moments ago. Puzzled by her disappearance, Hannah sat up, her gaze traveling around the sparse bedroom. “Snowflake? Come—”

At the sight of the silhouette standing near the door, a current of fear zapped through Hannah’s body. She glanced around for a weapon. As she reached for the alarm clock, the ceiling light came on, blinding her. Through flapping eyelids, she recognized Avery and relaxed. “You frightened me.”

Snowflake was in his arms. When he approached the bed, she jumped off and burrowed under the blanket. As the fur ball snuggled against her left leg, he sat at the edge of the mattress.

“I heard you call my name. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He still wore his uniform, but his holster was missing and he’d undone the first few buttons of his shirt. A few dark hairs escaped through the gap.

A mental picture of his bared chest formed in her mind, followed by wayward thoughts. Her resolve to stop dreaming about him melted like snow on a warm and sunny spring day.
This is hopeless.

“How long have you been back?” Not being able to hear was a definite drawback.

“About fifteen minutes. Hannah…” The intensity with which he studied her sparked a brushfire down her belly. “I had a chat with Cooper, and I need a woman’s perspective over his revelations.”

A woman’s perspective, not my personal perspective.
It was a generic inquiry, nothing worth mushing her insides into a jellied mess. “Why do I have the feeling it wasn’t drugs in that package?”

“It was a paternity test taken by Brent Abbott. Cooper took it from Abbott’s desk after he disappeared to protect his widow and to blackmail the child’s mother.” A blank expression concealed Avery’s personal opinion on the matter. “The result was negative.”

“Cooper taped a paternity result under his desk and a woman stole it from him?”
The constable is another jerk who deserves to be tied to a bed with a noose around his neck.
“Does Cooper know who the female intruder could be?”

“He thinks I’m the one who found the test. He said no one else knew about it.”

“The woman didn’t ransack the office, Avery.” The scene replayed in Hannah’s mind. “She’d known exactly where to look. My first suspect would be the mother of the child at the center of the paternity test, but Cooper wouldn’t have been stupid enough to tell her where he kept the evidence, not if he blackmailed her with it.”

“The child’s mother is not the woman you saw in the office.”

The clear articulation and the lack of contractions added finality to Avery’s statement. His certainty puzzled her.

“May I ask why you’re not considering her a suspect? It’s…” A possible explanation flashed in front of her eyes. “You know her.”

“Yes, I do, and I can assure you she wasn’t in my office. You have to trust me on this one.” A silent plea softened the chiseled angles of his face. “So? Any other suspect you could think of?”

“What about Abbott’s widow? A negative result doesn’t prove her husband had an affair. He may have taken the test to dispel unfounded rumors, but I suppose she may have felt ashamed or humiliated.”

He ran his hand into his hair, as he seemed to ponder her suggestion. “I talked to his widow, Hannah. If she felt any shame or humiliation, it was coated with thick layers of anger, hate, and contempt. Maybe I’m wrong, but a negative test seems mild in comparison with Abbott’s debauched behavior the week surrounding his death. Besides, if Cooper is to be believed, he meant to protect Abbott’s widow from the truth, not embarrass her with it.”

Mentally exhausted by the constant effort it cost her to read his lips and fill the missing gaps with sense, she briefly closed her eyes. “I’m afraid my brain has shut down for the night.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

I took Snowflake for a walk and fed her. She’ll be fine until I get back from work. Make yourself at home and borrow what you need. Avery

The note was on the kitchen table beside a package of multigrain bagels. Not only had Hannah slept through his departure, but he’d also taken Snowflake in and out of her bed without rousing her. At this rate, he’d suspect her loss of hearing in no time.
Swell.

She nibbled on a bagel while rummaging through the cabinets. Hiding in Avery’s house was a calculated risk, and she wanted to lower the odds of being discovered or recognized. She found two spray bottles under the sink. An opaque red bottle with cleaning solution in it and an empty transparent one. Shoving the last bite into her mouth, she took both.

Hydrogen peroxide degrades quickly when exposed to light.
How she recalled the chemical reaction but not her name, Hannah couldn’t explain, but she had the distinct impression she’d used the home solution in the past. She transferred the cleaning solution into the empty one, then rinsed the opaque spray bottle. Three times.

Clean bottle in hand, she entered the bathroom and retrieved the hydrogen peroxide she’d seen in the medicine cabinet while searching for a roll of bathroom tissue. The bottle was full. She poured its contents into the spray bottle before setting it aside.

Hannah’s reflection stared back at her from the bathroom mirror. A single application wouldn’t be enough to transform her into a bleached blonde. At best, it would turn her dark hair into an orangey shade of brown. Changing her appearance required a more drastic approach.

With a determination born from desperation, she took a pair of scissors from the top drawer of the vanity. She couldn’t risk someone entering Stone’s house and stumbling on her by accident.

Her life was worth more than her hair.

***

Greg was pleased with the reports on his desk. The old lady had been identified and her death was deemed a suicide.

The many pelts found in the cave combined with a lack of traps in its vicinity suggested she stole the prey of other trappers.
If her death doesn’t put an end to the fur thefts in the forest, it should decrease the number of complaints.

“Hello, Gregory. Are you busy?”

At the sultry sound of her voice, he lifted his head and smiled. Terri was as gorgeous in a pair of jeans and leather jacket as she was in a bathrobe.

“Nothing that can’t wait.” He gestured for her to come into his office. “Have a seat, Terri.”

“I have a better idea.” To his confusion, she circled his desk, then boldly sat on his lap. “I missed you.”

Panic set in. Gripping both her wrists as she reached for his tie, he tried to pull her up. “If Cooper or Stone catches me with you, I’ll be in big trouble.”

“Relax, bucklebelt.” Terri ground her buttocks into him. “As I arrived, your constables were leaving in opposite directions. I locked the door on my way in…just in case.”

Groaning in surrender, he let go of her wrists and circled her waist. The night he’d spent with her had been amazing, and he ached for a repeat performance. “I could take an early lunch, and we could go to my place.”

“It’s too early, darling. Besides, I already promised Cousin Vic I’d have lunch with him.” She played with his tie. “His team beat yours last night. You’re the best skipper in town, Gregory. Why weren’t you at the curling ring?”

Thrilled she’d noticed his accomplishment with a rock, he puffed his chest and burst a button.

“I had to break up an altercation at Ronnie’s Tavern. By the time I sent everyone home, it was too late for the game.” He should have booked some of them, but he hadn’t wanted to stay at the detachment all night to babysit drunken foes.

Another of his buttons popped, but this time Terri had helped. She sneaked a long, manicured finger through the opening and teased his skin through his undershirt. “Why didn’t you send one of your constables?”

“They were busy. The mysterious woman who haunts the forest is no more.” Some folks in town had nicknamed her
the ghost
, though not everyone had been convinced she existed, or that she was a woman. “We found her dead in Henry Watt’s lodge.”

“The ghost is dead?” Excitement shone in her eyes, and she squirmed on his lap. “Are you sure?”

Dammit, Terri.
The teasing was killing him.

“Positive. It was Henry’s widow, Margaret. After his death, it appeared she went to live alone in a cave, deep into the forest. Cooper has spent every waking hour working the case. I couldn’t in good conscience dump the call on him.” He treated his men fairly. If they carried their weight without giving him any aggravation, Greg returned the favor.

“Of course you wouldn’t, Gregory. You’re a good man, but what about Stone?” She tugged on his undershirt, pulling the fabric tucked inside his underwear. “Wasn’t he available last night?”

The friction proved unbearable to withstand. Poised on ripping her shirt off, he unzipped her leather jacket.

“I caught him canoodling with a floozy outside his office window. The man has no sense of duty.” Perky breasts burst through the opening, adding to the sweet torture provoked by her squirming buttocks. “No shirt? I should arrest you for indecent exposure.”

She arched into him, presenting him with perfect rosy nipples. “Did Stone make out in broad daylight?”

Plump and lush, her breasts spilled into his hands. “I caught the bastard in the dark as I came in last night.”

“Last night?” Her hands stilled on his buckle belt, she stared at him in shock. “In the back window?”

“He was probably staring at his desk thinking that’s where he should be banging the drunk girl.” The man had no scruples. Greg couldn’t wait to write his evaluation report and hammer the last nail in Stone’s coffin. “I should have arrested him, but he still had his pants on. Don’t fret about him, Terri. He’s a disgrace. He’ll soon get what he deserves.”

“I’m sure he will.” A conniving smile blossomed on her lips as she took his hand into hers and stood up. “I’m free for the next hour. Does that give you enough time to arrest me for indecent exposure and teach me a lesson in a prison cell?”

***

Taking advantage of Cooper’s morning round in town, Avery toured Greta’s cave for clues of what might have happened five years earlier and to erase any evidence of Hannah’s stay.