Running Free (Woodland Creek)(17)

“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 f*cking staring contest.

Finally, his face contorts into a smug grin that he awards us with over his shoulder. “When you get tired of f*cking him, you know where to get the biggest dick that’s ever been inside of that sweet *. 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 f*ck 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 motherf*cker 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.”