4 Arch Enemy of Murder Read Online Free PDF

check it out.” He slid the receiver to its handle and started the car. “There’s a report of a possible car off the road in the woods. Do you want me to take you home, or do you want to go with me?”
     
    She thought of Riley waiting at home to ambush her and push for the party some more. “Am I allowed to go with you?”
     
    “I’m off duty,” he said. “Technically, it’s my day off, but I had paperwork to catch up on. I was on my way home when I saw you. I’m just taking this call because it’s weedy and the SUV will work better than the cruisers.”
     
    “Then I want to go with you,” Lacy said. Maybe after he finished the call, they could grab dinner and talk. After all, it was just a car in the woods. What could go wrong?
     

Chapter 3
     
     
    They drove out of town and slowed when they got to the area the caller had described.
     
    “I don’t see anything,” Lacy said because the suspected vehicle was supposed to be on her side.
     
    “Neither do I,” Jason said. “Let’s go another mile and I’ll turn around.” He turned around and slowly scanned the area again. Lacy was ready to call it a wash and get supper, but Jason decided to do one more pass.
     
    “There,” she said as the sun came out from behind a cloud and glinted on something metal.
     
    “Is it a car?”
     
    “I don’t know. I can only see a scrap of a reflection. For all I know, it could be a tin can.”
     
    Jason parked the car. “I’m going to get out and look. Want to stay in the car?”
     
    “No, I want to come,” she said.
     
    He scanned her up and down. “What about your foot.”
     
    “It feels better,” she said.
     
    “Oh, yeah?” He scooted closer and rested his hand on her knee. “Why do you suppose?”
     
    “It’s a miracle,” she said. “There’s no explanation for those. But the other one still hurts.”
     
    “Maybe I could work another miracle on that one later,” he said.
     
    They needed to talk, but Lacy wasn’t about to look a gift massage in the mouth. “Maybe.”
     
    He leaned over her and opened her door. She shimmied out and yanked at her skirt when it got caught on the running board. Jason sprang lithely behind her like a gazelle, landing in perfect balance on the balls of his feet. He took her hand as they started to walk.
     
    “The ground is uneven here,” he said as if he needed an explanation or reason to touch her.
     
    “I just like holding your hand,” she blurted. “I’ve missed you like crazy, and I hate that you’ve been avoiding me the last few weeks.”
     
    He tightened his grip on her hand and took a breath. “Lacy,” he started, but then they saw it. An old Chevy Caprice loomed in front of them, windowless. As they drew closer and got a better angle, they realized there was someone inside.
     
    “Geez,” Jason said. He dropped her hand, pulled out his phone, and called his dispatch for an ambulance. They took a couple of more steps, and Lacy slapped her hand over her mouth and nose. Nothing alive could smell like that, and yet as she looked in the car she saw movement. At last her mind, sluggish from shock, began to comprehend the fact that the swarming black mass was flies.
     
    Jason had the same realization and grabbed Lacy by the shoulders, turning her away. “Go to the car and stay there, and try not to touch anything on the way back that we didn’t touch on the way in.”
     
    She nodded and walked away, being careful to stay in the path of trodden grass until she reached the SUV. Then she bent over and sucked clean air, trying hard to force the cloying smell of decaying flesh off the back of her tongue. She was thankful she hadn’t had to stay and see what was under those flies. Poor whoever it was, and poor Jason for having to be the one to look.
     
    The line of cruisers began to arrive. Lacy hopped in the car and tried to look inconspicuous, not wanting Jason to catch any flack for taking a civilian to a live scene. They were too far