Bear's Claim (Bear Heat Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

neighbors
didn't hear or see anything,” Baxter surmised.
    “No witnesses,”
Detective Allen confirmed. “No one heard any screams or cries
for help.”
    The detective stopped in
front of the open bedroom door and jerked his head. There were two
uniforms stationed on either side of the door. “In there.”
    The smell of blood was thick
in the air. The body, or what was left of it, was strewn all over
the bed. Skin, chunks of flesh, pieces of internal organs were left
messily around the ripped and shredded torso. The man's throat had
been torn out and half his face had been clawed away.
    Baxter sucked in a breath.
“Shit.”
    Detective Allen stood at the
door, his arms folded, his face expressionless. Thor wondered if the
man had seen many crime scenes that were more grisly than this.
    Baxter squinted at the
bloody, mangled body and reported his observations out loud. “His
heart, kidneys and liver have been ripped out. His stomach is half
eaten. The contents of his stomach has been spilled all over the
mattress and floor. It looks like he had pizza for dinner. His
intestines...God, what in the world...! They've been chewed and spat
out. Looks like his killer tried to slurp his innards up like soup
noodles but found them too tough and unpalatable.”
    Thor shot Baxter a look.
Baxter's observations were spot on but he could have been more
delicate in his choice of words. Detective John Allen and the other
officers might appear professional and stoic, but still, they were
dealing with the savage, gruesome slaying of a fellow cop.
    “Was he attacked by a
wild animal? In his own bedroom?” the detective said. There
was a note of suspicion and anger in his voice.
    Thor knew what the man was
thinking. He was thinking the same thing. And he didn't like the
thought one bit.
    A shifter did this.
    “His skin has been
clawed and ripped apart. The bite marks show that the killer's teeth
were serrated, sharp and pointed. Not straight and blunt like human
teeth,” Thor said, laying out the facts.
    “An animal,”
Detective Allen snapped. “What kind of animal?”
    Thor exchanged a look with
Baxter.
    “It looks like...a
bear,” he answered. “But...”
    “It's not a bear
shifter,” Baxter interjected. He wasn't being defensive, just
honest. “The scent is...different. There's a chemical
component to the scent. It's not natural.”
    “Natural?”
Detective Allen's lips curled in a mirthless smile. “You're
telling me that shifters are... natural ?”
    Thor laid a hand warningly on
Baxter's arm. From the look on Baxter's face, he knew that a barrage
of insults was just waiting to spew out of Baxter's big mouth.
    Thor shook his head at Bax.
They were here to investigate a heinous crime. They weren't here to
trade barbs and engage in trash-talk with a senior police officer,
who just happened to be a bigot.
    “Walter Nguyen was just
appointed the head of C-18.” Thor turned to address the
detective. “Has his appointment been announced publicly?”
    “Not yet. The Police
Commissioner was going to...” The detective stopped and shot
Thor a disbelieving, incredulous look. “You think this is the
work of the Mob? You think the Mob has turned to cannibalism?”
He snorted a derisive laugh. “My boss told me the Black Bears
would be sending two of their best agents to help us. I think maybe
my boss exaggerated your capabilities, eh?”
    Thor didn't answer.
    There was no need to quarrel
with a petty, small-minded cop. He'd learned to play his cards close
to his chest in his undercover work. You never knew who was
listening and watching, and who would do you in.
    Thor went to examine the body
again, and signaled for Bax to do the same. They weren't here to
stir up shit. They had to gather as much information and clues as
they could.
    Thor looked around the room
and saw that the windows were intact. The killer didn't climb in
through the bedroom window.
    The bedroom door and front
door of the house weren't broken either.