Clean Lines (Cedar Tree #4) Read Online Free PDF

off all my lights, I pull into the brush on the side of the dirt road to call for some back up. They may be kids, but if they're hopped up on booze or drugs, my badge won't impress them much. Until I know what I'm dealing with, I'm not going to barge in blind.
    "Dispatch"
    "Carol, it's Joe. Any patrols west side of Cortez? I'm at Crow Canyon, at the Center. There's activity tonight."
    "Sir, I've got Drew coming up the 160 from the airport. I'll send him through."
    "Perfect. Tell him to cut his lights coming in. I'm going to check things out on foot."
    "Ten-four"
    I flick off the interior light before I get out of the truck. In the dark night, even a small light like that would stand out. Closing the door quietly, I try to take in my surroundings. It's probably easiest for me to stick to the path or at least the softer soil on the edges. I don't want to alert anyone to my approach. For now all I want to do is have a look at who is there and what they're up to.
    I manage to stay on the trail until I can hear loud voices and laughter coming from the direction of the fire. In fact, I'm getting so close, I can hear the occasional spitting of wet wood. The occasional flicker of flames is visible through the trees. I start moving into the brush, careful not to make too much noise. Slowly circling around, I try to find a decent spot from which to observe.
    I'm just settling in against the trunk of a good-sized tree, with a prime view of the small clearing where three young guys are drinking and smoking, when I hear crashing from the woods behind me. Before I even have a chance to react, a fourth kid comes stumbling out of the brush right in my path. Fuck.
    "Shit! Run!"
    At the sound of their buddy's yells, the three idiots by the fire take off, but my focus is on the tall skinny kid tromping through the undergrowth in front of me. I call out and identify myself, but the dumb fuck just keeps running, until I suddenly see him disappear before my eyes. Closing in, I notice we've reached the edge of another dig, this one about six feet deep, showing the remnants of what could be a kiva, and the kid is crumpled at the bottom whimpering, holding his wrist which is bent at an awkward angle. Stupid kid ran right off the edge in the hole.
    I take my flashlight off my belt and shine it down in his face. Dammit .
    "You Doctor Water's kid?"
    I've seen him around town with Naomi a few times in the last few of weeks. Surly shit, from what I can tell. A timid nod is all he gives me. Great.
    "What's your name?"
    "Fox... Fox Miller," he tells me, his head hanging down.
    I look around me to get my bearings and grab my radio, which only gives me static.
    "Alright kid, I'm gonna have to get you out of there myself and then we better get you fixed up.  Looks like you broke your wrist. May well be the least of your problems though, Fox."
    With the help of a discarded ladder on the side of the excavation, his sweater and my belt stabilizing his arm and my body behind him to guide him up, Fox manages to get out of the hole.
    Ten minutes and a short stop to douse the flames later, we get back to my truck where Deputy Drew Carmel has pulled up with his patrol car.
    "You see the other kids?"
    "Managed to chase down one; he's in the back of my unit. The other two were gone by the time we got back here."
    "All right, take that one in. I'm gonna have to take this one to the hospital. He fell running away from me. Dumb shit broke his wrist. We'll be in after."
    "Later, Sheriff."

CHAPTER THREE
    "F ox? What the hell?"
    As expected, Naomi is front and center when I bring her son in to the Emergency Room. A quick scan around the lobby shows no sign of Jenna; and thank God for that. One spiteful woman is enough for me today. Ah fuck, I'm lying. One look at Naomi and I remember, with vivid clarity, what attracted me to her in the first place. The glossy dark hair, gentle curves, big eyes, all wrapped in a tight little package that drab green scrubs can’t hide.