Deathwatch Read Online Free PDF

the back while the men out front were distracted.
    * * *
    “ Hey.” Murph stepped off the porch and nodded at his boss, the Broslin Creek police captain, as the man got out of his cruiser at the top of the driveway.  
    Ethan Bing hurried up the snowy brick path for a handshake and a good thumping on Murph’s back. “When did you get home?” His gaze dipped to the scars on Murph’s shoulder. “You all right?”
    They were about the same height, used to be same body-type, too, but Murph had bulked up in the army, while Bing had lost weight. His face looked haggard, the smile on his face—as sincere as it was—didn’t reach his shadowed eyes. Bleak darkness clung to him, as it clung to soldiers after the bloodiest battles.
    “ Just got back. What’s going on with you? You sick?” The raw pain that flashed through his friend’s face took Murph aback. Worry clawed up his spine. “Everything okay at the station? With the family?”  
    Bing dropped his eyes and shook his head, cleared his throat. “Stacy was killed.” The words came out in a hard, brittle tone. “Three weeks ago.”
    “ Jesus.” Shock plowed into Murph like a blast from a hand grenade. He’d met Bing’s wife a couple of times, although she rarely came to the station. She was an overworked corporate manager with little extra time.“What the hell happened?”  
    “ Home invasion gone wrong.” Bing’s jaw tightened as his gaze came up at last, dark and desperate. “I was out on a call.”  
    “ Any leads?”  
    Bing shook his head, misery and guilt etched on his face.
    Probably why he took the night shift, Murph thought. As captain, he didn’t have to. But maybe just now it was easier to keep busy than being home alone at night.
    “ What can I do?”  
    “ We’re already doing everything that can be done. Followed every damn lead. Got nowhere. It’s as if the bastard disappeared into thin air. Still turning over every rock we can think of….” Bing glanced toward the house. “What can I do for you here?”  
    “ Nothing. Sorry about that. My brother rented the place out. I scared the tenant.”  
    “ Doug didn’t know you were coming home?”  
    “ I wasn’t sure until the last minute,” Murph said, just as his tenant stepped outside behind him.  
    Bing glanced toward her. “Kate. I didn't know you lived here.”
    “ Captain Bing.” She wrapped her slim arms around herself against the cold, staying in the shadows of the front porch. “I’m sorry about the call. I’m okay.”  
    She had a slight accent Murph couldn’t place and didn’t think long about. There were other things to be noticed about her. Her long legs and class A boobs sure drew a man’s eyes. So did her skimpy nightgown.
    In the cold, night air, her nipples puckered, visible under the material even in the semi-darkness of the porch. Her scars didn’t show out here, but he’d seen them under the harsh kitchen lights. She had as many as he did, although, hers were older, pale white. She radiated nerves, shifting from one foot to the other.
    Bing didn’t seem to notice that, or her state of undress. He glanced back to Murph to see what he wanted done.
    “ We’re good,” Murph said as she pulled back into the house. “How do you know her?”  
    “ New waitress at the diner. Nice young woman.”  
    Murph decided not to mention the gun she'd held on him. “I’ll stop by the station tomorrow. I want to catch up.”
    The radio went off in the cruiser, someone reporting suspicious activity in the main parking lot at Broslin Square, and the Captain turned back that way for a second as he listened. “Whole county's on high alert. The Tractor Trio Gang.”
    “ Tractor what?” Okay, he was definitely back in Broslin.  
    Bing rolled his eyes. “They pick out a bank, then drive a stolen tractor or other farm machinery through the glass in the front. While everyone screams and runs, they grab the money then disappear in a getaway car. Two men,