Distressed: Enemy Of The State- Book 1 Read Online Free PDF Page B

she’d traveled had turned from paved to dirt more than two miles back. Telephone lines and light posts had been replaced by trees and shrubs. She kept the car slow and looked around, searching for the marker that the harbormaster had told her about. She reached for her cell. No signal. The GPS coordinates on her phone had stopped working, and she was left with nothing but her own two eyes.
    The trail continued for another few miles then opened up into a small field. She saw the old bench that the harbormaster had told her about. She parked the car then shut the door behind her. The field was nothing but grass with a few trees jutting up in the middle. “Like a needle in a haystack.”
    Cooper dusted the bench for prints, finding more than she expected, and took as many samples as she could. She looked for footprints, tire tracks in the area, something left behind, anything that would give her a hint as to who had made the drop.
    And whoever had done it knew what they were doing. Once Cooper made it out of the city, there weren’t any traffic cameras for the last ten miles to the site. Even if she obtained the video files, she wouldn’t know what type of car to look for or what traffic cameras to check.
    A cluster of leaves from a bush rustled to her left, and Cooper unholstered her pistol. The shrubs and trees that circled the field were thick, and she squinted to try and get a better look. She was deep enough in the woods for it to be anything. But if it was a bear, she didn’t think her 9mm would be enough to bring the beast down.
    The leaves rustled harder, and Cooper had her finger on the trigger when a pair of hands revealed themselves, palms facing her. “Come on out. Keep your hands where I can see them.”
    What parts of the man’s face that weren’t covered with a thick beard were covered with dirt. The man had wild hair matted on the top of his head, and the clothes were tattered and soiled. A breeze rolled by, and Cooper wrinkled her nose from the sour stench of the man’s odor but took her finger off the trigger. “You alone out here?”
    The man, keeping his hands in the air, gave a nod. Cooper holstered the weapon, and the man lowered his hands. He stood there sheepishly, slowly rocking from side to side. He was rail thin, his bony fingers rubbing the dirty soot from his arm. “Have any food?” He gaped at her, hoping for a handout; what teeth remained in his mouth were stained yellow.
    “Yeah.” Cooper nodded. “I think I’ve got some granola bars in the car.” She searched the glove compartment and found the box, still almost full. She took the box with her but only tossed the man one of the bars. He ripped it open so fast that Cooper thought he was going to eat the wrapping along with it. When he was done, he licked the inside of the wrapper, crumbs dotted around his mouth. “You live out here?”
    “Yeah.” The man let the wrapper fall to the ground then eyed the box in Cooper’s hand eagerly. He didn’t look like he’d been out here because of the attacks. The man had been homeless for a long time.
    “Have you seen anyone come out here lately?” Cooper tucked the box back behind her, and the man’s eyes tried to stare through her, but when that didn’t work, he looked up at her face.
    “Someone was out here. Two men.”
    That was a start. Cooper took a step forward, trying to ignore the growing stink the man emitted. “What did they look like?”
    The man held out his arms in a circle around his stomach. “One was big. Fat. Old looking. He was the one who came here last.”
    Dayton . “And the other?”
    “Skinny. But dressed really nice. Had a suit, nice car. Looked rich.”
    It was more than Cooper had started with before, but looking for a rich man with a nice suit and car didn’t exactly narrow her search field. “Can you remember anything else about him? The type of car he drove? Hair color, skin color, anything?”
    “It was a black car. New. Looked brand new. Not