{Nauti Boys 5} - Nauti Deceptions Read Online Free PDF Page A

follow through with that thought, Zeke strode away from his deputy and headed to the trailer, where the coroner was having the bodies removed.
    It was a damned shame, Zeke thought. Those two boys, as wild as they were, weren’t the murder-suicide type. For the most part, Walkers were just ornery. Not lazy so much as fun loving and laid-back. They played hard, worked as much as they had to, and had fun. They weren’t troublemakers, and they weren’t violent. But they were valuable sources on a silent investigation that was still ongoing. And they had been murdered.
    “Sheriff.” The coroner, Jay Adams, nodded as Zeke stepped up to him. “I’ll autopsy, just to be sure drugs didn’t play a part, but it looks pretty conclusive in there.”
    Jay was middle-aged with a full shock of bright gray hair and thick gray brows. His weathered face was creased with laugh lines and his hazel eyes were somber. He’d been coroner as long as Zeke had been sheriff, and he was damned good at his job.
    “I appreciate it, Jay.” Zeke nodded as he watched the assistants load the bodies into the coroner’s hearse.
    “Think we need to pull in the coroner’s investigator from the city?” Jay asked then. “We could transport to their facilities. I could get you more information.”
    Zeke crossed his arms over his chest and rubbed at his jaw for long moments before nodding. “I’ll clear it through the chief.” Alex wouldn’t argue the decision; he knew as well as Zeke did what they were looking at. “Transport to their facilities and see what we can get.”
    “Your gut is working on this one, huh?” Jay grunted. “Hate it when it does that, Zeke. Means we’re gonna end up squabbling with city hall. You know how they like to mess with things.”
    “Yeah, I know,” Zeke breathed out roughly, wishing he could trust Jay, that he could discuss his suspicions with the older man. “But like you said, my gut is burning, Jay, and I don’t like it.”
    “Eh. That looked a little suspicious to me anyway.” Jay suddenly grinned. “Hell, you know a body just ain’t gonna sit there when someone jumps in the room with a gun. And you know, between here and town, I’m sure I’ll consider the fact that something doesn’t look right about those wounds. They can’t naysay me like they can you.”
    Favor given, favor owed. “You got it, Jay.” He clapped the other man on the shoulder. “Let me know how I can return the favor. I’ll be waiting on your report.”
    “I’ll try to be quick about it,” Jay drawled. “Helps though when the city coroner happens to be your daughter, huh?”
    “That doesn’t hurt a bit,” Zeke agreed with a small chuckle before turning his attention back to the mobile home.
    He’d wait until forensics cleared out before going through it himself and feeling the area. Not just investigating it, but feeling it, just to be certain it was the work of the same man that had committed countless other murders in the county over the past twenty-odd years.
    Maybe it was him more than the case that had him reluctant to leave and begin the investigation, he thought as the forensics team began to file out. This case meant going to Rogue when he hadn’t seen her in over a month, hell, nearly two months. Not since the warmer spring air had descended on the mountains and she had started riding the Harley to the restaurant. And he hated admitting that he missed those few nights a week he had been driving her back to the bar each night. Missed her teasing and her laughter when he had no right to it.
    He wasn’t looking forward to telling her about Joe and Jaime. He didn’t like lying to Rogue, and he had no choice but to hide certain information from her. Information such as the fact that her cousins had been gathering information for him and Homeland Security special agent Timothy Cranston. Information such as the fact that he knew to the soles of his feet that the boys had been murdered by the same man that had