Unconditional Read Online Free PDF Page B

knocking her down, snarling as he tried to bite her.
    Her head cracked against the asphalt so hard she saw stars, and the edges of her vision grayed slightly.
    Josh hauled him off and slammed him against the car hard enough she heard the air burst from his lips. “I should gut you for that,” he growled low, the words laced with menace enough to bring a little fear even to Michelle.
    She got up, embarrassed she’d let him get the jump on her like that. “See, stuff like that just means you’re not being helpful and it makes me wonder just what you’re so afraid of you’d rather do time than reveal.”
    “Damon, watch this piece of shit.”
    The Were glowered and nodded, his gaze never leaving Charlie. “Boss, you smell that?” He said this quietly.
    Josh lifted his head, closed his eyes and breathed in. Moments later his nose wrinkled.
    “How long?”
    “You ran after this piece of shit, and we hung around, out of sight to be sure no one entered or left. When you brought him back and we got a little closer, the wind changed a bit and I got the first whiff.”
    “Mind sharing?” Michelle gave Josh a look.
    “Something smells dead.”
    She glanced down at Charlie. “Really now? You make something dead, Charlie?”
    He shook really hard, and she sighed. They weren’t going to get anything from him right then.
    Standing straighter, she tipped her chin toward the store.
    Josh tried to get ahead of her, and she grabbed the waistband of his jeans, the backs of her fingers brushing against the bare, hot skin of his lower back. It sent little shocks through her, awakening all sorts of things she had to push away.
    “Me first,” she hissed.
    “What? No .”
    “It’s not a request. I’m the cop. You’re a civilian. Get back or I won’t let you come with me at all.”
    “You can’t stop me.” The green in his eyes deepened at the challenge, the air between them nearly crackling.
    “I will shoot you. Don’t think I won’t. This is my friend and my case.”
    He sighed. “Fine. Not because I think you’d shoot me.”
    Whatever. The hair on her arms stood up and she paused again. “Think I know where the something dead is. Stay behind me. I’m going in low.”
    She pulled her piece out, thumbing off the safety.
    Still careful, moving quicker, she pushed the door open, keeping low, and saw the blood even before the smell hit her. And what a smell. Fear and death, evacuated bowels. She kept an eye on the body even as she swept through the small interior and found it empty. She tried to cling to her training, but she’d never in her life seen anything like it.
    Bobby had been torn apart. Literally. Pieces of him had been flung about. She took in what she could as she huffed shallow breaths through her mouth and fought the nausea roiling through her system.
    Josh touched her gently. “We’ll wait outside. Pam, that’s the cop who’ll come, is one of ours. She’ll get a good scent in here, but there’s no need for us to breathe this in any longer.”
    She should gather some evidence, but her kit was in the car anyway. The Portland cops would come, and for the time being she’d secured the scene so she allowed Josh to lead her out.
    What if they were going to do that to Allie? What if they had done that to Allie? Rage swept through her hot and fast as she headed toward Charlie, who paled at the sight of her. She saw no blood on him, just dirt and some pine needles from when they’d tackled him. His jeans were faded and his T-shirt was pale blue so he couldn’t have hid it. And if he’d been part of what had been done inside, there was no way he’d have come out this clean.
    “What the fuck? You want to tell me what the hell did that to him?” She pulled out her phone and called her dispatcher to report the body and have that relayed to Portland PD.
    “I don’t know what you mean.”
    She stared at him for so long he began to move from one foot to the other. “You got yourself a little hobby,