Poaching Grounds: A gripping psychological crime thriller (Carolina McKay Thriller Book 4) by Tony Urban & Drew Strickland

Author:Tony Urban & Drew Strickland [Urban, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Packanack Publishing
Published: 2021-08-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 35

“Fucking shit,” Carolina muttered, surveying the aftermath of the slaughter.

Hank stood with her, unspeaking. Shocked silence was the other response she had considered. But, from where she stood, fucking shit seemed the better fit.

Shifting her attention from the bodies over to Hank, she found a weary man who looked like a soldier fresh off a hellish battlefield. But it wasn’t his mute silence that bothered Carolina. It was the hollow vacancy in his eyes. He didn’t look surprised or aghast or disgusted. Hank looked defeated.

Katie Eddows’s corpse lay half-strewn on a tarp that whipped in the hard wind that had blown into the area as they arrived. A couple of yards from her was Fred Volchko, one of the instigators at the bar. He lay on his back, his throat completely torn out. A few more bites of his flesh had been taken, too, like a picky toddler had been sampling various entrees.

Carolina shone her flashlight at the wounds of the man and squatted next to him. She could smell the iron of the blood along with the foul scent of fecal matter. Although unwilling to check, she’d have bet money that he’d shit himself in fright. And, surveying his remains, she couldn’t blame him.

She’d been sitting in her van, doing as she was told, when she had heard the gunshots. It could have been the drunken men shooting at shadows. Or maybe even plunking beer bottles for sport. Wasn’t that what men did in places like Hopkins? They did in Dupray, and as far as she’d been able to tell, the two counties were kissing cousins.

But her gut suspected the worst. Her gut had ordered her to go toward the gunfire, to trek into the black woods despite not knowing what waited. To be the hero or die trying.

It was the rational part of her mind, the part that was getting more use these days, that had reminded her she wasn’t a cop and had no business marching into a potential crime. This wasn’t her rodeo, and these weren’t her clowns.

So, she’d stayed in the van until Hank’s high beams blasted her rear windows. Only then did she exit the vehicle and tell him what she’d heard and point him in the general direction of the commotion.

She was surprised when part of her, a rather large part, wanted him to say they’d both stay there until more help arrived. But what help would really be coming? There was no SWAT team waiting to save the day.

No, things were as good as they were going to get, so she and Hank trekked into the forest. They hiked two or three miles, most of the time wandering aimlessly, until they followed a trail of broken branches and muddy boot prints that led them to the remains of Katie Eddows and Fred Volchko.

Reminded that Hank was someone near and in charge, Carolina scanned the area for him to ask a question only to see the man disappear through a thicket of mountain laurel.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.