Protective Instincts by Julie Miller

Author:Julie Miller [Miller, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Romance, General, Contemporary, Man-Woman Relationships, Police, Single Mothers, Divorced Women, Romantic Suspense Fiction
ISBN: 9780373693375
Google: AB-hkpKjnUMC
Amazon: 0373888449
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2008-06-09T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

"Another dead body."

Sawyer stood at the edge of the early-morning crime scene, shining his flashlight down at the gray-haired black man wearing a three-piece suit and a spray of bullet holes across his chest. What the hell was happening to his city? Had some pervert developed a grudge against father figures?

He checked his watch. No way was he going to get out of here by 6:00 a.m. to drive Melissa to work. Hell, by the time the crime scene investigators arrived and he was finished canvassing the neighborhood for witnesses who were awake and willing to talk, he'd be lucky to be gone by lunch. He'd better call Officer Cho and ask him to do chauffeur duty.

At least it had stopped raining. But after so many days of the dreary stuff, he figured the predawn lull was just a teaser to make him think the sun might actually shine when it came up this morning.

"You say dead body like it's a bad thing." A lanky detective with chocolate skin, a tailored leather coat and as much gold bling as the department would let him wear walked out of the alley with a flashlight of his own, grinning around the toothpick he clutched between his teeth.

Sawyer laughed at the irreverent humor of a friend he hadn't seen in months. Joe Hendricks Jr. A second-generation cop, just like the Kincaid brothers. Much too stylish for a moniker as ordinary as Joe or Junior. "J.R. Aren't you in fine form this morning."

"I'm always in fine form, my friend. So what's your beef with my dead body?"

"It's just not the one I was hoping to find."

"Now, that's a cryptic statement."

"Long story." Sawyer ducked under the yellow crime scene tape and reached out to shake hands. "Good to see you, J.R."

"You too, Kincaid. Sorry to hear about your dad."

"Thanks."

"He was one of the good ones."

Sawyer nodded.

J.R. walked Sawyer over to the body and circled to the opposite side. "So what brings a Fourth Precinct detective down to my part of town?"

"Luck, I guess." J.R. wasn't the only cop with a sarcastic wit. "I came back right after Dad's funeral to help on the task force to recover those three fugitives from Jeff City."

The smell of garbage and drunks and standing water that wouldn't wash away blended with the coppery tang of the vic's blood. "Don't know if you noticed, but the murder of a retired brother in the middle of no-man's-land doesn't have anything to do with that task force."

"I noticed." Sawyer's deep exhale formed a cloud when it met the nip in the chilly air. "Captain Taylor thought this might be a 'more suitable' duty assignment for me."

"Shot your mouth off to the feds, eh?"

"Just the one. I don't like how he runs his investigation. Guess I'm not enough of a yes-man for him."

"You're not a yes-man to anybody, are you?"

"Nope." J.R. chastised his lame joke as Sawyer tugged up the thighs of his jeans and knelt beside the corpse. "So who do we have here?"

"According to his state ID card, he's James Cullen McBride, age sixty-two.

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.