Free Bite Deep by Rebekah Turner Page A

follow.
    â€˜Shall I’ll collect some blood samples?’ Lydia called to Bowden.
    Both men stopped and turned to look at her. Sam pulled a crumpled packet from a shirt pocket and wriggled a brown cigarette loose, eyes shifting to Bowden. ‘Is she serious?’
    â€˜A woman was found dead yesterday morning,’ Lydia pointed out. ‘Maybe it was a hunting accident, maybe it wasn’t. Either way, this animal kill is an eerie coincidence, happening around the same time as a murder. We should check everything, in case there’s a connection.’
    Sam lit his cigarette and grey smoke billowed from his mouth. ‘You think I did it. maybe? Killed that girl you’re talking about, then dragged her all the way across town and dumped her? Then, came back here and gutted a cow?’
    Bowden held up his hands. ‘Hold on. No one is accusing you of anything, Sam. Lydia is still is adjusting to how we do things around here.’ He threw her a friendly smile, edged with warning. ‘Why don’t you head over to Elijah’s farm next door, constable, and check if he’s missing a cow.’
    Lydia kept her mouth shut, trying to keep the frown from her face. She watched as Sam slung the shotgun over his shoulder and started to walk through the trees, smoke trailing behind him. There was an undercurrent between the two men, a silent understanding, and she just knew it had something to do with the Diablo Dogs MC.
    * * *
    Jericho walked around the clearing where Anna’s body had been found, footsteps springing from the thick moss underneath. Forgotten police tape draped from tree trunks like stringy bark and weak patches of sunlight cast puddles around him.
    Reaper and Blades were scouring the forest around him, even though a small army of volunteers had already gone through it. His phone rang, and and when he saw it was Frost he quickly answered, hoping he’d had some answers, since Karla was still dragging her heels on doing her part. ‘Find anything?’
    Frost’s voice came over the line. ‘Nothing in the background checks yet. I’m still working through them. But I do have something else for you. A private plane arrived yesterday morning, bringing just one traveller to town. He’s booked at the Emerald Fields Hotel under the name of Jack Smith. The plane belongs to a small surveying company called Barnett and Jones.’
    Jericho frowned, processing the news. ‘Since when can a small surveying company afford a private plane?’
    â€˜Something’s off,’ Frost agreed. ‘And Barnett and Jones have all the markers of being a shell company. If that’s true, we both know who might be behind it.’
    â€˜The Gatehouse Group,’ Jericho murmured. He’d heard the name of the corporate front for the Association of Breed Hunters often enough when he’d been Enforcer. ‘But he arrived after the murder, so he can’t be our killer.’
    â€˜I’ll bet he knows who is,’ Frost said. ‘Or maybe he’s here to clean up a mess.’
    â€˜Find out more about this Jack Smith,’ Jericho instructed. ‘Put two G1s on him, follow his every move. Especially who he talks to.’
    â€˜Done,’ Frost said, then hung up.
    Jericho hesitated, then dialled Karla. He needed to know for certain if the body was Karla’s missing girl, and warn her about the possibility of a Hunter being in town.
    â€˜Jericho?’ Karla’s voice crackled over a bad connection.
    â€˜I’m gonna need you to find out today about the body,’ he told her.
    â€˜I already did,’ Karla’s voice was subdued. ‘I sent one of the girls down to view the body, she just called to confirm it was Anna. Then she told me they were calling her death an accident? Is that true?’
    He ran a hand through his hair, fingers brushing the old scars on his face. ‘Sounds like Bowden. Path of least resistance.