Free Bite Deep by Rebekah Turner Page B

I’ll call him, make sure we’re both kept up to date.’
    â€˜This is bad, Jericho.’
    â€˜I know that.’
    â€˜With the King coming, my security is under the microscope and my reputation is at stake here.’ A shrill note entered her voice. ‘I’m struggling to finish the fit-out for the cabins for Drake’s visit and now I’ll have to contend with the Breed Council, wanting an explanation about Anna’s death.’ She sucked in a shaky breath. ‘You can help me, right, Jericho?’
    He hesitated, registering the stress in her voice. He’d never heard her so rattled and the information about a potential hunter in town died on his lips. The information would only serve to add to her anxiety, and he knew from experience the more tightly wound Karla was, the more difficult she became. And he was still chasing those new dosage amounts.
    He forced a lightness in his tone. ‘You tell the Breed Council to give me a week to find Anna’s killer. I’ll have answers then.’
    He heard her exhale before she spoke. ‘I’ll pass that on. Thank you, Jericho. And you should come around anytime to talk to Renee about what you need. Anything I can do to help you.’
    â€˜I’ll set up a time,’ Jericho said. ‘In the meantime, though, I need to know a few things about Anna. Do you know if she had a boyfriend? Or someone she was seeing in town?’
    Karla gave a dry laugh. ‘I know your crew bend the rules when it comes to women, but I run a tight ship. My girls don’t go on dates, or socialise with men in town.’
    â€˜You sure about that?’ Jericho pressed. ‘You sure she wasn’t sneaking out to see someone behind your back?’
    Karla didn’t say anything for a moment and he knew she was thinking it over, trying to push past her ego to see the truth. ‘To the best of my knowledge, she wasn’t,’ she replied finally, but her tone was thoughtful. ‘I’ll check with some of the girls she hung around, see if they know anything.’
    â€˜Let me know.’ He paused, then added, ‘Press them hard when you ask.’
    â€˜I’m not an idiot, Jericho,’ Karla snapped back. ‘I know how to ask a question and get a truthful answer.’
    He hung up and pocketed the mobile, knowing he’d done the right thing in keeping Frost’s information to himself for now. He would fill her in once the situation was under control and weather her anger then. Better that than her raising the alarm and potentially bringing in outsiders to try and deal with things. It was the Diablo Dogs’ duty to make problems disappear and that wasn’t about to change.
    He headed deeper into the forest, following Reaper’s scent. He couldn’t catch Blades and wondered how the ex-bounty hunter managed it. Did he rub himself down with pine leaves before getting dressed every morning?
    The temperature inside the forest dipped, colder still with the sun slowly beginning to set. A ringtail possum watched him cautiously from a tree branch and he could catch the distant sound of running water. His nose followed a whiff of tobacco, until he came to a small clearing to find both his men lounging against tree trunks, Blades smoking a cigarette, while Reaper was sizing up a thick piece of pine he’d picked up off the forest floor, digging a knife under its bark.
    â€˜Find anything?’ Jericho asked.
    â€˜Waste of time.’ Blades blew a stream of smoke from his nostrils. ‘Place is too trampled with all the people they had out here. Don’t know what’s a clue, or what some helpful dickhead dropped out of his pocket.’
    â€˜Bowden’s an idiot,’ Reaper grumbled. ‘He should have called us first.’
    Jericho was inclined to agree, but Frank Bowden had been the top cop in Camden for nearly thirty-five years and his relationship with the MC went back well