Criminal Intent (MIRA) by Laurie Breton Read Free Book Online Page A

damn-fool creatureas though it were human, but Buddy acted as though he understood every word that was said to him. Davy knelt and chucked the dog under the chin. Buddy raised his head and swished his tail back and forth on the rug, and Davy got back up, poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot that was sitting on the sideboard, and headed out to his workshop.
    He took a long swig of black coffee and set his cup down on his work table. Out here, the scents of summer mingled with the pungent aroma of sawdust. He opened a can of honey-colored stain, found a clean rag, and turned on the CD player. Kneeling, he began applying the stain to the drop-leaf table he’d just finished making.
    The work was familiar, comforting, and as he worked, the sweet simplicity of Keith Urban’s music began working some of the day’s tensions out of his shoulders. Davy Hunter loved working with his hands. Loved working with wood. Loved its fresh scent, its smooth, silken texture, loved the way the stain worked with the grain of the wood to create wonderful geometric patterns that couldn’t be duplicated by man. Like fingerprints, no two pieces of wood were alike, and every work he created was unique.
    He took another sip of coffee. It would never be his beverage of choice, but it was all he allowed himself these days. No more twelve-pack pity parties. No more three-day benders. He held a responsible position within the community, and he had Jessie to think about. She might look as though she had it all together, but she was still just sixteen. She was depending on him to take care of her for the next two months.
    Davy suspected that was a big part of the reason Ty had wanted him for the job. It kept him out of trouble, gave him something better to do than sit around drinking beer and feeling sorry for himself. The fact that Ty had entrusted the safety of the town of Serenity—not to mention Jessie—to him said somethingabout their friendship. Like any long-term relationship, it had gone through some rocky times, but in the end it had held strong. This was Ty’s way of letting him know that, in spite of the fact that he’d fucked up royally where Chelsea was concerned, his old friend hadn’t lost trust in him. Ty had given him a chance to redeem himself.
    And he would, damn it. This time he’d get it right. This time, nobody would die. For the next sixty days, he’d simply place one foot in front of the other and walk a straight and narrow line. Without wavering, without stumbling, without falling on his ugly mug. He’d prove to all of his detractors that Davy Hunter was a capable, competent human being, and not the worthless piece of garbage that so many people seemed to believe he was.
    When the phone rang, he wiped his hands on a clean rag and went to answer it. “David?” said a voice as wispy and insubstantial as a Kleenex tissue. “You have to come over. It’s an emergency.”
    “Gram,” he said, his hands tightening on the rag. “What’s wrong?”
    “Koko got out, and I can’t find her. She’s not supposed to be outdoors. Somebody will steal her. Or she’ll get run over.”
    As gently as possible, he said, “I’m sort of in the middle of something.” He really wanted to get the staining done tonight. Now that he was gainfully employed, he didn’t have much free time to devote to his woodworking projects. Holding back a sigh, he said, “I don’t suppose there’s any way this can wait an hour or two?”
    “By then, it’ll be too late. She’ll be gone.” Her voice climbed into a higher register, a step closer to hysteria. “I don’t know what to do.”
    Davy glanced at the table he was working on and gave in. What choice did he have? Gram’s emergencies always took priority over everything else.
    “Giveme ten minutes to clean up,” he said. “I’ll come over and find your cat.”
    He’d tried several times over the past year to convince Gram to sell her house and move into Spruce Run, one of those