Echo Falls by Jaime McDougall Read Free Book Online

could he really let her fade out of his life when he had so many questions about her? Her easy acceptance of his wolf side made him wonder if she had been with a werewolf. But if she had, what was she so afraid of? Any Were worth his measure – and worth her – would certainly protect her. At least, he damn well should.
    He could sense the conflict in her as easily as he could read the files in front of him. Her eyes held both caution and a longing to trust. At least part of her wanted what he could offer. If only he could convince her that her longing would lead her to what she needed.
    If he could only know for sure that his instincts were leading him the right way.
    He pushed all the files together and left Sophie’s. He needed to refocus, and he did that best at work.
    The drive to the police station took all of ten minutes from Sophie’s. The single station had served Echo Falls since the town’s start over a century ago, and marks of its long history showed through the brick masonry and peeling paint on the windowsills. Only earlier this year had they begun talking about setting up a second office on the other side of town – where Phoebe lived and the third murder had taken place. The murder of a female werewolf.
    Of course, the police were still trying to figure out what the victims had in common. Two men and one woman had been killed with no family, work or social connection to each other. The only common links were that they had been killed at night and with the same type of weapon. They never found the weapons on the scene, but forensics felt sure that the killer used silver crossbow bolts.
    A crossbow. He rubbed his temples and sighed.
    He barely managed to stop himself from slamming his truck door when he got out and walked into the station. Like most Monday mornings, conversations and phones ringing filled the air – and that was just in the main reception area. He nodded to Mary, who took care of the reception desk.
    “Aren’t you supposed to be on vacation?” she asked.
    “I might be,” he said and winked, walking past her.
    A large room filled with desks made up most of the station with closed offices for the detectives and inspectors at the back. Officers sat at their desks talking on phones or dealing with people who, for the most part, didn’t want to be there.
    Aidan sat down at his now mostly empty desk. His desk and Will’s faced each other, and Will only raised an eyebrow when Aidan sat down. Though Thomas was technically Will’s partner while Aidan ‘took a break’ Thomas didn’t dare try to take Aidan’s desk. Thomas caught sight of him sitting down, picked up some photos off his desk and walked over.
    “Aidan,” Will said and nodded.
    “Will. Thomas.”
    “Grant is going to have our family jewels if he sees you in here,” Thomas said, glancing to the Chief Inspector’s office.
    Aidan looked at Grant’s office and then at the clock on the wall. Five minutes. “Did you finish the interviews?”
    Thomas nodded and sighed. “Yeah. No one saw anything. Some people thought they heard Phoebe’s screams, but they called us.”
    “The one time no one plays hero.”
    “No joke,” Thomas said, crossing his arms over his chest.
    The trio exchanged looks and Aidan resisted the urge to curse. If the interviews had revealed some little clue for them to follow, they would have celebrated. But, of course, they hadn’t.
    “The good news is that forensics found some scraps of clothing,” Thomas said. “They said they might be able to lift something useful from them.”
    “Clothing scraps?”
    Thomas nodded and tossed him some the photos he’d been holding. “Not much, but better than nothing.”
    Aidan studied the pictures. “So at least we know the murderer doesn’t kill naked. But if he transformed and left clothing scraps behind, then -”
    Thomas hit his fist on the desk and smirked. He leaned closer. “Then what happened to the clothes? We’ve been all over those