Give It All by Cara McKenna Read Free Book Online

room.”
    “What?” Duncan felt more naked than he’d have guessed, imagining strangers poking around in his borrowed space, smelling the evidence of his compulsions, upsetting his cat. They wouldn’t find anything incriminating, surely, but suspicious . . . ? Some aspects of his daily routine did defy logic.
    “Search warrant should be waiting at the front desk by now,” Flores said calmly. “I just want to take a quick look around. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about. I’ll drive you back to your premises. Then you’ll be asked to wait outside. Any property seized as a result of this search will be made known to you—”
    “I know how a warranted search works.”
    Flores smiled. “Do you, then?”
    Duncan rolled his eyes furiously, not in any mood for banter. “This is fucking ridiculous. All of it.”
    Flores’s eyebrows rose. “Then you’ve got nothing to fucking worry about, I imagine. Be thankful you haven’t been accused of anything violent or deemed a flight risk—no need to detain you.”
    “I should hope not.” He sighed his disgust. “Haven’t you got more pressing matters than this to occupy yourselves?”
    “Sure. But until the team gets a viable lead on those bones, looks like I’m stuck ruining your day, Duncan.”
    Bones.
Christ, that word. Everything had begun to go wrong with that one little syllable, spoken by Deputy Dunn, obsessed over by Vince Grossier. Now those bones had drawn Duncan into their miserable orbit.
    “Perhaps your team ought to try a little harder,” Duncan said. “Those bones will prove me innocent as surely as they’ll prove Levins guilty.” Forensics would supply the victim’s identity, likely motives, and lead the investigation to the truth—and away from Duncan.
    Ignoring that, Flores got to his feet and beckoned Duncan to do the same. “We’ve been in touch with your employers, of course.”
    All the misplaced blood was suddenly rushing in Duncan’s ears, leaving his face hot. That was
all
he needed, when he was already on informal probation. He pulled himself together. “Of course. This wretched morning wouldn’t be complete if you hadn’t.”
    “You’ll probably need to negotiate some time off. We’ll be chatting again soon, maybe often.”
    Time off.
He’d be lucky if Sunnyside didn’t sack him. Christ, then what would he do? Who would he even
be
, with that blemish on his otherwise perfect professional record? And God forbid these accusations make the news—exonerated or not, he’d be a pariah for the rest of his career, to say nothing of what the angrier locals would want to do to him . . . Duncan got dirty looks simply for being associated with the development. If people believed him complicit with the men who’d murdered a well-liked deputy, he’d be attracting more than just glares.
    “How long am I trapped in this town, precisely?”
    “Hard to say,” Flores said, drawing car keys from his pocket. “Search shouldn’t take too long. Once you let us in, feel free to go find yourself some breakfast.”
    Duncan would take a walk, at any rate. He needed the air, the sun, the ground under his feet. Proof the world was still solid, that he still existed.
    They headed out to the front room, where Flores was metby a slim young black woman dressed in BCSD khaki, curls pulled back in a voluminous ponytail.
    “This is Deputy Ritchey,” Flores told Duncan. “She’ll be assisting me in the search.” To Ritchey he simply said, “This is Welch.”
    She offered a curt nod, then held out an envelope to Flores.
    He opened it and glanced at the paper inside. “Would you like to view the warrant?” he asked Duncan.
    He read it. It granted Flores permission to search his motel room and his car for suspicious amounts of money. Annoying, as it meant they could basically tear his room apart, but at least they couldn’t seize his phone or laptop—he suspected he’d be needing them in the coming