Raven: A political thriller by J.J. Franck Read Free Book Online Page B

gun and walked in.
    Once inside the living room, he was surprised by what he saw. Unlike
last evening the room was in total disarray and reeked of spilt cinnamon oil
from the reed diffusers around the room. The glass in the breakfront was
smashed out, with shards of glass scattered around the room. The cups and
saucers were broken into pieces, along with other items from the breakfront.
The cushions from the couch were shredded, and stuffing lay all over the floor.
The bureau drawers were tossed about with papers strewed around the room, along
with the table linens that were stored there. Lamps were smashed, while the
plants had been pulled out of their pots and the dirt scattered onto the floor and
ground in. It was clear someone was looking for something. He quickly glanced
over at the portrait and was relieved that it was untouched. Why it should have
mattered, he didn’t know, but he gave a sigh of relief when he saw it intact.
It was basically the only thing untouched in the bedlam that he saw in front of
him.
    Don slowly walked down the hall to the kitchen. It, too, was trashed.
The floor was covered with broken dishes, shards of glass, and food was all
mixed together. Don was unclear if this was related to their case or just
vandals trashing the house at random. Suddenly, there was the rustling of
something falling upstairs. Don stopped in his tracks and listened. It sounded
like the noise came from Raven’s bedroom upstairs. He then retreated back into
the living room quickly and then slowly climbed the stairs, careful to stay
close to the wall as he made his way up. Once he reached the top of the stairs
he turned to the right to Raven’s room. Don didn’t hear the movement behind him
until it was too late, and he was sent sprawling onto the hallway floor out
cold.
    * * *
    Fred walked out of the upstairs bathroom with a
washcloth in his hand. He handed it to Don, who was leaning up against the wall
near the stairs. Don took the washcloth and rubbed the back of his head.
Granted, he had been tired, but this was not the kind of rest he needed. He
didn’t know what he had been hit with—whatever it was was hard and had left a
large gash on the back of his head, along with a goose-egg. Don had a hard time
focusing as his head throbbed.
    “Did you see who hit you?” Fred asked.
    Don shook his head. “He must have been in the bathroom. When I got up
here he hit me from behind.”
    Fred just shrugged. “Did you find anything at her office?”
    Don looked up at Fred, having a hard time understanding what he meant,
and then he understood.
    “Thanks for caring,” he said. The sarcasm in his voice was clearly
noted.
    “You okay?”
    “It doesn’t count now,” Don snapped and then glanced around.
    “Our girl got a threatening call at work.”
    “That’s interesting,” Fred said.
    “Other than that I didn’t learn much. It was basically a dead end,”
Don said as he wiped the back of his head. And then he looked up at Fred. “What
time is it?”
    Fred glanced at his watch “Ten twenty-two.”
    Don just shook his head. “I’ve been out for twenty minutes.”
    “What happened?”
    Don rubbed the back of his head and then winced in pain. “Don’t know.
Heard something up here. It sounded like it came from her bedroom, so I guess I
got caught off-guard. Then the next thing I know you were standing over me.
    “I should take you in to be checked out.”
    “There’s no time for that.”
    Fred walked over to the side bedroom. “The whole place looks like it’s
been gone through.”
    “I wonder if they found what they were looking for?”
    “I called it in. Our boys will be here soon.”
    Don leaned forward. He shook his head and then tried to get up. He
stumbled as Fred quickly grabbed his arm until Don steadied himself. It took a
few minutes, but once he got his bearings he turned to Fred.
    “Maybe we’ll get some prints,” he said in a way that clearly indicated
he doubted that any would be