SLEEPING DOGS (Animal Instincts Book 6) by Chloe Kendrick Read Free Book Online

what are you going to tell me?”
    “The Frias murder case is an open police investigation. You cannot be involved in this in any way, or you’re breaking the law. Keep this up, and I will notify the appropriate authorities about your activities.” Siever sounded official, but I knew now that he was dating my mother. So all bets were off on whether this was personal or professional.
    “So this isn’t your case?” I asked. If Siever had not been involved with the original Frias case, then he’d learned of the link up from someone in my family most likely.
    “No. I wasn’t on this case, other than to ask a few questions of a few neighbors. That has nothing to do with what I’m telling you now,” he replied. “You need to drop this or you’ve going to be in big trouble. More than you could possibly imagine.”
    “I’m not involved in any investigation. I’m drumming up new clients for my pet talking business. That’s all.” Technically, I was being truthful. I had asked multiple people on the street, and I hadn’t gotten any answers to my questions. So I hadn’t learned a thing from my actions so far.
    “Then why were you seen with the Gillespie son?” Siever shot back.
    “I told you, asking about pets and if they wanted to set up an appointment for my services. Look, I didn’t even know who that was until he recognized me. I couldn’t have picked him out of a line-up. He was several years older than me in school. Susan might have known him, but I didn’t.”
    My mother finally spoke. “Susan knew him and his sister too. It’s too coincidental for you to just show up at his house after all this time.”
    I looked at her. I wondered what was going through her head right now. Was she concerned for Susan’s safety, or was she merely interested in keeping all the secrets tamped down into place? I wasn’t sure. I’d learned that she was dating Siever from my brother. So it had been okay for him to know, but not me. I wasn’t sure how she could justify something like that.
    “I’ve lived here all my life. I’m sure I’m going to run into people I know from time to time. Have you been following me?”
    The question took my mother by surprise. She’d been on the offense so far, coming to my house to ask questions. I don’t suppose that she’d thought out what she would do if I started asking questions of her.
    There were really only two possible options. The first was that I was being followed. That meant I’d been tailed or tracked by technology once I’d called Susan. It seemed the more likely of the options, since they didn’t know what I was thinking or planning. The other option was that Adam Gillespie was being watched, and I’d shown up at his house. This was less likely, because they would have to trace it back from Gillespie to Frias to me. Thinking logically, I would have only contacted the Gillespies if I thought that one or more of them could tell me something about the Frias murder, which would be the only crime that they’d been involved with.
    As I ran through the options in my mind, I began to notice that neither of them had said anything. I knew that Sheila would have spotted a tail, even in her condition, so most likely I’d been tagged with a device to keep track of me. I made a mental note to search my car later.
    I could see that this discussion was getting me nowhere. They were refusing to answer questions, and I was sticking to my story that I’d been doing door-to-door sales for my business. In other words, a typical Fitzpatrick impasse.
    “So did Susan call you and tell you to stop me from looking into this?” I asked finally, already knowing the answer. I wanted to see at this point if they would admit to anything I asked. The questions were getting progressively simpler, and yet I and yet to get confirmation.
    “Of course she called,” my mother said. “She was very upset.”
    My heart leapt to my throat. My sister, who I hadn’t talked to in over a decade –