Undercover Love (The Women of Manatee Bay, Book 2) by Jessica Nelson Read Free Book Online Page B

Katrina’s voice lowered. “We’ll be home in May, just in time for your birthday.”
    The line clicked and Rachel shoved the phone in her pocket. She’d worry about a party later. Right now she had to find that evidence. Gnawing her lower lip, she dropped the driver’s seat floor mat and rocked back on her heels.
    What if she’d lost it in the woods? She reached up and tentatively touched the bandages on her neck. And who shot her? One more thing to track down. Somehow she needed to find out about the bullet. The local police sent ballistics out but someone would eventually have a report on their desk.
    Maybe she ought to stop back in after a few days, have a chat with Uncle Charlie. Sit on someone’s desk and accidentally bump the mouse.
    It was a plan, possibly.
    But could she avoid Grant and the reproach she always sensed in his gaze?
    Although he hadn’t been disgusted while putting on her bandages. She fingered the wrappings again, remembering the warmth of his hands. The gentleness. Blinking against a deep rush of longing, she squatted down and peered under the SUV.
    As far as she was concerned, Grant was a nonentity. Charmers knew how to be sweet, hence the label. She swiped her fingers against the ground, up against the tire, and got nothing for her trouble but dirty fingers.
    Standing, she relocked the truck doors and trudged back to the apartment.
    She’d just lost the only connection that definitively linked the mayor to the mud she knew he wallowed in.

CHAPTER SIX
    Rachel pulled into the parking lot of the Manatee Bay River headsprings park. She’d spent the night worrying and rethinking her steps, tracing every move made through the woods. The moment fog-cloaked sun peeked through her bedroom window, she leapt into action.
    Gray mist drifted through the trees and weaved around her car and one other vehicle. A squad car.
    Stifling a groan, she eased out of the SUV. The mist clung to her skin, warm and promising a humid, hot day. She wore faded jeans, tennis shoes, and an American Eagle t-shirt. A mosquito buzzed near but flitted away when it caught a whiff of repellant.
    After arming herself with a flashlight, she shut the car door and turned toward the gray-shrouded tree line. She aimed the light at the woods. She’d come out across from where she’d parked yesterday, so that meant she must’ve entered somewhere along the west base of trees. Sounds of early morning traffic traveled in muffled tones as she picked her way across the lot to where a familiar pair of palms squatted.
    Focusing her flashlight on the low trees, she scanned for broken branches or disturbed earth. Evidence of her frantic journey didn’t take long to find. Several palms bent to the side, obviously damaged.
    The arduous task of following her trail took over an hour. By the time she reached the headsprings, sweat dripped down her neck and her t-shirt clung to her skin.
    Swallowing disappointment over finding nothing, she arrived at yesterday's meeting place. While she’d been traipsing through the woods, the sun had dispersed the mist and crowned the river with hazy golden edges. On land, yellow tape cordoned off an area much bigger than where she’d waited.
    Could she have dropped the drive when she’d checked her watch for the time?
    A flicker of movement to the right pulled her gaze from the yellow tape. Two cops hunched over something at the edge of the pathway. She sucked in a deep breath and headed toward them.
    “Find anything, officers?”
    Her voice seemed to startle them. They both rose quickly. She recognized Pete, a new officer. He shuffled on his feet, looking young and uncomfortable. The other man’s hand went right to his belt. As he turned around, she realized why.
    “What are you doing here?” Grant’s hand lifted from its instinctual position to palm his hip.
    “I’m looking for something,” she told him coolly, checking the irritation that seemed to rise for no reason every time he talked to her.