Renegade (Tin Star K9 Series Book 1) by Jodi Burnett (literature books to read .txt) 📗

Colt looked pointedly at Dylan’s arm. “He didn’t.”

24

Caitlyn swept up the glass pieces shattered across her living room floor. Her heart wrenched when she saw her dog’s blood smeared on some of the sharp edges. Frustrated by one armed sweeping, she yanked off the sling holding her injured limb. After she cleaned up the best she could, she vacuumed, turning the machine off several times to listen for sounds she thought she’d heard. She wiped the floor over again with wet paper towels. Satisfied she’d cleaned up all the splintered shards, she went to search her belongings.

Parts of the murder board on her dining room wall were torn down. It was weird she hadn’t noticed that this morning. Wondering if the intruder had stolen anything she hadn’t realized, Caitlyn entered her bedroom. She shuddered at the thought of an unknown man in her space, touching her things. Had his fingers run over her intimate items? She glanced over her shoulder before she opened the top drawer of her dresser.

Under the few pieces of lingerie she owned, she reached for a velvet box. Opening it, she was relieved to see her grandmother’s pearls still nestled safely in their place. Besides her firearms, that necklace was the only thing of value she owned. With sorrow laden nostalgia, Caitlyn smoothed her fingertips over the cold, smooth surface of the pearls and thought of the woman she missed so deeply. Her eyes watered and her nose ran, her exhaustion keeping her emotions on the surface.

She went into the bathroom for a tissue and clicked on the light. In front of her reflection in the mirror above the sink, written in red marker, were the words, “Stay out of it! Or Else!” Chills coursed through her body and she dropped her gaze to the sink—and screamed.

Wadded up inside the sink was the dead body of a squirrel. Someone had broken its neck. Caitlin ran out and huddled in the corner of her bedroom. Fighting tears and forcing herself to slow her breathing, she thought of what to do. That bastard had come back while she was gone.

Tires scrabbled over the gravel outside. A searing chill spurred up Caitlyn’s spine, spiking alarm bells inside her sore head. Her heart careened spastically against her ribs and she ran to her walk-in closet. At the back, she thrust her winter jackets to the side, and reached for a rifle that had been in her family since before it was necessary to register firearms. No one except her father knew she had it, and she hadn’t bothered to tell Colt when he was confiscating all their firearms. She kept it loaded, so when she grabbed it, all she needed to do was seat a round in the chamber. Of course, that was a challenge one handed.

Feeling more confident than she had mere seconds before, Caitlyn tip-toed out of her closet, through her room, and peered out her bedroom door. Listening hard, she heard no movement. Caitlyn stepped quietly out her door and crept down the hall, keeping her back to the wall until she got to the living room. Still, she saw no one, but the entrance door remained unlocked and the picture window was open to the breeze.

Caitlyn darted to the front wall and edged her way to the side of the open living room window. She leveled her rifle and swung it around through the opening in the wall, sucking in a breath as the muzzle pointed directly into the chest of a large man standing on her porch.

“What the hell?” the man growled

Caitlyn stepped back, but kept the gun pointed at him. “What are you doing creeping around my cabin?”

Her brother batted the rifle barrel away. “Get that out of my face. You know better than to aim a gun at someone unless you intend to shoot them.”

“I did intend to shoot.” Caitlyn lowered the muzzle. “What are you doing here, Dylan?”

“Your boyfriend paid me a visit this afternoon. He told me someone broke into your house last night and attacked you.” His voice softened. “Are you okay?” Dylan surveyed the empty window frame before he scanned his sister up and down.

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Have you told him that?”

“What do you want, Dylan?”

“I came to check on you. Colt said you had a concussion.” He reached for her and touched her cheek. “Your face is bruised. When I find the asshole who hit you, I’m going to kill him.”

“Not words you should fling around carelessly, these days.” Caitlyn tossed him a wry expression and rested the rifle against the wall. She went to open the front door. “Come on in. I’m fine, but the bastard put my dog in the hospital.”

“That’s what I heard. Did he steal anything?” Dylan came through the door and removed his hat. “What do you think he wanted?”

“That’s the million-dollar question, because nothing is missing. Want a beer?”

“Sure, but let’s get your front window boarded up first. Do you have some plywood?”

While they rummaged in the garage to find what they needed to seal up the window temporarily, Caitlyn told her brother what she found in the bathroom.

“You need to report this before we clean it up.”

She nodded and went to the kitchen. She pulled two bottles of beer from her fridge and handed one to her brother. “Thanks for your help.”

“Sure.” Dylan walked across the living room and took in Caitlyn’s makeshift evidence wall. “What’s all this about?” He sipped his brew and scanned the information she’d tacked up.

“Guess whoever left the squirrel didn’t like my collage.” Caitlyn picked up several papers that had been torn from the wall, tacked them back up and reattached the red string. “Like I told you and Dad, I don’t trust the sheriff to do a complete investigation, so I’m doing one of my own. I guess, I’m trying to keep you out of prison.” Caitlyn gulped half of her beer down. “You didn’t kill Wendy, did you?”

Dylan faced her and