A Good Kind of Trouble (A Trouble in Twin Rivers Novel Book 1) Read Online Free

rustling from down the hall, then clicking. Lindsey’s shoulders dropped in relief. She sank to her knees as a mid-sized, short-haired dog trotted down the hall and stretched in front of her, his tail wagging.  
    Lindsey hugged him close and rubbed his ears. “You were sleeping on the bed again, weren’t you?”  
    “This is Steve?” This was not who he had pictured sleeping in Lindsey’s bed.
    “Yes,” Lindsey said, glancing up from the floor where she still cuddled the dog, who was now eyeing Ben with what looked like suspicion. “Ben, meet Steve McQueen. I got him when I moved in here a few months ago.”
    “What breed is he?” Ben asked. The dog had short hair, a lean body, pointed ears, and a long nose. His long tail wagged, but he was keeping an eye on Ben.
    “I don’t know,” Lindsey said. “I got him at the shelter. His vet thinks he’s a mix of terrier, maybe some sort of pointer or hound.” She ruffled his fur again. “I just know that he was the coolest dog in the shelter that day.”
    “Hence the name,” Ben said.  
    Lindsey grinned and nodded.  
    “This is a nice place,” Ben said, looking around the house. He was standing in a small living room dominated by a large, overstuffed couch that faced a fireplace and mantle. A dog bed sat next to the hearth.  
    “Thanks. I moved here after my apartment was broken into. I didn’t feel safe there.”  
    “When did that happen?”
    “The night we went out,” she said.  
    Ben tilted his head. “I thought the police determined there was no break-in.”
    “They did. I determined otherwise,” she said, her chin jutted out.  
    “I see,” Ben said. The police had seemed confident Lindsey’s apartment hadn’t been burglarized. Not that they were always right, but that was their expertise—investigating crime scenes. He had trusted their judgment. But now, after the morning they’d just spent, he was starting to doubt the experts.
    She sighed and stood up, heading down the hallway toward a bathroom. He followed her.  
    “You should probably call your boss,” he said. “Let him know you got out of jail. And that you were mugged and need to go to a doctor.”  
    “I don’t need a doctor.” She opened a drawer and rummaged around before pulling out a first-aid kit.  
    Ben squeezed into the tiny room with her and took her gently by the shoulders, easing his hands’ pressure when she winced.  
    “Sit,” he said.  
    “I can do it,” she said, turning the sink faucet on.
    He shook his head.  
    “Just let me help you.” He grabbed a washcloth off the towel rack, dunked it into the flow of warm water, then wrung it out.  
    Lindsey paused, that damn stubborn tilt of her chin returning. After a moment, she sat on the bathtub’s edge, seeming resigned to accepting his help. Gently, he wiped the dirt from her face, noting the small scrape and the swelling beginning at her hairline.  
    “You’re going to have a good goose-egg here,” he said.  
    “I’ll be okay.” She twisted her body and stuck her feet into the bathtub. She turned on the water and let it run over her bare legs. As she washed her feet, Ben found antiseptic in the kit and smeared it on the scrape.  
    “You really should report this,” he said.  
    She sighed, turned off the water and reached for the cell phone in her pocket.  
    “Sam, it’s me,” she said. “I’m out of jail, but there was an… incident after court.”
    She listened for a few seconds.  
    “This time is different,” she said. “This time, I have a witness.”

Chapter Three

    The automatic doors slid open and a chilly blast of conditioned air breezed across Lindsey’s face. She held up her press pass for the Beacon ’s security guard to inspect, then motioned to Ben who followed her closely.
    “He’s with me.”  
    The guard nodded, buzzing her through the gate so they could take the escalator to the second floor. Ben in tow, she headed straight to Sam’s office on the