Open Wounds Read Online Free Page A

he spoke to the two detectives standing in his office. The vein in his temple throbbed from the restraint. He felt like he would blow a gasket, and he couldn’t believe the suspect Hill and Donovan had brought in was all black and purple — the result of a fine beating courtesy a la Donovan.
    This was not the first time he had been in this position and until he retired it wouldn’t be the last. The date, only a year and half away, felt like forever.
    Alec ran his hand through his blond hair with its streaks of white — the only thing that showed his true age — and took a steady breath. When he spoke again, his voice was a deep baritone. “The guy looks like he was in the ring with Mike Tyson.”
    Internal Affairs was going to be all over this, and he’d already had a long chat with Lewis Carlisle up in the penthouse suite. He knew he’d be sending one of his own down here. That’s all his command needed, a goddamn IA investigation.
    He shook his head. “You can’t just go round beating the suspects to a bloody pulp.”
    Donovan didn’t look remorseful at all. “In my defence, he had a weapon and my back-up was nowhere nearby.”
    Alec stared at the ceiling as if he’d receive some divine answer. He almost asked the Almighty, Why me?
    It was never ending. At home he had the joys of dealing with his very stubborn, headstrong, troublesome teenage daughter, Sophie, who was too much like him for his liking. Sometimes he wished she’d be more like her mother, but then he shuddered. Caitlyn hadn’t come without her problems and bad habits, either. At the thought of what it had taken to ensnare her, he felt somewhat relieved his daughter took more after him than her mother.
    He loved Caitlyn with all the world, but the woman was trouble. Sometimes he didn’t know whether he wanted to kiss her or strangle her, and now he was dealing with a stubborn subordinate. It seemed to him he was always dealing with the fallout of female hormones. He’d been lucky to survive his twenty-year plus marriage.
    An ulcer burned in his gut. “It’s just not today, but every goddamned day.”
    Darryl obviously felt the need to intercede on behalf of his partner, which only angered him more. “Boss, in certain cases sometimes it’s necessary to — ”
    Alec cut him off. “Shut up, Hill, I haven’t started on you yet.”
    “Yes, Boss,” Darryl said, chastised.
    Alec brought his gaze back to the current pain in his arse. Donovan was almost always causing him problems. “You can’t keep doing this, Donovan. You can’t beat up the suspects. It’s not your place to decide what punishment they get.”
    Donovan’s eyes narrowed at him, and her mouth parted to say what he assumed to be a smart arse remark, but she was cut off when another voice — one not belonging to any of the three in the room—spoke.
    “But that has always been your M.O. hasn’t it , Mia? Act first, think second.”
    Alec turned towards the speaker. Kellie Munroe stood in the doorway with one hand on the doorframe and the other on her hip. Surprise momentarily registered on Donovan’s face before she stiffened, her expression darkening. Interesting. He glanced from one woman to the other.
    “You two know each other?”
    Donovan stared hard at Kellie. The same look, he noted, that often made a hardened criminal squirm in his seat but seemed to have no effect whatsoever on the blonde in the doorway. Again, his interest piqued.
    Donovan nodded and spoke through her perfect white teeth. “Yeah, we grew up together. We were friends once.”
    “I guess Mia doesn’t share the same fond memories.”
    “I have one: your back walking away. What are you doing here?” She watched Kellie with a mixture of wariness and pain. He easily read his detective. She and Munroe were not on friendly terms, or at least Donovan wasn’t. He'd yet to suss out the other woman.
    Christ, this was all he needed — more female hormones. The tension inside the room had gone up