Home Invasion Read Free Page B

Alexandra the worried mom was gone, replaced by Alex the chief of police in Home. “What is it, Eloise?”
    Eloise Barrigan had worked as the night dispatcher for years. Her husband, Clint, was one of Alex’s officers and usually had the night duty, too, so that worked out well for them.
    “We got a call about shots being fired on Randall Street, so I sent Clint to check it out. One of the neighbors was out waiting for him to get there, and when he did, the man told him the shots came from Pete and Inez McNamara’s house.”
    “Pete might’ve had a coyote nosing around and tried to scare it off.” Alex knew the McNamaras, just like she knew most of the people in Home. Good folks.
    “I wish,” Eloise said. “Nobody came to the door when Clint rang the bell, but he could hear crying inside.”
    “Oh, no.”
    “Yeah. He went around back, found a window open, went in that way, and found Pete and Inez in the hall. Inez had been shot. “ Eloise paused to swallow hard. Alex heard it over the phone. “She’s dead, Alex.”
    “Pete would
never
hurt her.”
    “Oh, no, no! It wasn’t that. There’s a dead man in Pete’s den and another one who’s been wounded pretty bad. They were both armed. Looks like Pete surprised a couple of burglars and shot it out with them, and Inez got hit by a stray bullet.”
    Alex closed her eyes for a moment and pressed her fingertips to her forehead. This was awful. Nothing like this had ever happened in Home since she’d been on the force, not while she was an officer and not while she was chief. It was going to be a terrible mess, but more than anything else, her heart went out to Pete McNamara. To have to defend your home against armed intruders and then to have your wife killed by them … It was almost too much to imagine.
    The demands of the job took over and shoved the human reaction out. “Has Clint secured the scene?”
    “Yeah. I sent Delgado over there right away to give him a hand. You want me to call the sheriff?”
    “No, I’ll do it while I’m on my way.” The city of Home had an agreement with the sheriff’s department to handle anything the local police couldn’t. With all the complicated demands this crime scene would entail, Alex knew her little four-man force would need help.
    “Okay, Alex. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
    “Thanks.”
    Alex closed the phone and went to get her gun and badge from the bedroom, along with the wind-breaker that had the word POLICE in big letters on the back. It was too warm tonight for a jacket, but she figured she’d better wear it anyway.
    A light shone under the door of Jack’s room. As she went by, Alex paused and opened it.
    “Hey! “ he said from the chair in front of his computer. He was slouched down so far there was no telling how much damage he was doing to his spine, Alex thought. “What happened to respecting each other’s privacy?”
    “What happened to grounded for two weeks?” she shot back at him. “It’s now a month, that’s what happened.”
    He jumped up. “What?”
    “I know you snuck out, Jack. I checked your room earlier, and I saw you drive in with your lights out a few minutes ago.” She gestured toward the badge she’d clipped to her belt. “Chief of police, remember? I’m observant.”
    He shook his head and glared at her. “This is totally unfair.”
    “No, I’ll tell you what’s unfair,” Alex said. “I have to go out now and look at two dead people, including a woman I’ve known for years and considered a friend. Now
that’s
unfair, Jack.”

C HAPTER 5
    An ambulance and two police cars were already at the McNamara place by the time Alex got there, their flashing lights splashing garishly over the street crowded with onlookers from the neighborhood. Every light in the house seemed to be on.
    Alex parked behind the ambulance. On the drive over here, she had been able to force thoughts of her problems with Jack out of her head and concentrate on the horrific