Bearly Holding On Read Online Free Page A

today.” He gripped her shoulder tightly. “I love you, my daughter.”
    Awen's eyes filled with tears as she hugged her father tightly.
    “I love you too, Daddy,” she murmured softly into his strong chest.
    “Now,” he said, clearing his throat with watery eyes, “go show us all how to catch a killer.”
    Awen jumped off the porch and into her Jeep. It took her some time to get back to the main road, as she tried to avoid the ruts as much as possible. As soon as she had signal, she called John.
    He answered on the first ring. “Took you long enough,” John exclaimed over background noise.
    “Yeah, sorry,” she told him, “I had some digging to do. I'm on my way to check out an alibi. If this doesn't check out, we may have a suspect.”
    “Good work.” He was munching on potato chips. “What's the story? I've got phones ringing off the hook and rumors flying all over the place.”
    “Well,” she divulged, slowing down for a turn in the road, “a little girl came back late last night. She told her father that a man was following her through the woods, but the story from there on gets a little...hard to believe.”
    “How so?” he asked. She could hear him taking down notes.
    “She said that a bear killed our victim, but that he turned into a man,” she went on, trying to pay attention to the road. “I know. It sounds crazy, but my dad pointed me in the direction of a guy from the Walla Walla tribe. He lives alone between the two villages. He traps and hunts in the area a lot and he's as big as a bear, honestly. He said he was out at Tim's bar last night, so I'm checking him out. He seemed to suggest that our victim might have had it coming.”
    “Well, that might be true,” John answered quickly. “I ran the man's name through the system. Jason Rhodes...he's a registered sex offender. Real sick bastard. Out on parole after serving six years for raping his daughter's six-year-old friend.”
    “Jesus,” Awenasa gasped.
    “Yeah,” he answered. “I almost don't care enough to find his killer, but justice is for everyone. If it turns out this guy's alibi doesn't check out, we may need to talk with that girl and get a statement.”
    “No problem, John,” she said. A thought came to her mind. “Hey, do me a favor.”
    John hesitated over the phone. “What kind of favor, Awen?”
    “When I was talking to this guy,” she explained, “he said specifically that he doesn't kill innocent men. That really stuck with me. Could you run the names of the other victims and see if anything pops up?”
    “Sure thing,” he answered. “And Awen?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Just be careful, alright?”
    Awenasa hung up the phone and sped up. Her thoughts raced with ideas.
    If Mati was guilty of murdering Rhodes, then it may have been to protect that girl. What about the others? she thought. If they were also up to no good and he killed them...
    Her thoughts were cut off as a large animal ran across the road. She slammed on her brakes, hard, careening her car into the ditch. Her head slammed off the steering wheel. She took a moment to get her bearings and opened the car door. Steam rolled from under her tires as she looked around for the animal that caused the accident.
    “You alright?” a deep husky voice asked from behind her. She spun around to face the source. There stood the tall and handsome Mati, dangling a lantern in his hand.
    How did he get here so fast? she wondered, rubbing her head gently.
    “Looks like you cracked your head pretty good,” he observed. “Need me to drive you somewhere?”
    “No!” she answered him, grabbing the gun resting in her holster. “What was that?”
    “I was tracking an elk this way,” he explained, stepping slowly closer. “A pretty big one, I might add.”
    “I didn't get a good look.” Awen relaxed slightly.
    She didn't feel at all uncomfortable with him. In fact, she felt safe and that alarmed her.
    Her head spun and she stumbled. Mati quickly stepped in and