“Is that all you’ve been told?”
“She was found by a couple of teenagers walking their dog in the woods.”
Lexi stopped at a section of the yellow tape stretched between two trees. A few feet away Tommy Willis, Harmony Grove’s chief of police, stood with his back to her. In front of him, two Polk County crime scene investigators took photos. Her colleagues. They would be there for the next several hours, scouring every square inch of the area, combing the body for clothing fibers, strands of hair, and bits of skin under the fingernails, anything that might bring them one step closer to linking a person to the crime.
When she reached for the tape, she looked at Alan again and hesitated. Something wasn’t right with him. It wasn’t just the customary stiffness. Deep creases of concern marked the bridge of his nose and anguish had settled in his blue eyes. What wasn’t he telling her? “It’s someone we know, isn’t it?”
“I’m afraid it is.”
She ducked under the tape and when she straightened, Alan had stepped in front of her. He was trying to shield her.
It wasn’t necessary. She was a professional. And she wouldn’t let her personal feelings get in the way of doing her job. Right now, that job entailed performing the best investigation she could to catch this monster and bring him to justice.
Summoning strength she didn’t feel, she pushed Alan aside and moved past Tommy. Not more than fifteen feet away lay a body, partially obstructed by a downed limb. Detective Vickers squatted, sitting on one heel to shoot another photo, further blocking her view. She moved slowly closer, longing with all her heart to run the other direction and never look back, while at the same time needing to know.
She took another step. It was definitely a woman, judging by the clothing: baby-blue silk sleepwear.
“Lexi, wait.” Alan put a restraining hand on her arm.
She shook him off. Took another step. And another.
A torso appeared. A silk-clad leg. A bare foot extending from the hem of the pajama bottoms, toenails painted hot pink.
Then Detective Vickers straightened and moved aside, offering her an unobstructed view of their newest victim. Her eyes locked onto the scene and her brain shut down. Alan said something, but the words didn’t register.
Matted auburn hair flowed over a blanket of dying leaves. Green eyes, one swollen almost shut, stared unseeing at the leafy canopy overhead. Blood had trickled from a cut on one cheek, but had long since dried. The mouth was hidden behind a piece of neatly applied duct tape, and a blackish-red ring circled the creamy white neck.
No.
Lexi shook her head. The ground seemed to tilt beneath her and she took a stumbling step backward to steady herself. A scream of protest clawed its way up her throat, followed by a wave of nausea that almost brought her to her knees.
Alan’s words finally penetrated her befuddled brain, several seconds too late.
“Lexi, it’s Kayla.”
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Acknowledgments
Thank you to my family and friends for your encouragement and support.
My sister Kim for our brainstorming sessions and research adventures
My critique partners, Sabrina Jarema and Karen Fleming, for both writing guidance and friendship
My mother-in-law, Martha Post, for being so “picky” when editing my books
My husband Chris who still knows how to be romantic after more than forty years of marriage.
And thanks to all of you who read and enjoy my stories. You are the reason I write.
Other books by Carol J. Post
Harmony Grove Series:
Flee the Darkness
Shatter the Silence
Pay the Price
Cedar Key Series:
Deadly Getaway (novella)
Shattered Haven
Hidden Identity
Mistletoe Justice
Buried Memories
Reunited by Danger
Murphy Series:
Fatal Recall
Lethal Legacy
Bodyguard for Christmas
Trust My Heart
Dangerous Relations (The Baby Protectors)
Trailing a Killer (K-9 Search and Rescue)
About the Author
Carol J. Post is an award-winning inspirational romance and romantic suspense author who splits her time between sunshiny Central Florida and the mountains of North Carolina. She’s also a popular speaker, presenting workshops on a variety of craft topics. Besides writing, she works alongside her music minister husband singing and playing the piano. She also enjoys sailing, hiking, camping—almost anything outdoors. Her two grown daughters and grandkids live too far away for her liking, so she now pours all that nurturing into taking care of two sassy black cats.
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