Page 90 of Last Seen

But hands hold her down. A woman’s voice, soft and urgent in her ear. “Stay down. Don’t move. Make him think you’re dead.”

Halley shakes away the memory. Something new there, that voice she recognizes and yet doesn’t. The pressure of hands on her shoulders, a gasp of surprise, or was it relief? This is confusing, too much to interpret. She is on sensory overload, and she must focus.

She turns carefully, eyes trained for anything she might be trampling or otherwise ruining at what is clearly a crime scene. Her worst suspicions are confirmed.

Tammy Boone has collapsed in the leather chair facing the fire as if she sat down to rest for a moment. But she will never be rising again. Her head lolls against the cracked brown leather, and her entire torso is covered in life’s blood. Her eyes are slitted, her legs splayed apart.

Halley feels her neck for a pulse, knowing she will find none. She is surprised by the lingering warmth on the woman’s skin. Is she beingwarmed by the fire, or has she expired so recently that the body hasn’t even cooled yet? The state of the blood, the laxity of her flesh, tells her this murder is recent. If she had arrived sooner, could she have prevented it?

Stay calm. Focus. Call for help.

Help.The note. Did it come from Tammy? Did she know she was in the killer’s sights?

“Stay down. Don’t move. Make him think you’re dead.”

Her hands are shaking, her fingers clumsy as she dials.

“Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?”

“Please send the sheriff. I’m at the writers’ retreat cabin, and there’s been a murder.”

Cameron Brockton has never seen a murder victim up close and in person, of this Halley is certain. He takes one look at Tammy and bolts for the door. She hears him vomiting off the front step. Interesting. She hasn’t moved since she made the phone call, afraid to contaminate the scene more than she already has. She and the woman were alone together, and it gave her a few minutes to think. Time that was wasted, because Halley’s adrenaline is surging, and she spent it all forcing herself not to run away. Avoiding the footprints she tracked to the center of the cabin, she makes her way carefully to the front door and looks out.

“You okay?”

“Yes,” he says gruffly, wiping his mouth. His skin is the shade of curdled milk. “Are you?”

“I can’t say I’m thrilled at the moment, but yes, as far as my stomach, I’m okay. I don’t know what the hell is going on, though.”

“Let me get some people here.” He’s stumbling over his words, and Halley takes pity on him.

“Hey. Look at me.”

He does, and she looks him straight in the eye. “It’s going to be okay. We need to freeze this scene, and I need to be processed. I stepped in her blood when I came in and grabbed onto that chair for support, before I realized what was happening. Do you have any crime scene training?”

“Of course I do,” he snaps. “She’s a friend. I have a heart, you know.”

“I understand how hard this is. Believe me.”

“I doubt that,” he mutters. “Murder weapon?”

“I didn’t see anything. Though that much blood ... A knife, I’d guess. In keeping with the other murders.” Who has these conversations? What has her life become? A fucking horror show, that’s what.

“Why is it every person you talk to dies?”

“I am wondering the same thing. You’re still alive. So is your brother. You both know the truth. And whoever did it ... Well, the note in Marchburg said I was next, but I wasn’t, was I?”

“How are you so calm?”

Calm? Oh, Sheriff. If you had any idea what a mess the inside of my head is right now.

“I’m not. I haven’t been. I’m scared to death right now, but giving in to that invites in whoever this is. It’s what they want. They’re trying to scare me. It’s working, but getting hysterical is not going to solve anything. As for Tammy, I’ve seen crime scenes before, obviously, for work. I’m trained how to react. I’ve just never been at the center of it. Maybe that’s why? Now, do you have a crime scene tech, or do you need my help? This is a mess, and we’re wasting time.”

He studies her. “Or you know more than you’re letting on.”

She holds out her bloody hands. “If you honestly believe I am capable of this, put your cuffs on me again and take me to jail.”

Cameron’s face goes through an array of emotions, stopping on anger. Tammy’s final words about him come back to her. “The oldest is trouble, if you ask me. Charms the larks from the trees, but only to eat them. He’s sly. Be careful if you ever come across him.”