Page 3 of The Graveyard Girls (Detective Ellie Reeves #11)

TWO

DAY ONE

Crooked Creek

Two weeks later

The sharp trill of Detective Ellie Reeves’ phone jarred her from a peaceful sleep. Her boss, Captain Hale. Six a.m.

Not a good sign.

She reluctantly rolled away from Cord McClain where she’d been snuggling against his back. She missed his warmth already.

The phone trilled again and she held her breath as she answered the call. “I’m here, boss.”

He cut straight to the chase. “Unidentified body found near Green Gardens Cemetery in Brambletown. I need you and McClain up there ASAP. Their police department is so small they don’t have a crime team or detective.”

“You know small-town sheriffs don’t like others horning in on their territory?”

He grunted. “I know. But considering the fact that fifteen years ago a young girl disappeared from that town and the case was never solved, rumors spread that the sheriff in charge of it dropped the ball. And his son is sheriff now.”

Sounded like a challenge.

She rubbed her temple. The last couple of months had been blessedly peaceful and free of crime. She’d almost grown accustomed to the quiet in town and living a half-normal life. Almost.

But a spurt of adrenaline shot through her. She thrived on working a case.

And Brambletown was an interesting place with a rich history of death. Only twenty minutes away. Not peaceful. Not serene. Famous for the coal mountain fire that had destroyed homes, the land, and killed so many people.

There the leafless trees looked gnarled and lifeless. And she’d heard about the hillbillies, moonshiners and meth labs in the remote areas.

“Detective?” her boss asked. “You understand?”

That he thought the police might be incompetent. “Yeah, on it.”

She turned to wake Cord but he was lying on his back staring at her with an odd expression in his smoky brown eyes.

He was still harboring secrets from her. Secrets he kept buried deep inside.

No matter that they’d spent the last few months together, he still didn’t trust her. That stung and made her want to shake him and promise that he could trust her with anything.

But she had to be patient.

He tunneled his fingers through his sleep-tousled shaggy dark hair. “You caught a case?”

His voice was thick and gruff and so damn sexy she wanted to curl back into his arms and ignore the call. But she couldn’t do that so she nodded instead. “Body found near Brambletown. Boss wants us up there now. You know the area?”

Cord’s face paled. “Yeah.”

Shoulders tensing, he swung his long legs over the side of the bed and stood. She stared at the back of his T-shirt knowing he had scars underneath that he refused to show her in the daylight. But she felt them at night in the dark when she ran her fingers across his chest and his broad back.

“What’s wrong, Cord? Do you know something about that town?”

His expression turned hooded. “Just that it’s had its share of trouble.”

But he seemed bothered by the mention of it. “I wish you’d talk to me,” she said as she pushed away the covers.

“Let it go, El,” he growled. “We need to get to work.”

Dammit. He’d shut her down like he always did when she tried to get him to open up.

But he was right. Work called and she needed to focus.