Page 7 of The Graveyard Girls (Detective Ellie Reeves #11)

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Cord carefully skirted the cordoned-off area, knowing preserving evidence was key in identifying the body in that grave and learning how the person ended up dead.

Unease knotted his neck. He also knew other people were buried here in these woods.

But that was his secret to keep. And something he never wanted Ellie to know about.

Fifteen years had fallen away the second he heard Ellie mention Brambletown.

He’d been on his own during his teenage years, grateful to have escaped his abusive, evil foster father.

He’d learned how to blend into the wilderness, to move around to avoid being detected, to go unnoticed. To live in the shadows of civilization.

To see and not to be seen.

He knew things about the Bramble family, too. Had witnessed Earl Bramble’s abusive ways toward his daughter, Ida, and his niece Hetty.

Then that one night…

Thunder rumbled above, lightning streaking the dark sky. It had been cold and storming then, too. The screams had barely been discernible over the thunder, but he’d heard them. Then he’d gotten closer…

His heart raced as he dove deeper into the wooded area and although he told himself to stay away, his feet refused to obey.

Several minutes later, he recognized the spot.

A cluster of rocks that looked like a devil’s claw sat next to an overhang.

Sweat beaded on his neck as he moved toward it.

Memories tore into him like a raging storm ripping him apart inside.

Had he done the right thing back then?

Something shiny glittered near the rock formation and he strode toward it. Seconds later, he stopped and raked his gloved hand across the dirt.

His breath stalled in his chest as he realized what it was. A silver pocket watch.

For a moment, he considered burying it so deep no one could find it.

Ellie’s voice in his head and the training he’d had working with her was a reminder that even the smallest piece of evidence could lead to the truth. To a killer.

His phone buzzed. Ellie.

Slipping the watch into his pocket, he answered. “Yeah?”

“The ME’s here and they’re excavating the scene. We’ve confirmed there’s a body in this grave. Dr. Whitefeather just examined the skull. Appears to be female. A teenage girl.”

The words hung in the air. It could be Ruth Higgins.

Cord swallowed hard. His secrets tormented him. Sooner or later reckoning day would come. Then the dominos would fall. And the past would catch up to him and bite him in the butt.

He pressed his hand over his pocket where the busted watch felt like a heavy weight.

That reckoning day might be here sooner than later. Worse, when it did come, he would almost certainly lose Ellie.