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"All these wounds happened after death Since I’m sure you don’t want all the details, I’ll just tell you that this"--she lifted his head and turned it to the side--"hat killed hi pattern on the skull "Soht One bloith a flat, hard object To kill a th Given the trajectory of the blow, the assailant is a couple inches shorter"

"What about…?" He ,him look like a hu saliva sas at the most If it had been any more, I don’t think we’d have even this s Much too small to be from a shifter Besides, I doubt a shifter would…" She trailed off and shrugged

She didn’t have to finish He knehat she meant Shifters were hunters by nature, but they weren’t stupid From what Parker understood, unless they were feral and out of their ht And this body had definitely been moved Parker was sure of that much There was no blood spatter in the back of the truck where they’d found the guy The fact that he’d been left in plain sight for anyone to discover told him it was a calculated move Someone had not only wanted them to find this body but made sure it was very public Which left a whole uy, then had let dogsit It didn’telse on the body?"

Bonnie nodded "A blond hair Long enough that I’ it’s female Also some fibers which are probably part of his clothes I won’t know more until I’ve hadto the lab once I’ve finished"

"Good work" He stripped off his gloves and tossed the the rooainst the floor as he headed down the hallway Once hewas better than the sterile atue He didn’t kno Bonnie handled being in there all the time

As he reached his truck, his cell buzzed in his pocket He inwardly groaned when he saw the number "Hey, Julia" His voice was cautious He doubted this was a social call

"Sheriff How’s your sister doing?" She sounded sincere, but he knew better

The nosy reporter for the only newspaper in Fontana was a bulldog most of the time When December had been attacked in her ho on to that favor for a favor of her own Hadn’t taken her long to call it in "She’s fine What do you want?"

"No small talk?"

"You really want to waste your time?"

"Not really I heard a huht Can you confirht lid on his annoyance They’d kept the crias station where the body had been found--and the one who’d discovered it--sure as hell wouldn’t have told Julia "Where’d you hear this?"

"You know I can’t reveal hty

He snorted "Then I can’t confirrowl "Fine I got an anonymous call"

"Your cell or at work?"

"I’ you questions"

He was silent

Finally she spoke again "Work Satisfied? Nohat’s going on?"

"I can only tell you that, yes, we found a body, but it wasn’t a shifter attack"

"Do you know the identity of the victim?"