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He iht and sipped her water when cop radar proun Had it been a knock at one of the doors?

Alex shifted his attention to the kitchen and moved carefully past the breakfast bar He saw his sister, Georgia, dressed in a Tyvek suit and booties, her red hair tucked into a surgical cap as she leaned over the body, snapping photos Blood pooled around the body and under Georgia’s feet Judging by Georgia’s equipri the scene He knew this because she would never have stepped into the blood and disturbed the evidence until it ell documented

Georgia’s body blocked a full view of Deidre, but he caught a gliashed and gaping, conjured i the knife’s edge She was a tough woainst h to stab her?

Georgia rose up, lance up at Alex revealed angerwith sadness

Refusing to acknowledge the liquid eia’s eyes, he took his first hard look at the body

Deidre lay on her back, her arms and feet splayed She was fully dressed in the pantsuit he’d seen her wearing when she’d faced him in the lobby at TBI Knife cuts had slashed the white silk top, cutting into flesh and soaking the delicate fabric with the dark ruddy brown of blood Knife wounds slashed through her pants, cutting deep into flesh

Who the hell would do this to her? What the hell had she gotten herself into?

Syht not have been totally clean, but she’d done good work as a cop, and that counted in the big scheme Loyalty for a fallen comrade threatened to melt the ice before he summoned cold winds to burn it away Later, after the killer had been caught, he’d allow anger Outrage But not now

Alex turned from Deidre’s body and faced his brother “Who found her?”

“Leah Carson”

“What?” He was rarely caught off guard “Leah Carson?”

An open notebook in one hand, Deke clicked the end of a pen in the other “Yeah, ain’t that so? Your date found the body”

He’d seen her at the clinic yesterday What was the time? Four? “Why was she here?”

“Deidre , and when she didn’t answer her phone, Ms Carson came by to check on her”

He’d been at the park this roup run He’d noted Deidre’s absence but hadn’t worried too much She’d missed before Cops alwayshe’d been drawn to Leah and her dogged deterroup Even when it was clear she’d finish dead last, she’d kept

Alex folded his arms “Continue”

“She saw her purse inside through the frontFront door was locked so she walked around to the back It was ajar”

Georgia ether?”

“Yes”

Georgia eyed hi look

Alex disregarded the silent de?”

Deke shrugged “She’s rattled Siting in the back of a squad car”

An urge to go to Leah surprised Alex And the struggle to refrain surprised him more The case first “What happened?”

Georgia stepped out of the blood pool onto a tarp, where she rolled her head from side to side Crime scenes like this one could take days to process So ia wouldn’t leave until she’d found every trace “Leah apparently cah the back door, saw the victim in the kitchen, and then ran to the bathroom, where she threw up She called nine-one-one from her cell outside”

The iile frame, pale and drawn, chipped at the ice More pity flickered Another struggle to contain

Lines of worry etched deep in Deke’s face “No signs of forced entry Nothing appears to have been taken froot a call in to her sister She’s co in froht Gun, money, credit cards all appear to be in her purse”

“Where’s her husband?” Alex asked

“Haven’t contacted hi a divorce? Not friendly, correct?”

“That’s what I’ve heard I don’t have details”

Hands resting on his hips, Deke shook his head, as if trying to clear his thoughts “I know her husband He’s a sheriff in a small town about twenty miles north of Nashville Given the basic facts, he’s at the top of my suspect list”

“That’s a logical conclusion” When a woman was murdered, statistics proved it was someone she knew and at one time loved

“Signs of sexual assault?” Deke asked Georgia

“None froia said “The medical examiner will have to make the last call on that”

“The bedrooms weren’t disturbed, but there’s ain the back bedrooh theand surprised her”

“Deidre was no fool,” Alex said

“Whoever did this was sia said “I’ve found very little forensic data”

Alex tugged at his cuffs “I want to hear every detail, but first, I’d like to talk to Leah Carson”