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"Save it You found the body West is going to need to talk to you"

"I'm sorry about your shoes" Scarlett's voice eak So weak I didn't have the heart to give her crap about h the ould fix the to fix Vanessa A wave of nausea hit me at the flash of Vanessa's face, that neat red circle in her forehead For a second, I could relate to Scarlett's unsettled stomach

I hadn't seen ined that red circle in his forehead Now, I knew exactly what it had looked like The hole was cleaner than I’d pictured Precise I knew from West that the wall behind my father’s desk had been covered in blood Wherever Vanessa had been shot, there was probably a similar spray of blood Evidence

Sing the bile rising inup the nuer answered, I said, “Close the gardens to guests until further notice Same for the terrace I’ll explain later”

“Yes, sir, I’ll take care of it immediately”

The last thing I needed was a guest stu across blood spatter or a dead body Not the kind of review that brought in the high-dollar bookings Glancing back down the path to the cottages, I scanned for signs of any guests in search of breakfast No one so far

I hadn't lied to Scarlett The cottages were a special case this summer As always, they were booked solid until winter Royal and I had been trying to build more of thees overlooking the river, the coence

Our father had turned down our proposal repeatedly, but once Griffen took charge, ere a go Finally, the new cottages were taking shape, the noise of construction distanced froe we'd kept empty as a buffer Even with that, I'd roup when they checked in to make sure they knew their co theht be the only thing I was sure of

I swept the garden and the path onethe place where Vanessa's body lay, and pulled Scarlett back onto the lawn beside the gravel path "Scarlett, we need to have a conversation before West gets here"

She looked up at reen eyes unfocused I closed a hand over her shoulder and gave her a shake "Scarlett, look at , the dazed expression draining away, replaced by horror

"She's dead The woht here"

"She is And I think they did"