Page 58 of Buried Too Deep

“It’s okay. I was just startled. Why do they think suffocation?” Her brain was racing through what she knew about this cause of death. “Petechiae?”

The small red pinpricks due to capillary leakage.

“Very good,” Burke said. “More of your librarian superpower?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Cora said. “A woman came into the library searching the term because her elderly mother had been suffocated by a greedy relative.”

Molly lifted her brows. “You really do see all kinds of stuff. I never knew librarians had such a stressful job.”

Cora put the memory of the devastated woman aside. “Was I right? The ME found petechiae?”

“The standard answer is that they’ll know when they get the body on the table, but I overheard the ME telling André that he thought he’d seen it. We’ll know more over the next few days.”

Cora’s mind was spinning. “So…if the man was murdered, it was staged to look like a murder-suicide?”

“That’s the cops’ theory,” Burke said. “I’m heading to the hospital to take Joy’s kids some dinner. Choux food. Thanks, Molly.”

Molly just smiled. “I dare you to try to keep Gabe from feeding Joy’s family. He sent over meals all day long.”

Cora hesitated, then blurted out the question she wanted to ask. “Is Phin all right?”

“He’s good,” Burke said warmly. “I just dropped him off at his house. His friends are there and they’ll take good care of him. Plan on him arriving early tomorrow morning to finish securing your windows.”

“Thank you.” Cora wished she could have checked with the man herself, but she didn’t have his phone number. “Have him call me when he gets here. I don’t always hear the doorbell if I’m upstairs.”

Plus, that would give her Phin’s number.

Molly’s sly smile indicated that Cora hadn’t been as smooth as she’d hoped.

“Try to sleep tonight, Cora,” Burke was saying. “Molly’s on the job, and she’s my right hand.”

Phin wants to be a bodyguard, too.

Not my business.

“I’ll sleep well. I didn’t last night. I was up putting sensors on all the windows. There are too many windows in this house.”

Burke chuckled. “That’s exactly what Phin said. Night, ladies. Molly, you call if you need anything.”

“Night, Burke.” Molly ended the call, her eyes sparkling. “You realize that our protocol is for Phin to call me to let him in, since I’m your bodyguard.”

Cora fought the urge to hide her face. “I’ve never had a bodyguard before. I don’t know the protocol.”

Molly laughed. “Touché. Do you want Phin’s number?”

Cora knew her cheeks were burning. It was the curse of being a redhead. “Yes.”

Molly tapped her phone and Cora’s buzzed with an incoming text. “There you go. Get some sleep, Cora. You’re safe with me.”

“Thank you. Blue should go out once more before I go up.”

Molly sobered. “I’ll do it. You’re not to leave the house without me or Val, who’ll be your day bodyguard.”

Cora shuddered. “Okay. I’m not foolish, Molly. I won’t try to ditch you.”

“Thank you. Go on now. Sleep.”

Obediently, Cora climbed the stairs. Her bedroom had been a sanctuary for so long. Now she jumped at every brush of a branch against her window. There was a door to the balcony outside—a door that sported a brand-new lock, courtesy of Phin Bishop.

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