Page 40 of The Killer She Knew

And stared directly into the face of a corpse.

Shoving to all fours, Leigh lost the minimal contents of her stomach into a garbage can thrust into her chest. It took a few minutes for her to get her bearings. Recognize the amphitheater seating, the narrow windows punctured across the room, and the industrial carpeting currently darkened by the shape of her soaked outline. She set her gaze on Ava—enjoying that small tinge of relief—then the marshal crouched a few feet away. “Not cool.”

“Sorry. Didn’t really have any other place to put him.” Ford stood. “We’re running out of places to store bodies. Besides, you’re the one who insisted he come back with us.”

Was he… angry with her? Leigh wasn’t sure her head was in the right place to argue the significance of finding a body in the very room their killer had murdered Alice Dietz. What the hell had happened down there? Her grip tightened around the garbage can as she studied the swollen features of the remains. Tall, most likely male. His clothing seemed intact. Though there weren’t any distinguishing features due to purple marbling and swelling. But, if she had to guess from the way he’d been hidden in a closet in the basement, he’d been murdered. Maybe even before Alice Dietz. Only the medical examiner could tell.

“Ford, can you please find a blanket or something to cover the body?” The urge to strip the remains down to a series of details and patterns surged, but her head was still pounding. She couldn’t feel much of her feet and hands. And she was sure she’d scared the shit out of her adopted daughter. Leigh reached for Ava, grasping on to the fifteen-year-old’s forearm. “I’m not sure my stomach can take another close encounter.”

“Yeah, sure.” He was looking at her as though he wanted to argue but thought better of it. In seconds, he was pushing through the door at the top of the amphitheater seating and letting it close behind him.

Leigh set the garbage can to one side, the carpet beneath her growing damp. “Ava, are you okay?”

“Me? You’re the one who nearly died.” A similar anger contorted Ava’s graceful expression. Then vanished. “Why did you go down there? Why did it have to be you?”

The concern was back in Ava’s voice, clenching something deep inside Leigh wasn’t sure she could identify. It’d been a long time since someone had been worried about her. Least of all the one person she was sure hated her more than anyone else in the world. “This is my job, Ava. This is what I do. I hunt for answers so people like Alice Dietz’s and Tamra Hopkins’s families can move on. So people who hurt others don’t get away with it.”

People like Ava’s mother. Though she didn’t have the heart to voice that thought. Didn’t Ava understand? This was who she was, who she’d become to cope with reality. Finding answers, solving puzzles, healing herself by getting the justice she couldn’t, case by case—she couldn’t do anything else.

“You could’ve died.” Ava tore her forearm from Leigh’s grip and added a few feet of distance between them. “And then what? Who would look after me? Did you even think of that?”

Understanding hit, and the fight drained from Leigh’s veins. No. She hadn’t thought of Ava before going down into that basement. She’d followed her instincts. And put herself in danger. Because Ava had a point. What would’ve happened if Ford hadn’t been there to fight off the killer? What would’ve happened to Ava if Leigh hadn’t come back? Leigh scooted across the floor, threading her arms around the fifteen-year-old. Ava tried to push away, but even in Leigh’s shocked and exhausted state, she wasn’t letting go. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“You promised to take care of me. You said you would put me before your job.” Ava swiped at her face. “You’re all I have left.”

“I know.” They’d started rocking together, using their grip on one another to soothe the mutual hurt they’d inflicted on each other. It wouldn’t last forever, but Leigh forced herself to memorize every detail. Sans the corpse staring in their direction. “You’re right. And I’m going to keep my promise. Okay? I’m not going to leave you. Ever. You’re mine. And I’m yours. I’m not going anywhere. Understand?”

Leigh forced herself to lighten her hold on Ava, smoothing hair back away from the girl’s features to get a better view of her face. “I’m sorry about Tamra. I know you didn’t know her long, but sometimes time is irrelevant. I’m going to find out what happened to her.”

“I know.” Ava swiped at her face, but her expression said there was more. “Leigh, there’s something I need to tell you. About what happened in Gulf Shores?—”

The door at the top of the stairs opened, centering Ford in its frame. He clutched a US Marshals windbreaker. The same one he’d let her borrow after her first confrontation with the room in the basement. “Couldn’t find another blanket or a tarp. Figured this was better than nothing until the ME is able to get here.”

“Thank you.” He might still be mad at her, but Ford had somehow managed to get her out of that basement alive. “For saving my life.”

His brows dipped toward the bridge of his nose. Almost… hesitant. “You would’ve done the same for me. That’s what partners are for.”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had one.” Leigh ducked her mouth to Ava’s temple and planted a kiss there, wanting to stay right here. Where the dangers of this case couldn’t get to them, and they’d somehow come to an even deeper level of understanding one another. Except there was a dead guy in themiddle of the floor. “I need you to go back to the lobby so I can examine this body. I’ll be there in a few minutes to come check on you. All right?”

Ava nodded, slipping free of her grasp. As effortless as a professional dancer.

Leigh waited until the door at the top of the classroom closed behind her adopted daughter before turning her attention to Ford. Her clothes clung to her like an uncomfortable second skin. Too heavy. Infected and stained with whatever had been in those jars. “I’m guessing since the entire basement is flooded, maintenance has given up on fixing the generator.”

“Considering it’s under four feet of water, yeah, I’d say attempts to replace the damaged wiring have been aborted.” Ford let himself smile, and in an instant, they were right back where they’d started.

“Any reports on when this storm is supposed to pass?” Leigh forced herself to move. Her body had other ideas, but she couldn’t let it win.

“Not yet,” Ford said. “One of the campus police officers located an old emergency radio. The batteries are dead, but the university president has the staff searching the entire building for the right size. No luck yet.”

Good. That was good. Looked like the radios they’d accepted from Durham PD’s chief were coming in handy, keeping them in the loop. Any information could change the tide in this case. Or at least allow them to do their jobs. “Any identification on the remains?”

“Not that I could find.” Ford kept his distance from the body. “It’s hard to tell with all the swelling, but I’m guessing our friend here is a middle-aged male, Caucasian. A few bits of gray around his temples.”

“Slacks and button-down suggest professional.” There wasn’t much more to tell considering the damage done to the remains.Leigh maneuvered to stand, angling for a better view of the man’s face. “I don’t see any signs of hemorrhagic edema, so he didn’t die from drowning.”

“Hemorrhagic… what?” Ford asked.

She tried to get closer without touching the body. While it was unlikely the medical examiner would be able to pull much from the remains now that they’d been moved, she didn’t want to take any chances of transference. “White foam in and around the mouth and in the airway. Mucus in the lungs mixes with water and creates a foam during drowning. He doesn’t have any.”

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