Page 238 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

Wade didn’t bother to comment on what he thought of luck. “Any clue when the ME will get here?”

“Should’ve been here by now.”

About fifteen minutes later, the medical examiner and his assistant showed up, and the real work began. Wade stood back and watched as they slowly uncovered the remains. Once they were able to view the remainder of the skeleton and see how precisely the hands were folded and the body was positioned, he suspected it wasn’t a typical crime of passion killing. This looked like something far more sinister.

Wade raisedhis head as Jamie strolled up to the cordoned-off area. He straightened and ambled over to her. “What kept you?” His eyes scanned her outfit from the drop earrings to the form-fitting skirt paired with slip-on sneakers. “Fancy lunch?”

“I do have other cases, you know.” She ducked under the tape and walked around the area before turning back to Wade.

The scent of orange blossoms and jasmine suffocated him as she approached. “I’m glad to see you ditched your high heels before hiking out here.”

“I learned my lesson at another crime scene. I keep running shoes in the car now.” She blinked, and then furrowed her brow. “There’s no chance the victim was attacked by a bear, is there?”

“Highly unlikely. A bear wouldn’t precisely position the body for burial.”

“I figured as much.” She sighed. “I was hoping this would be an easy case. I’ve spent the past few weeks working on a child abduction investigation.”

“Wish I had better news for you.” He lifted a shoulder. “You could take your vacation early?”

“I don’t think Ty would appreciate that. I need my vacation days for our honeymoon.”

“When is the big day?”

“If you opened your snail mail, you’d know.”

“I do check my mail. Once a week. I don’t recall the date though.”

“You didn’t RSVP either.”

“Sorry.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “You know I’ll be there.”

“With a plus one?”

“Doubt it.”

“There’s time to change that, but the wedding is next month, so let me know as soon as you can.”

He laughed. “Put me down for one.”

She narrowed her eyes disapprovingly but didn’t reply.

The forest shadedid little to lessen the heat, so Wade wiped sweat from his forehead with the handkerchief he kept in his pocket. Detritus crunched underfoot as he hiked out to the parking lot. When he arrived back at his car, he made a call to request cadaver dogs. If all went well, it would result in nothing more than a waste of time and resources.

He disconnected the call as Jamie reached the lot.

“Are they coming?”

“They’re on another case this afternoon, but we can get their assistance first thing tomorrow morning.”

“That’s reasonable.” She sighed. “Should we call in the feds? The burial site is on state land technically, but it’s a mere twenty feet from Boulder Field which is a national natural landmark.”

“It’s a gray area.” He loosened his tie. “With a single victim, I doubt they’ll want to investigate. If the dogs find anything more, they may offer their assistance.”

“You going to call and warn them of that distinct possibility?”

“I’ll inform the lieutenant, and he can handle the politics.” He wiped his palms on his pants. “If anything more comes of this, I’d be glad for the feds’ help.”

“Me too.” She straightened her ponytail. “What’s with this heat?”

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