Page 3 of Wyoming Mountain Murder

Was it blood?

Panic welled up inside her. She edged closer to the trail on the floor, careful not to step in it. Squatting, she held up her phone, activated the light and illuminated the smear.

Oh, God.Definitely blood. Black. Sticky. And a lot of it.Everywhere.

Dizziness swept over her, like the wind had been knocked right out of her.

Regaining her equilibrium, she could only gape as the full import of what she saw registered. Then she was struck by a wave of horror. Outrage. Utter disbelief.

She swallowed with difficulty, tasting bile, struggling to regain control of her emotions.

“No,” she whispered to herself. But her gaze swept across the kitchen, skated over the back porch, out to the grass.

It was true.

That was the kind of appalling trail left behind after dragging a bloody body.

Charlie wasn’t sure if the blood led to the lake, where a corpse could’ve been weighted down in the water, or to the garage, where it could’ve been loaded into the trunk of a car and disposed of elsewhere.

She stood, and skirting the edge of the blood, went out onto the porch and headed toward the lake, to see if she could spot anything in the water. Not wanting to step in the evidence, she stayed clear of the possible path of blood.

Sweat dripped down her spine. Her stomach churned.

She dialed Haley’s number and desperately hoped. Hoped that it hadn’t been her body dragged out of the house. Hoped that the woman had finally gotten the upper hand on her abuser and killed him before he got to her first.

Charlie knew how to handle a situation like that. How to help Haley get through it.

The call went straight to voice mail.

The sliver of hope withered inside her, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. Guilt clogged her throat.

What was she going to do?

Calling the police was a necessity. But it was also something she would not, couldnotdo.

The boys in blue would use the good ole boy system and do whatever was possible to protect one of their own. Somehow the line of questioning would implicate Charlie instead of Seth. She was the one at the crime scene. Hell, she’d just contaminated it.

Then Charlie’s off-the-books services would inevitably be discovered.

No. Calling the cops was out of the question.

So, she did the next best thing and dialed the one person in the world she trusted.

“Hello,” Rocco Sharp answered.

Technically, he was her cousin, but they were as close as siblings and she loved him like a brother.

“I need help. I’ve got a problem.”

“Make it quick. I’m working. Can’t stay on the phone long.”

As a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent assigned to a special joint task force in town, there was no telling what work entailed for him this evening because he couldn’t discuss it.

“Haley Olsen called me. He was beating her again. I’m out at their place. I think Seth did something to her. Killed her.”

“Sure you’re not overreacting?” Rocco asked. “Look, I get that Haley, her situation, is a trigger for you.”

Seeing any abused woman sparked Charlie’s anger, and she wasn’t unwilling to accept that she might be more sensitive to Haley’s circumstances since it reminded her of her mother. Woman married to a violent cop who was protected by the force. Charlie had already lived through the nightmare once and knew how that story was going to end.

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