Page 4 of The Clearing Rain

Her brain had gone completely numb when she’d seen those two little blue lines.

She didn’t know what to feel.Or what to think.

Apart from the fact that her birth control had failed.Big time.But there was nothing she could do about that.A fact was a fact.And the fact was, she was pregnant.And it was no good berating herself for her practice of skipping the placebo birth control pills in the pack and taking the hormone pills continuously most months so that she didn’t have to deal with a messy period.It was easier that way, especially with the long shifts she pulled as an officer on the beat and the very physical nature of her job.That was the reason she hadn’t picked up she was pregnant earlier, because she wasn’t looking for the warning sign of a missed period.

At the same time as fear and trepidation had flared in her heart, there’d also been a kernel of joy.A small but exquisitely bright flare of hope.But it was too soon to be buoyant.She needed to tell Nico.And they needed to decide what to do.So instead, she’d been draped in a pall of anxiety all morning.This wasn’t the right time to be pregnant.She and Nico had never even discussed the idea.And if they had, they’d surely be waiting for a time much farther down the track.Not now.They hadn’t even been together a year yet.

She should’ve waited until she was in the privacy of her own home later tonight to do the test.But she couldn’t bear not knowing, so she’d slipped into the bathroom at the station right before starting her shift and peed on the stick.

Her morning sickness—because she now knew with certainty that’s what it was—was going to get harder and harder to hide.Especially from Nico.This morning she’d had to rush to the bathroom as soon as she woke, leaving Nico all sleepy and warm in bed.Then she’d tiptoed to the kitchen and swallowed a few dry crackers and some water and she’d started to feel human again.But she couldn’t keep living off dry crackers.

Nico had emerged a few moments later, giving her a quizzical look—he was usually the first out of bed, bringing her an early morning cup of tea before he hopped in the shower—but not questioning her.Yet.The questions would come soon, however.And she needed to have the answers straight in her own head.She owed it to Nico to tell him soon.Tonight.Or tomorrow at the latest.This wasn’t something she could keep from him.Didn’t want to keep from him.

Pregnant.The word rolled around in her head.Even after seeing the absolute proof, she could still hardly believe it.But there were definite signs.And now she knew what to look for, she was beginning to see the signs everywhere.Tender breasts for one.She was surprised Nico hadn’t yet commented on how much fuller they were looking.Then there was the newest development which meant she could hardly look at a vegetable without feeling ill.Normally, she loved her vegetables.A fresh salad on a warm night was one of her go-to meals.Now it seemed that all her stomach wanted was a little protein and lots of carbs, carbs, and more carbs.Salty or sweet, her stomach didn’t mind.Hell, she’d even succumbed and had a bucket of hot fries for morning tea today from the local takeaway.Linc frowned at her unusual choice of meal, and said, “You okay, Shorty?”

She’d merely nodded and offered him one of her hot fries which he’d brushed away in favor of his berry smoothie.

Oh, God, how was she going to tell Linc that he’d be losing his police partner in a few short months?Was he going to hate her?Most female cops went onto light duties in the later stages of pregnancy.Of course, there were rules around discrimination in the force and she could never be forced to do anything she didn’t want to.But it was a matter of logic and practicality.You couldn’t hope to chase down a fleeing felon when you were encumbered by a huge, bouncing belly.And then there were the risks to the unborn child to consider.There wasso muchto consider, Lacey’s head was spinning.

But first she had to tell Nico.Her gut churned at the idea.

“There’s a gate between us and the road.”Linc’s gruff observation brought her tumbling guiltily out of her musing.She hadn’t been paying attention, even after all her best intentions.

“I’ll get it,” she replied, already unbuckling her seat-belt, ready to jump out and unlatch the gate.But when she waded through the long, dry grass at the edge of the paddock, she found the latch so rusted from disuse, she could barely open it.At least this backed up Pacca’s claims that he scarcely used this road anymore she thought.She grunted as she struggled with the latch.A small breeze tickled the leaves of the trees above, the tall, straight trunks marching away like a line of soldiers in either direction.Tugging with all her might, she finally got the gate to swing back toward the paddock, gaping open just enough that Linc could drive the vehicle through.

Lacey stood in the middle of the Cutter’s Road—well, more of a dirt track—hands on hips, feet akimbo, studying the lay of the land, while Linc drove the cruiser a little way down the road and parked it off to the side.It was quiet out here now the car engine was off.Only the mournful sound of a crow cawing somewhere in the distance.

Linc exited the car and shaded his eyes as he squinted into the bright sunshine.“You want to go that way?”he asked, pointing down the road behind her.“And I’ll go this way.”

She agreed with a nod of her head.They could just drive along the road; it’d be much quicker.But they also might miss something.If there was anything out here to see.Turning around with a sigh, she kicked at the dirt with her black boots, raising puffs of dust as she trudged down the middle of the road.It seemed to have been unused for quite a while.There were no fresh tire tracks.Looking for anything out of place, she shaded her eyes much like Linc had done and kept her mind open for all possibilities.

Less than a minute later, she heard a shout.“Hey, Shorty, get over here.”

She looked back to see Linc squatting, staring intently at something in the shallow roadside ditch only a few hundred feet back up the road.The dark skin of Linc’s face had taken on a sallow hue and he was leaning back, as if unconsciously trying to get away from whatever was holding his gaze.

A flood of adrenaline flushed through her at the urgency in his voice.Surely not.Surely he couldn’t have just found…

She began to run.

Skidding to a stop behind Linc, she swallowed a gasp of fear.

The body of a young woman lay in the ditch.Face up, eyes blank and staring, she was completely naked, hands crossed neatly over her chest.Fresh ligature marks formed dark bruises around her neck.There was no doubt that she was dead.Lacey’s stomach churned, this time not from morning sickness, but out of fear and loathing.

There was another killer among them.

CHAPTER FOUR

NICO STARED DOWN at the body below him in the ditch.The poor young woman.She couldn’t have been more than twenty-one or twenty-two.With so much living ahead of her to look forward to.All that now taken away from her.They were still waiting for Harry McCormick and his forensic team to arrive from Devonport, and so the body remained uncovered.Nico noted her forget-me-not-blue eyes staring unseeing into the sky and he was suddenly sickened.The depravity of people.How could someone do this to another human being?He should know better by now, but he was still shocked at the depth of hatred he felt toward whoever had done this.

He turned his back on the wretched scene to see Lacey standing beside the police cruiser watching him pensively.Her long, blonde hair was pulled back into her customary ponytail, contrasting starkly with the dark blue of her uniform.Linc was finishing off taping the area around the body and two other officers had formed a roadblock at each end of Cutter’s Road.Not that it was needed; this place seemed deserted and Lacey had already told him the old farmer had said no one ever used this road, as it led to nowhere.

So why had the killer chosen this spot as his crime scene?Did it have something to do with the alpaca farmer?Was someone trying to send old Pacca a message?The farmer would be the first witness on his list to interview as soon as the forensic pathologist and local GP, Dr.Lagos, arrived and confirmed what they already suspected: death by strangulation.

Nico walked over to where Lacey stood, the sun beating down on the top of his head.It was hot.Nico shrugged out of his suit jacket and slung it over his arm as he leaned a hip against the cruiser next to Lacey.Her beautiful face was paler than normal, and Nico wanted to slip an arm around her shoulder, but he refrained because they were at work and she was a cop on duty.

“You okay?”he asked quietly.

“Not really,” she answered in a voice low enough to be only heard by him.“I know we’re police officers and we expect to see this sort of stuff all the time, but still…” She shrugged, and he saw the glint of unshed tears in her eyes.“I’m beginning to feel like I’m a jinx,” she said, only half joking.“I am the common denominator in all the murders in Burnie ever since I set foot in this place,” she continued, a sour tilt to her mouth.

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