Acid creeps up my throat, caused by the stench of decomposition. Taking a few steps back, I force a swallow. There’s nothing quite like starting the day with a dead body. My old captain used to say that the day it gets easy to see the bad shit, is the day you’re no longer fit for the job.
Feeling more composed, I step forward, crouching down, inspecting her closely, but making sure to keep enough distance so I don’t interfere with forensics. Ryker was right, definitely dumped. There’s only a small amount of blood, small enough to make me think the perp left it there on purpose.
Vorheis gathers us off to the side.
“What’s our next move, Sarge?” Detective Kincaid asks.
Vorheis exhales through his nose, scanning the stretch of dirt road. “This wasn’t where it happened. Body was dumped. Clean, intentional. They knew this place.”
He gestures to Kincaid. “Check for tire tracks, drag marks—anything that tells us what kind of vehicle we’re dealing with.”
Then to me: “Alvarez, we need to know who has access out here. Rangers, hunters, anyone who might’ve stumbled onto this place. Start making calls.”
Vorheis keeps rattling off assignments, but shouts from the press barricade pull my attention. Two vans from local news stations just rolled up. How they got here so fast is beyond me.
Fucking bloodhounds.
Homicide is rare in Clore County. It’s going to have the whole community on edge until we get to the bottom of this.
“Heard they’re dropping like flies over there,” Adrian says through the speaker, his voice laced with dry humor.
“Jesus Christ, Adrian. Have a little decency,” I grit, though there’s nothing behind it, I’m too tired to argue. “Is it already on the news in Portland?”
“Not that I know of. Heard it on the police scanner app,” he replies, as he crunches on—what I’m assuming is—a potato chip. “I’m always listening. Gotta make sure you’re staying alive up there.”
His tone is light, teasing, but I know better. We both do. It’s not just a joke—it’s his way of coping. Adrian probably does listen, every chance he gets, just to make sure a call doesn’t come up to make him think something happened to me. To make sure he’s not getting another call telling him I’ve landed in the hospital—or worse.
I know exactly how he feels too, because it’s exactly what I went through watching the news while he was deployed. Thankfully, after serving six years, he’s back to being a civilian, and the whole family breathes a lot easier.
I change the subject, steering us toward safer ground. “Mom mentioned cutting her trip short.”
He sighs. “Yeah, she said the same thing to me.”
“I don’t like her being down there alone, without him.”
“Neither do I,” Adrian agrees before crunching loudly. “We need to talk her into moving up here. Portland’s perfect—close to me and Celia, and not far enough from you for her to complain about the drive.”
“She’s set in her ways, though,” I remind him. “Good luck convincing her to leave the house ‘apá practically builtwith his bare hands.”
After selling the house Adrian and I grew up in, our parents built their dream house in Phoenix. It was less work to maintain than the sprawling property they had before and conveniently closer to Mexico for quick trips to visit family. It was all part of their retirement plan.
Adrian chuckles, a sad kind of chuckle. “Yeah, she’s tough, but I’m tougher. I’ll wear her down eventually. Besides, you know how Celia is. She’s already got Pinterest boards full of ‘downsizing tips’ and ‘how to help parents relocate.’”
I don’t actually know Celia all that well—I’ve only met her twice. Once when Adrian introduced us, and then again at the small family dinner they had to celebrate their marriage after eloping.
After our dad died, we both coped in our own ways. I quit my job and relocated, set on winning back the girl I could never let go, and using the small lump of life insurance money my dad left me to buy a house that’s barely standing. Adrian married a woman he hardly knew, like he was trying to fast-forward through life to get to the good parts. I’m not sure if what either of us did is healthy, but I think ‘apá would be proud of us, if not at least highly entertained.
“I’ll let you do the talking. You’re better at that shit than I am, anyway.”
“So,” Adrian starts. “Have you talked to her yet?”
I can hear his smile. Fucking dick. “Yeah.”
He laughs. “Not going well I take it?”
I knew I shouldn’t have told him the main reason I decided to move back to Red Mountain. He’s been giving me a hard time about it ever since. At first, I was able to easily brush it off, but now that my encounters with Ellie have all gone to shit, his teasing is hitting like a punch to the stomach.
“Things could be better.”
