Page 12 of A Love Like Candle Light

“And this is Svetlana.” Kieran makes a grand gesture to our left. Hesitantly, I let go of her hand, catching her staring at it from the corner of my eyes.

“Svetlana?” I arch my eyebrow at him and take a step towards where he pointed.

“Well, calling it ‘the skeleton’ seems kind of rude.” He shrugs. “So I decided to give her a name. She’s Svetty the Skelly. Doesn’t it have a nice ring to it?” I give him a dry stare and cross my arms in front of my chest. “I’ll call her by her real name once we find out what that is.”

I glance at the hole in the ground. My stomach churns and I fight to keep my face neutral.

Kieran was right.

Hidden under a bunch of dry leaves, what must be barely two feet underground, the collar of a dress peeks through the dirt. A flash of dirty white is right under it, possibly a collarbone, the skull mostly covered by dirt but absolutely there. Another hole in the grass, maybe a meter away reveals what’s probably a femur.

“How… did you find this?” I glance at Kylie over my shoulder, then slowly turn until I face her. Talking to her is good. Talking to her means I don’t need to look at it.

It’s the first time in the decade I’ve worked as Wayward Hollow’s sheriff, I’ve been anywhere close to a dead person. Aside from kicking a bunch of partying teens off the cemetery.

She turns even redder, now fidgeting with the hem of her sweatshirt. Getting to watch her is definitely an added bonus to facing this way.

“I didn’t,” she stammers and points at her dog. Oh. I hadn’t even noticed it. A beautiful, brown Australian Shepherd, its leash tied around one of the trees, right next to Kieran’s golden retriever. “I was letting her out, you know, so she could get to know her new backyard. Next thing I know she runs at me with a bone in her mouth.”

“This one?” I nod at the longer bone pointing halfway out of the hole, looking anywhere but the bone itself.

“Yes.” She nods.

“Okay.” I get up, glance at the sky and roll my shoulders. Let’s do this. “I need you two to take a few steps back. I’ll secure the area.” Pulling up the sleeve of my jacket, I check my watch. “I’ll check in with Jodie, she called in the forensics team. They might be a few hours.”

“And then?” Her voice almost disappears and her eyes dart around nervously.

“I’m afraid we’ll find out at the same time. It’s not every day that bones turn up in Wayward Hollow, so I’m only familiar with the procedure in theory.”

She runs a hand over her face and lets out a deep sigh. Kieran gives her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

“Of course,” she mumbles under her breath. “What does a girl need to do to catch a fucking break?”

I pretend not to hear it as I lean down to grab my backpack and pull out the crime scene tape. It’s the first time I’ve ever gotten to use it. I should mark it in my calendar.

And as tragic as all of this is, it’s been a while since I felt this useful.

Chapter 4

Kylie

“This is a whole damn army,” I hiss at Kieran, eyes widening with every new person joining the crowd. “I thought it was just supposed to be one team. This is like thirty people. And dogs.” And the people are all wearing some kind of hazmat suits, which is not at all reassuring.

I had so many ideas for my backyard. A terrace, surrounded by raised flowerbeds, right by my backdoor, preferably with a roof so I can sit outside and listen to the rain. A vertical garden where I could plant strawberries and harvest them without my back hating me the next day. Hydrangea right next to the house, because those make for the ultimate whimsy in summer. Maybe a pumpkin patch or a cherry tree.

All these cute dreams and images in my head are now ruined by grim-looking people stomping about the grass with shovels and dogs. And even those look like they stand on business.

And a certain eye-candy of a sheriff, standing to the side with his arms crossed and a ‘don’t talk to me’ expression as he keeps an eye on their work. Occasionally, the boss-hazmat guy appears next to him and they exchange a few words. Which I know because my eyes keep wandering back to him.

He’s handsome. A sharp jaw, dusted with a light stubble, the same shade as his sand-colored hair. It’s long enough for a strand to occasionally fall into his eyes. They’re the prettiest shade of green, of moss after rain.

“Yeah, there’s no way you’re getting past the town gossip,” Kieran murmurs with a chuckle. Meanwhile I wish the ground would open up and swallow me whole.

As if this whole circus is my fault, even though logically I know it isn’t.

“Exactly the first impression I wanted to make,” I mumble, which makes him laugh even harder.

“Trust me, you’re not the first person to make a questionable first impression on the people here. Speaking of!” He breaks into a grin and waves excitedly. “Hey Nic, hey Lauren! Nice of you two to finally show up.”