Page 26 of A Love Like Candle Light

But alas, I have to lead by example. Especially with twenty curious children still watching the car.

"Any signs for cause of death yet?"

"None that I can see." He clears his throat. "And trust me, I've tried. From what I can tell, I'd say it was a natural death. But you know how it goes. It could have been an injury in the soft tissue."

I nod and take a deep breath. It might not be my job yet, but I agree with his estimation. Rick is after the interesting cases. The kind to make his resume pop. This will not be one of them.

"Any chance of scraping DNA?"

His silence tells me all I need to know.

"Okay. Thank you, Logan. Could you do me a solid and send me a clear picture of the skull from the front and profile? I’d love for some people to check it out for reconstruction."

"Sure, give me one second and I’ll send them to your email.” More rustling, then my phone buzzes with his e-mail. “There you go. That's all I have for you for now. Erik, have a good one."

"You too."

I pull into a parking space in front of the flower shop. The rain has stopped, and I make it to Caleb's with only a few stray raindrops hitting my head.

"The man of the hour." Henry greets me with a huge smile. He’s against the counter, his dog, Jensen Ackles, snuggled up by his feet.

"When did I get that title?" I ask and lean down to say hi to his dog.

"Here or to go?” Caleb asks. He knew my order by heart from the second time I said it out loud.

"To go, please. You're the man." I'm taking a little trip to see Cho and find out if he found my sister. If Rick actually pushes the investigation on me, I’ll probably be too busy for a while.

I run my hands through Jensen’s soft fur. This is best part of my day so far.

"Where's the rest of your gang?" Right then I hear several people bursting into laughter, and my gaze slips past Henry.

There she is, at a table in the corner, together with Nic, Lauren, and Kieran.

What a view, those four.

When the lakeside mansions got built, the town wasn't too happy. Nobody could picture what kind of people would move into them. It could have been some rich folks who only used them as a vacation home. It could have been assholes who think because they have money, the entire town should be at their beck and call.

But those four, at least Kieran, Nic, and Lauren, fit into Wayward Hollow better than puzzle pieces. They made friends with everyone within weeks of moving here. When Nic’s ex and her sister tried to humiliate her at the autumn fair last year, the entire town came to her defense.

Where they welcomed Nic, Lauren and Kieran with open arms, they kept their distance from Nic’s sister and her ex. Whenever possible they reported them to me, for example when the ex trashed the hotel room.

Even though they could hole up in their extremely spacious and luxurious homes, they regularly pop into Amanda's antique store to help out. They also throw their all into Wayward Hollow’s seasonal events, like the autumn fair and Christmas market.

"I'll be right back," I mumble and get up to make my way over to their table.

I doubt Rick has called them yet to let them know they can return home, so I'm taking the liberty.

"Hey, guys."

"Erik!" Kieran shouts excitedly, and all their heads turn to me. Two dogs are resting by their feet and I know Caleb’s dog Shadow is somewhere behind the counter.

"What's the tea?" Lauren jumps right into it, lips stretching into a devious smirk. "More bodies? Were our houses built on a graveyard? Is Kieran going to jail for murder?"

“Hey! Why would I be a murderer?”

“Remember how angry you got when an off-leash dog charged at Dick? Straight up murderer energy.” Lauren winks at him and he steals a piece of pastry off her plate in retaliation.

“I hate that you’re right.”