Page 28 of Abandoned

“I doubt he did everything with his elbows,” Wyatt said.

Doug cracked his knuckles. “But we did talk to the guy you told us about.”

Zara scooted to the edge of her seat. “Yeah? How’d that go?”

Doug drew in a big breath before answering. “Not as I expected. He was fairly agreeable. But he has an alibi. His girlfriend said he was home all night.”

“Could she corroborate that?”

“She is the corroboration.”

“But she could be lying.”

“I don’t doubt that, but we don’t have any evidence to pin it to him.”

“I wish the threat was enough.”

Doug shook his head. “Unfortunately, it’s not.”

She slumped in the chair. There wasn’t going to be an answer, was there? Would she ever know who’d violated her home?

A pair of detectives came into the squad room and drew everyone’s attention. They were filthy. The tall and sophisticated woman, dressed in what was once a nice pantsuit, had dirt streaked across her face. Her light brown ponytail had sticks poking out every which way.

Will leaned over Zara’s shoulder. “That’s Becca Palmer and Gavin Riley.”

Doug laughed. “What happened to you two?”

Gavin, who was equally dirty, his blond hair matted against his forehead, glared at Doug. “Remember that report we got about a body found tied to a tree? Well, there was a body there, but it wasn’t exactly easy to get there or back out. I seriously don’t know how those hikers even found her.”

“Her? You have an ID yet?” a detective across the room asked.

Gavin said, “Nope. It’s going to take dentals or DNA. She was rather decomposed.”

Becca stuck out her tongue. “It was nasty. She’s been abandoned out there in those woods well over a month. Henry guesses closer to four, based on the weather we’ve had and how far decomposed she was.”

Zara turned to Will. “Who’s Henry?”

“The medical examiner.”

She nodded and turned her attention back to Becca, who continued to tell them about their trek into the woods and how Gavin “pushed” her down a hill. He adamantly denied any foul play.

Zara chuckled at their banter. Could she imagine Will working in this squad? She’d sure miss him, but he would fit in well with this group.

With nothing more to do about the break-in, the three officers left.

As they walked through the parking lot, Logan said, “So much for better hours as a detective.”

Will laughed. “No kidding. At least when we’re off, we’re actually off.”

“Don’t they get comp time when they’ve worked crazy hours for a case?” Zara asked.

“At least some, but Keith always said making commitments was the hardest part about being a detective. You never know when you’ll get called out.”

“Who’s Keith?”

Will smiled. “The detectives’ captain and my oldest brother’s childhood friend.”

They said goodbye to Logan and climbed into Will’s truck, which was once again a million degrees inside. It took too long for the AC to kick in and finally blow cool-enough air in the cab.