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“Yes,” he said, presumably when his call connected, “this is Royce King… yes, thank you, I guess. Look, I hate to bother Dr. Frank in this weather,” Briar noted that he did not sound like he hated to interrupt whoever was on the other end of the line, “but I have a situation here and need the coroner to come out. Yes, for real. DB at the Nilson property. Yes, it’s a different DB than the one you picked up Saturday. We aren’t body stealers. We’ll wait.”
Briar frowned at him. “Is there a problem around here with… body stealers?”
“No. Not as far as I know. The person who answered couldn’t believe little old Rexville had another one.” He nudged the body with his toe. “This makes three since Tor was found and two in the same house. That has to be some kind of record.” Royce shot her a pointed glance. “It would be nice if you would come clean with me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nice try, Briar, but I’m not an idiot. I know there’s something you’re not telling me. Something about this DB.”
While Royce had been checking the attic and other rooms, Briar had not only searched the body for ID but had also taken a picture of him and his tattoo and sent it to her FBI handler.
She’d been pulled in from the field and “loaned” to SAC Adam Klay’s team after the FUBAR last spring, while the ATF investigated and did their best to clean up the mess they’d made. Briar knew she hadn’t done anything wrong—it hadn’t been her or Hank who’d leaked that Hank was a plant. But Hank was the one who was dead and Briar was lucky to be alive.
She’d texted Jakes too, but there’d been no response—not entirely surprising since he’d been ghosting her since June. Briar and Christian Jakes were not on the best of terms, and she wasn’t even sure the team leader had her best interests in mind.At least SAC Klay seemed to have her back.
In weird but also typical machismo fashion, the Spiders MC members believed that Sunny—Briar’s UC alias— was too stupid to be involved in any of Hank’s work. Her cover had held, that she was a local girl who’d hooked up with Hank in Vegas and come to Dry Spring for the fun times.
At least, that’s what Briar had thought. That’s what she’d been told by Jakes.
But now there was a Spiders MC rider dead in her father’s house and someone had been sleeping upstairs.
“Do you think this guy was staying in the attic?” She asked instead of telling Royce about the horror four months past. If Briar could, she would forget what happened. Unfortunately, her dreams reminded her almost every night.
Royce kept an eye out the window for the coroner, not looking at her as he answered, “My gut says no. But anything’s possible, right?” He shifted and Briar followed his gaze. Headlights were heading up the road toward the house.
The coroner, Dr. Frank, was not happy to be back at Tor’s again. She was probably in her fifties, wore her silver-laced hair in a practical short cut, and obviously kept herself in shape. Snapping protective gloves on, Frank kneeled next to the body, her equipment bag next to her on the floor and her purple-haired assistant hovering, waiting for instructions.
“How long has he been dead?” Royce asked. Briar had the same question.
The coroner didn’t look at him. “I’m not a magician, King. Long enough for rigor to have started to pass. So, at least forty-eight hours, but could easily be longer. The open window kept things chilly.”
And that’s all they got out of her.
“I’ll contact you as soon as the autopsy’s finished.” Her tone brooked no arguing.
Quickly and efficiently, Dr. Frank and the assistant loaded the DB into a body bag and, using a gurney, took him downstairs and out to the coroner van. Royce and Briar trailed after them. At least the wind had died down and the rain had let up slightly, to a mere drizzle. But Briar was still chilly, and her feet were still damp from when they first arrived.
Before she drove off, the coroner said, “I hear congratulations are in order, King. It’s about time Rexville had a decent sheriff.” She didn’t wait for Royce’s reply, just stepped on the gas and roared off.
“Is she always like that?” Briar asked as the taillights disappeared from view.
“So far. I think she’s tired of seeing me already.”
“Why? I thought this sheriff gig was new.”
Royce sighed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
“Last summer there was… an incident with Evi Devine, Caleb’s fiancée. He’s another one of my business partners. When it was over, there were a few dead guys. She wasn’t happy.”
Briar let that soak in for a minute. A few dead guys?
“I’m not saying a coroner should be happy, but dead bodies are part of the job description. Am I wrong?”
Royce chuckled. “No, you’re not wrong.”
“So, what happened with Evi Devine?”
He scraped his fingers through his already disheveled hair again. “Evi’s a lawyer, and she had the misfortune to come up against a complete shitbag and win. He came after her, we stopped him.”
