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“They rarely do,” said Cassie.
The three of them fell silent and Cassie allowed herself to tune into the woods around her. It felt normal on the surface—full of birds and bugs and deer and squirrels—but beneath that, she felt the chill of the spirit world. She was doubtful that Lucy’s body was the only one buried here. She felt an overwhelming sensation that took over when she felt she wasn’t doing enough, but David’s words from last night came back to her.
You can’t save everyone.
She wished she could. It would make the world a better place. But David was right. Finding Lucy’s body and helping the women Langford had killed find peace would have to be enough. And after that, she would try to help the next victim. If she could.
She always believed having a future laid out for herself was the best path forward, but her experience with Novak proved anything could happen, regardless of plans.
Maybe the right move was just putting one foot in front of the other. Having a plan was good, but there had to be wiggle room for the obstacles that might pop up. Life had a habit of throwing curve balls, after all.
“It’s up ahead,” David said. “Come on.”
Cassie followed his footsteps until they reached the large oak tree. Spanish moss swung in the gentle breeze. She caught the faint smell of eucalyptus and searched the woods for the telltale velvet bark but spotted none.
There were several other officers waiting for them. A lumpy figure under a not-so white sheet was lying next to a hole at the base of the tree. When one of the officers spotted the group approaching, he jogged over to Harris.
“Morning, Detective. We’re just finishing up. Shouldn’t take much longer.” His eyes moved past her and landed on Cassie. “Ma’am.”
Cassie nodded.
“This is Ms. Quinn,” David said. “She’s consulting with us on the case.”
The officer nodded and turned his gaze back to Harris. “We’ve done our initial sweep. Nothing else in the area but tread light if you can. It’s rained enough times that there’s no footprints or anything. But we’d like to do another final look or two before we do an official wrap-up.”
“Sounds good. Thank you.” Harris turned to Cassie. “You ready for this?”
“No, but let’s do it anyway,” Cassie said.
Harris gave her a tight smile and nodded. She had already switched on the detective persona and Cassie didn’t want to get in the way. She was there to observe. There were things that only she might see.
“As far as we can tell, Langford has been truthful with us,” David said. He brought the pair of them to the body. “Lucy was buried here, under the tree, like he said.”
“What do we know about the body so far?”
The officer who had greeted them knelt and looked at Harris, then at Cassie, then back at Harris. When the detective nodded her head, he slipped the sheet off Lucy. “Normal decomposition as far as we can tell. We’ll need to do a tox screen and all that, but it’s clear her neck was broken. So far, everything lines up.”
“Langford doesn’t have a reason to lie,” David said, stroking his chin. “If he gets pinned for this murder, it’ll reinforce the story he told us about the blackmail.”
A chill ran down Cassie’s spine and she let David’s words fade away. When she turned, she saw a figure standing next to the large oak. She didn’t know what Lucy looked like in life, but given the odd angle of the spirit’s neck, Cassie was certain it was her.
Cassie saw ghosts when they were at their most vulnerable or terrified. Rarely did she get to s
ee that moment when they found peace, but it was clear from Lucy’s face she was finding her peace. She kept eye contact with Cassie as a single tear rolled down her face. She smiled, though it was tight, and faded from view.
There was no bright light and Cassie didn’t see her spirit fly into the sky, but a feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that Lucy moved on to wherever they went after they found peace. Her body had been discovered and the truth about her death was known. For Lucy, that seemed to be enough.
“Cassie? Cassie?” David took a step closer. “Are you okay?”
Cassie started and turned toward him. The smile on her face was genuine. “Yeah, I’m good.”
“Are you ready to go inside?”
“I’m ready,” she said. “Let’s go.”
Thirty-Three
David, Harris, and Cassie emerged from the woods. Halfway across the lawn, Cassie felt the shift in Harris’s mood. It was like a shadow had fallen across their little group, cold and dark and heavy with foreboding.
