Read Online If I Should Die by Allison Brennan - Free Book Online Page A

the mine. Your boyfriend was injured, you were—”
    Lucy interrupted. “I know what I saw.”
    “There was no body down there.”
    “There was no body there today , but it was there yesterday. You need to get a trained crime scene team down there to look for trace evidence.”
    “I think you watch too much television.” Weddle exchanged a smug glance with Ken Hammond, who stood next to Tim by the front door.
    Lucy bristled. “I have—”
    Sean cut her off. “You’re out of line, Deputy.”
    Lucy frowned. She didn’t like being talked to as if she were a fool. She had seen a body. She could close her eyes and picture the woman: dark blond hair; extremely pale skin with a blue tinge; white blouse and dark slacks, and something else … something that flitted in and out of her mind as soon as she attempted to focus. But it was the deceased’s arms crossed unnaturally over her chest that had Lucy the most intrigued—and concerned.
    The deputy questioned, “And someone went down there and did what? Moved the body? To where? Why would someone do such a thing?”
    Sean said, “It’s no secret that I fell down the mine shaft. Word travels fast in a small town. Maybe whoever was hiding the body felt the need to move it.”
    “That’s a bit of an assumption,” Weddle said.
    “Hardly.” Sean leaned forward. “There was a body exactly where Lucy said it was.”
    Lucy knew Sean was irritated that the cops were treating her as if she were crazy, and she wasn’t tickled about it either, but she put aside her frustration and tried to see it from their point of view. She was a stranger, she’d been through a traumatic incident, and she seemed to be seeing things that simply weren’t there.
    “I apologize.” Weddle didn’t sound at all sincere. He stood. “I’ll contact the sheriff and give him your statement. He may send a team down there, or maybe not. The mine is extremely dangerous. There are exploration shafts that go down a hundred feet, caved-in ceilings; it hasn’t been maintained in forty years. But he’ll probably want to at least check out where you thought you saw the body.”
    “Where I did see a body,” Lucy said.
    “That’s what I said.”
    “They need to search thoroughly,” Lucy pushed. “They only did a cursory inspection—”
    Hammond said, “There were some signs that someone had been down there recently, but nothing significant. I’m not going to put anyone at risk—we need a current map of the mine and additional team members.”
    “The lighting was poor, but if you—”
    “Ms. Kincaid,” Weddle interrupted. He took a step toward her, intentionally crowding her as a method of intimidation. “We’re going to check out your claim, but we must follow safety protocols.”
    “I understand,” she lied. Every muscle itched to defend herself. “I can look at missing persons pictures, see if I recognize her,” she offered.
    “I’ll have the station shoot you over what we have. But there’s no one local who’s missing, and no lost tourists. Probably a waste of time.”
    “It’s my time to waste,” Lucy snapped. She rose from the couch, and brushed past the cop.
    “I’ll let you know if anything turns up,” Weddle said. “About the body or the arsonist.”
    Lucy didn’t have any confidence in Weddle’s ability. Surely, the sheriff would show more professionalism when he read the report.
    Tim walked Weddle and Hammond outside to their truck.
    As soon as they were safely out of earshot, Lucy said, “Sean—”
    “I know what you’re going to say, Luce. But until we know what’s going on with the vandalism, we need to keep a low profile. Announcing you work for the FBI or trained as a forensic pathologist doesn’t equal ‘low profile.’ ”
    “It’s murder, Sean! The police need to make that young woman’s death a priority.”
    “I agree, but let’s see what they do in the next twenty-four hours before we blow our cover. Give them time to do their job. You