by Rachel Lee
Murder.
The word appeared out of nowhere, a shout in his mind that cut through the fog of his shock and memories. He forced himself to really look at the body, searching for signs of injury or foul play. There was nothing obvious to see, but he knew without a doubt this woman had been killed.
His hand shaking, Quinn reached for his radio and called back to base to report this sad discovery. Given his position on the trail, it was going to take a couple of hours before anyone could reach him. Dispatch assured him the police were on their way, and Quinn resigned himself to the fact he was going to have to stay on the scene until they arrived. He moved back to the trail and hiked down to the closest switchback, then draped a rope across the trail and affixed a small Trail Closed sign to it. His fellow rangers would close off the trail at its start, but he wanted to make sure any hikers who had already set out wouldn’t stumble across the scene.
With a sigh, he returned to the body. He didn’t want to stay nearby, but it felt wrong somehow to leave her alone. He debated draping his light jacket over her face—he wanted to give her some dignity—but in the end he held back. If he touched her again or interfered with the scene in any way it would make it harder for the police to do their job.
Not knowing what else to do, Quinn sat a few feet away in the paltry shade of one of the bushes, keeping company with a dead woman and the ghost of his wife.
Copyright © 2018 by Lara Kingeter
ISBN-13: 9781488093173
Conard County Watch
Copyright © 2018 by Susan Civil Brown
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