The Sierra Files Box Set: Books 1-3: Plus a bonus Christmas novella!

by Christy Barritt

  “I mean, will extended family wait to be seated at the beginning of the ceremony? It’s not rocket science.”

  I cringed at her tone.

  “It’s whatever the Nakamuras prefer,” Sharo said. She turned to my parents. “Preference?”

  “Whatever is normal,” my mother said.

  She glanced at her clipboard and swallowed hard. “Okay then, immediate family will be seated first, followed by extended family. Sound good?”

  I was no expert, but that order didn’t seem normal. The answer seemed like it should be basic knowledge for someone who did this for a living.

  As Sharo continued to talk, my gaze scanned the crowd. I spotted Reina’s husband, Mark, as well as some aunts and uncles. Some of my parents’ colleagues were there, including Dr. Moto, my official godfather, even though I’d only seen him on special occasions and felt absolutely no connection with him. My brother, on the other hand, still hadn’t shown up.

  Greg also sat there, on the opposite side of the aisle from Chad.

  He waved when I looked his way.

  I attempted a feeble smile and fluttered my hands in the air. Then I looked at Chad and saw him scowl.

  Oh, what fun.

  Just as we began to run through the ceremony, I noticed movement in the distance. I held my breath, trying to comprehend what was happening.

  “Then you’ll both say the vows you’ve written for each other,” the priest said.

  At once, it clicked in my head what was unfolding. Big Boy had returned. He leaped over the fence and galloped right toward my parents.

  I raised my hand in horror. “No!”

  It was too late. He dashed onstage, mud flying off him and splattering everywhere.

  My mom screamed. My dad tried in vain to block him. Mark attempted a tackle maneuver.

  But Big Boy didn’t stop. Not until he reached me and had left a trail of dirt in his wake.

  He sat down proudly and dropped something at my feet.

  It was a bone.

  I was just guessing, but I felt certain it wasn’t any ordinary bone. Based on the size and shape, it was human.

  Chapter Four

  “What is that dog doing?” my always-serious mom screeched. My mom hardly ever screeched. Like, ever. She had the talent of calmly saying words and striking fear into people.

  “I’ll handle him,” I insisted, casting a quick glance at Chad.

  He took his cue and sprang from his seat to join me onstage. Holding the dog by the collar, I leaned toward Chad.

  “Check out the bone,” I whispered.

  His eyes narrowed as he comprehended my words. He squatted and examined Big Boy’s gift. When Chad stood, I could tell his evaluation matched mine. “We’re going to have to call the police. That’s human. A femur.”

  A couple of people gasped. Several screamed. Nearly everyone backed away—except Aunt Yori. She clapped and said, “Now things are getting interesting.”

  I stole another glance down and cringed. That bone didn’t look all that old. In fact, there was still some pink stuff attached to it. Yuck.

  I thought of Mr. Lennox, and then I thought about his wife, who was supposed to be out of town. Why did I have a feeling that wasn’t the case at all?

  “How do you know that’s human?” the priest asked.

  “The size, the porousness,” Chad said. “It’s definitely human.”

  Reina stood by my parents with her cell phone to her ear, and I assumed she was calling the police.

  “Please, get that dog out of here, Sierra.” My mom pounced on each word before glancing at me like this was all my fault. I had nothing to do with this. Not this time.

  I took a deep breath to compose myself. “How about if I take him to the garage? Would that be okay?”

  “Fine,” my dad said.

  “Guard the bone, but don’t touch it,” I told my sister.

  She nodded.

  I led Big Boy across the lawn. Everyone we passed recoiled in horror as if the dog was some kind of serial killer. Poor Big Boy. He was just doing what canines did—digging and following scents.

  I had a feeling this dog was trying to get a message across. I felt like he was silently pleading for my help somehow.

  My dad appeared beside me with a key in hand. “I’ll unlock it.”

  “Do you always lock the garage?”

  “I lock up everything. We’ve had copper thefts in the area recently. Once crime starts to grow, it continues. Before long, those leeches will try to get into our home to steal things as well.”

  “Copper thefts, huh? I’ve heard they’re becoming a common problem.” I wanted to keep talking, but I knew I was trying too hard. “It looks like a nice ceremony. The wedding planner is a trip. Where did you guys meet her?”

  “Your mother ran into her while she was having her dress altered. She just happened to be in the shop, working for another client, and overheard your mother talking.”

  I stepped inside the tidy space, and before my dad could separate himself from the living, breathing—not to mention furry—disaster, I stopped him. “By the way, I met your neighbor today. Mr. Lennox.”

  My dad raised his chin, his eyebrow twitching like it always did when he didn’t approve. “Yes, I know him.”

  “What do you know about him?” I continued, shutting the door behind me before Big Boy could escape again. “He seemed peculiar.”

  “I don’t know, Sierra.” Exasperation saturated his voice as he flipped the lights on. “He’s married. No kids. They keep to themselves. Unlike our other neighbor, Mrs. Jericho.”

  “I think I met her also. The redhead?” I remained in the entryway, still holding on to Big Boy so he wouldn’t mess up the pristine space. Garages should not be this clean.

  His eyebrow twitched again as he reached for the doorknob. “She’s the most obnoxious woman I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting. All she does is complain about everyone else in the neighborhood. She’s single with nothing better to do, I suppose.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” I had to turn the topic of conversation back to a potential murder, though, especially in light of that bone. Plus, my dad seemed anxious to get out of here. “But about the Lennoxes . . .”

  “I don’t know much about them, Sierra.”

  “Did they seem to get along?”

  He tilted his head as if suddenly realizing where I was going with these questions. “Why are you talking in past tense? Do you think that bone belongs to one of them?”

  “Mr. Lennox said his wife was out of town. Plus, I saw blood at their home. He claims he had a bloody nose, but I don’t know if I believe him, not in light of this new development.”

  He put his hand on my shoulder. “Sierra, leave the investigating to the police. You just worry about these vows we’re renewing. Your mother wants everything to be perfect, and so far, that’s not the case.”

  “I’m sorry, Dad.”

  He squeezed. “It’s not your fault. But I just know this means a lot to her. I want her to feel special and for nothing to go wrong.”

  For nothing to go wrong. I nodded, my gut telling me that was about as likely to happen as me finding a genie in a bottle and him granting me a wish for all the puppy mills to close forever.

  The same detective from earlier showed up ten minutes later, along with some crime scene techs. One CSI took pictures and collected the bone, while two others had taken Big Boy outside and were pulling things off his fur. Apparently, the lighting in the garage was insufficient, and they were afraid they might miss something.

  “Do you think it’s a human bone?” Detective Meadows asked one of her colleagues.

  The stocky officer beside her shrugged. “No idea.”

  “That’s definitely a human bone,” Chad said. “Unless Bigfoot is hiding out here in the woods of Connecticut, that is. No other animals native to this area would have bones that size.”

  “I concur,” Greg said, puffing his chest out. “He’s telling
the truth. I’m a doctor, so I have experience with these types of things.”

  Everyone turned to Chad, and he shrugged. “I used to be a mortician, so I have my fair share of experience as well.”

  I waited for Chad to cast Greg a dirty look, but he didn’t look at all fazed by the one-upmanship of my ex-boyfriend. Instead, I found myself scowling at both men.

  “You know what the old man thinks?” Aunt Yori said.

  We all waited. I, for one, had no idea who the old man was she was referring to, but maybe she had some great insight.

  She raised her eyebrows. “He would say that the knee bone’s connected with the thighbone. The thighbone’s connected to the hip—” My aunt started doing a dance as her words moved into song.

  “Yori!” my mother said, her mouth parting in horror.

  Yori shrugged. “What?”

  Detective Meadows cleared her throat and maybe—just maybe—rolled her eyes a little as she turned away from us. “We need to figure out where this dog got the bone.”

  “The old man gave it to him,” Yori continued.

  Everyone turned to her again, waiting to hear her revelation.

  “What old man?” the detective asked.

  “The one that does everything with a knickknack and paddy wack.”

  “Please, someone get her out of here,” Detective Meadows mumbled.

  My sister led her away. As I heard my aunt singing “Dem Bones” again, I couldn’t help but smile. Things were always interesting when she was around.

  The detective turned to the stocky sidekick officer again. “Your wife has a poodle, right?”

  The officer gave a halfhearted shrug. “Yeah.”

  “Great. Since you’re a dog person, maybe you can get our four-legged friend to lead you to the location of origin.”

  “With the right motivation, the big pooch might do just that.” The officer reached into his pocket, fumbled around, and then pulled something out. He dangled a candy bar toward Big Boy. “I’ve got something good for you to eat, little buddy.”

  Horror washed over me, and I slapped the candy out of his hand. It was time to end this comedy of errors. “Stop! Chocolate kills dogs. Don’t you know that?”

  He withdrew his hand. “It was the only thing I had in my pocket.”

  I shook my head. Anyone with common sense knew not to give dogs chocolate. “May I?”

  “May you what?” Detective Meadows asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

  I pointed toward the dog. “May I see if the dog will lead me to the crime scene? Big Boy seems to like me.”

  The detective and the officer exchanged a look before finally Detective Meadows nodded. “I suppose that will be fine, as long as you promise not to disturb anything at the scene. The dog does seem attached to you.”

  “I just need to change first.”

  The detective nodded. I grabbed Chad’s hand and whispered an update to him as I pulled him inside. He was coming with me, whether he wanted to or not.

  We met downstairs five minutes later. I tromped past the neat white chairs, filled with everyone who’d waited in limbo to hear what was going on. My mom had taken a seat in the back row and looked both tired and agitated. I actually felt a little bad for her.

  I knew this was supposed to be her rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. But there could be a dead body out there, I reminded myself. I couldn’t just ignore that. With any luck, I’d be back before anyone lifted a fork to partake of the dead pig that had been roasting in the backyard all day. With scents like that, it was no wonder Big Boy was drawn to this property.

  When I reached the dog, who stood with the detective and officer by the guesthouse, I bent down to look him in the eye. “You ready to do this, boy?”

  He wagged his tail and barked.

  Chad had grabbed the leash from the van and put it on his collar. I took a hold of it, and as soon as I did, Big Boy started pulling me out of the backyard. Everyone behind me scrambled to keep up.

  He led me through the back gate, into the woods, deeper into the woods, and over a small stream. He didn’t let up but seemed to know exactly where he was going. I just held on for the ride.

  Finally, he came to a stop beside an enormous stump and barked. I looked back at Detective Meadows. “I’d start here.”

  The detective and a couple of the crime scene techs rounded the remains of an old tree. As they did, a stench rose up, nearly making me gag. Dried leaves? Rotting trees? Decaying animals?

  I knew that wasn’t the case.

  One of the crime scene techs pulled his nose back and closed his eyes.

  “You were right,” he said. “That dog led us right to the body.”

  Chapter Five

  I couldn’t get the body out of my mind. I hadn’t actually seen it myself. No, the officers had led Chad and me away so we wouldn’t compromise any evidence. Based on their description and the smell, it was better that way. I did overhear them say that Big Boy wasn’t the only one who’d discovered it. Apparently, nature and all the critters in the forest had been very busy also.

  The police had also insisted on keeping Big Boy with them so they could collect a stool sample. They’d said something about him potentially eating evidence. I’d argued that I could keep him, but the police hadn’t backed down. Detective Meadows said the dog would be back home at the Lennoxes’ by tomorrow if everything went well.

  I felt like I was leaving behind a helpless child as I walked away. Everything felt a bit surreal, like a bad dream or a vivid movie. But the events of today had really happened.

  Chad and I tromped through the woods hand in hand back toward my parents’. “You know what this reminds me of?” Chad asked.

  “One of those real-life crime shows on TV?”

  He shook his head. “No, it reminds me of when we were doing that video shoot for one of your mini documentaries on the Hessel’s Hairstreak butterfly, and we found . . .”

  He didn’t have to finish. The moment flashed back to me, and I cringed. “Yeah, how could I forget that? I guess I have a knack for finding dead bodies.”

  “I thought Gabby was the only one good at that. Your discovery rate is starting to rival hers.”

  Gabby was my best friend, and she always knew what to do when she stumbled upon crimes. That trait served her well, since she wanted to go into forensics. She just had to find someone who would hire her now.

  For a minute, I wished she was here so I could ask her advice. But she was attending to other matters at home: primarily taking care of her fiancé, who’d been shot in the head by a homicidal maniac.

  I felt bad for my friend. She’d been through so much and never seemed to catch any breaks. If it weren’t for Gabby, Chad and I would probably have never met. The two of them had been friends first, but when Chad and I ran into each other after a whale beached itself on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, we’d instantly bonded. We’d been together ever since. Some people might even say we’d gotten married quickly, without even dating six months. But when someone knows they’ve found “the one,” why put it off?

  “You think that woman back there in the woods is Mrs. Lennox, don’t you?” Chad asked.

  “Makes sense to me, at least based on the evidence I’ve seen so far. An irate husband, a blood trail, an open door. Put it together and what do you have? A crime.”

  “It’s certainly made this trip more interesting, not that the trip needed any help.”

  I barely heard him. “I say we go pay him a visit.”

  “Who?”

  “Mr. Lennox.” I nodded, convinced I was right.

  “Visit Mr. Lennox and say what?” Something that sounded close to anxiety edged into his voice.

  I shrugged as I climbed over a fallen tree, my thoughts already racing ahead in time. “Get our leash back . . . and tell him that we found his dog, who is now in police custody.”

  “You want to accuse him of murder? Tip him off that the cops may show up? Maybe we should let the police make t
he next play.”

  I sighed in thought. Chad had a point. “We can come in sympathy. Keep any judgment from our voices. Make it sound like we thought he knew.”

  “Or we could be impeding a police investigation,” Chad reminded me.

  He sounded so knowledgeable. “You’re so sexy when you talk like that.”

  He perked. “Really? Because I can use police speak all you want. Copy that?”

  I elbowed him. “I’m afraid that dog’s going to get the short end of the—”

  “Bone?”

  “Stick. Short end of the stick. I’d hate to see Big Boy end up in a shelter.”

  “Is that his name? Big Boy?”

  I shook my head. “That’s what I call him. I think it fits.”

  He groaned, holding aside a low-lying branch as I ducked under. “Oh no. You’re already bonding with him. You know we can’t have a dog in the apartment building. Besides, he’d try to eat your cats. I mean, our cats.” He cleared his throat.

  “What kind of person would I be if I didn’t at least try to help, though?”

  Chad raised his hand. “I’m not suggesting that we don’t help. We just have to keep a cool head here.”

  “That’s my middle name. Sierra Never-a-Hot-Head Davis.”

  He chuckled, and we quickly detoured from our path toward my parents’. We headed toward the Lennoxes’ backyard instead. As we scuttled past my family’s property, I heard the murmur of guests at the rehearsal dinner. It sounded like they’d continued their party. Maybe things weren’t as jolly as they could have been, but maybe also my mom and dad would be less inclined to notice I was gone.

  “See that tarp and wheelbarrow in the backyard?” I asked Chad as we got closer to Big Boy’s home. The items in question were located behind the shed, tucked away out of sight.

  “What about them?”

  “I don’t see where Mr. Lennox has been working on any landscaping recently. All his plants and trees look pretty well established.” I surveyed the area to confirm that my initial impressions were correct. Everything—even the grass—looked fully grown. There was no fresh dirt anywhere or any other signs that someone had been gardening.