Broken Places by Sandra Parshall Read Free Book Online Page B

deep breath and lifted the receiver of his desk phone. He stared at it a moment, imagining Lindsay’s reaction to his gut-wrenching news. How the hell could he drop a bomb like this over the phone? He lowered the receiver back into its cradle.
    She had to be told, and quickly. In the time it would take him to drive to Roanoke to talk to her in person, some coworker at the western regional headquarters of the Virginia Crime Lab would make sure she heard that two bodies with her last name were coming in from her home county.
    Maybe he wasn’t the best person to break the news to her, though, considering their history. He wasn’t sure how she felt about him now, but he wouldn’t be surprised if she were still angry and resentful. After the accident that killed most of his family, Tom had quit his job as a homicide detective with the Richmond Police Department and moved back to Mason County to be near his nephew Simon, expecting his fiancée to marry him and come with him. Instead, she’d broken off their engagement—and created an opening for Lindsay to step back into his life. He’d been lonely and grieving, and Lindsay loved him and wanted him. He thought she had changed, matured, but eventually her jealousy and insecurity resurfaced. He’d put up with it as long as he could. Their breakup had been a nightmare.
    He picked up the plastic evidence bag he’d brought back from the fire. It contained a gold band etched with a leaf design. Meredith’s wedding ring. Neither Tom nor Dr. Lauter wanted Lindsay to see her mother’s body, and they’d agreed that seeing the ring would help her accept the reality of what had happened. Tom had pulled it off Meredith’s finger himself, working it over the blackened skin, ripping off a fingernail in his hurry to be done.
    The odor of charred flesh still clung to the back of his nose and throat like a bad taste that couldn’t be washed away with any amount of water or coffee.
    “Ah, Christ,” he groaned, rubbing at his smoke-reddened eyes. He couldn’t put it off any longer, and he couldn’t dump the job on anybody else. This was his responsibility.
    He snatched up the phone and punched in Lindsay’s private cell number.
    In seconds, he had her on the line. “Well, hey there, stranger,” she said, her tone familiar and teasing. “What’s up?”
    Her friendly tone threw him for a second. She was happy he’d called, reading something personal into it, probably thinking he’d come to his senses and was ready to revive their relationship. He could picture her flipping her long blond hair off one shoulder, flashing her mischievous grin.
    Get on with it. “Sorry to interrupt your work.”
    “Oh, don’t worry about that. I’d much rather talk to you than examine a bunch of carpet fibers.”
    “Look, Lindsay—There’s no easy way to say this. I’ve got bad news.”
    A brief silence at the other end. Then, “My mom or my dad?”
    “I’m afraid it’s both . ”
    Tom heard Lindsay’s sharp exhalation of breath, as if she’d been punched in the stomach. “Okay,” she said, her voice a tremulous whisper. “How bad?”
    “As bad as it can be.” Coward. Why can’t you just say it?
    “But—What— Both of them? Are you telling me they’re both dead ?”
    “Yes.” Knowing how weak the words were, Tom added, “I’m sorry, Lin.”
    When she spoke again, her voice gained strength, fueled by anger. “What happened? Was Dad speeding, did he—”
    “No. It wasn’t a car accident.” Tom scribbled meaningless shapes on a notepad, circles and triangles and jagged lines. “They both died this morning, but separately. They weren’t together when it happened.”
    “What? Tommy, that doesn’t make any sense.”
    He couldn’t do anything to soften this blow. “Your father was shot to death. Away from home, out on Pogue Hill Road. A while later, your mother—The house burned down, and she was inside at the time. But we believe she was killed before the fire