Her Grave Secrets (Rogue River Novella Book 3) by Kendra Elliot Read Free Book Online Page A

need to be closer?”
    “I don’t think that’s your place to say.”
    “But what if Zane wakes up one day and his father is gone?” Stevie’s voice cracked. “He’ll have so much regret.” She stroked the dog’s head, keeping eye contact with the lovely dark eyes that didn’t judge her.
    Carly’s brown gaze softened. “It’s not your job to protect him. You said your piece, right? You need to let him do what’s right for the two of them. We don’t know the history there. One thing I’ve learned about working with kids and their parents is that sometimes there’s a lot of hidden baggage and you never can tell who’s carrying it. I think you’re letting your own experience influence what you see in Zane’s life.”
    “I don’t want him to get hurt.”
    “That’s kind of you, but Zane’s a grown-up and doesn’t need your protection.”
    Stevie scowled. Have I been pushing Zane in a direction he isn’t comfortable in? She moved on. “Is Mom around? I need to talk to her. You too, I guess.”
    Carly’s arms tightened around the dog as she studied Stevie’s face. “What’s happened? My God, you still can’t hide what you’re thinking, can you? I thought being a cop would help you with that.”
    Stevie tried to wipe emotion from her face. It’d been a curse when she was a child: with a simple glance, her parents had been able to tell when she was lying.
    “Help Stevie with what?” Patsy asked as she breezed into the kitchen. “You brought me a present!” Her eyes lit up and she held her hands out for the small dog. Carly passed the dog to her mother, but gave Stevie a cautious look.
    Patsy petted the dog, who turned her gaze to Stevie. Patsy followed the dog’s look. “Why, Stevie, she seems to be attached to you.”
    “She probably still smells shrimp,” answered Stevie.
    “Stevie needs a dog, Mom.”
    Patsy’s gaze sharpened on Stevie and concern tightened her features. “What’s wrong, honey?”
    “Can we sit down?”
    Alarm crossed Carly’s and Patsy’s expressions. The dog gave a small whine.
    Patsy ran a comforting hand over the dog’s head. “What’s her name?”
    “I don’t know,” Stevie said as she sat at the table. She took a napkin from the pile on the table and started to shred it. The other two women took seats, looked at the napkin, and exchanged a glance. “I assume she’s a stray.” She shoved the napkin away, her fingers wanting something else to do.
    Patsy leaned back in her chair and lifted the dog to look directly into her eyes. “Skinny. I can feel her ribs. But so sweet. She needs a delicate name. Something airy and light.”
    “Skye? With an e at the end,” suggested Carly as she started to pick a cuticle. They casually discussed the dog, but the women knew Stevie had something important to tell them.
    “No, let me think on it. She’s too dark to be called Skye.” Patsy turned a wary gaze to Stevie. “What’s going on?”
    “You asked Zane a couple months ago to look into Dad’s death. Why did you do that?”
    Patsy looked down at the dog and gently tugged at the silky fur on the droopy ears. “Because it wasn’t right. I could feel something was off.” She met Stevie’s gaze. “And now you’re going to tell me I was right.”
    Carly sucked in a breath. “What’d he find?”
    Stevie steeled her spine. “The medical examiner found traces of C-22 in Dad’s tissue samples he’d kept from the autopsy.”
    “What is C-22?” asked Patsy.
    “The current street drug that’s invaded southwest Oregon. There’ve been several deaths from it. It seems to mimic a heart attack and it takes a specific test to find the drug in an autopsy.”
    “Is it the one that killed the Brandt boy at O’Rourke’s Lake two months ago?”
    Stevie nodded. “They ran a ton of chemical screens on Hunter Brandt because his death was so odd. With Dad they stuck to the standard tests. They’d thought he’d had a heart attack and nothing showed up on their