Atonement (37 page)

Why that bloated swamp rat! Throwing her words back in her face. He better be the best. For the victim's sake.

Cody hugged her body. Why didn't he ask about her resemblance to the victim? It couldn't have passed LeBeau's notice. Surly he'd seen her before he barged in here demanding she repeat for the hundredth time how she found the poor woman.

God have mercy on the family. Cody knew all too well the pain and suffering they would endure. She'd lived through it when her mother was killed. Had it not been for her dad and her friends … Cody shook the sorrow away. That road was best left untraveled.

Free to leave, she wandered out of the meeting room. She asked a passing patrolman the way out, and he pointed her in the direction of the main entrance. Slipping through the crowd of police officers, she left the noise behind and entered the stadium's enclosed exit, halting before the glass door. A curtain of rain blocked her path of escape. Beads of moisture on the windows blurred the red emergency lights to bloody streaks.

Her mind snapped to the moment she found the victim. Screams. Who was screaming? The image faded to her mother's casket. Dark cherry wood peeked from under the long white cloth draped over the coffin. Quiet sobs filled her head.

Thunder cracked.

Cody jerked to the present, stumbling back. Not again. I can't go back there.

Swallowing hard, she glanced around. If her rig was confiscated, how would she get home?

A weight like an eight-thousand-pound tractor dropped on her chest and tears coated her eyes. Where was her dad? Where was her horse? What side of the Stanton Enterprise Stadium was she on? Cody started to hyperventilate.

“Hey, kiddo, did they let you go?”

She whirled to face a stocky man in a silver-belly Stetson. “Dad.” She vaulted into his circle of comfort and wrapped her arms around him. The scent of horses and leather clung to his western dress shirt. “I don't know how I'm going to get S'mores home. They're keeping my rig. And that arrogant detective was a jerk. I can't do this.”

Sobbing, she soaked his shirt. He held her close until the torrent ebbed. Cody pulled from his arms and swiped a sleeve across her eyes.

Settling his hands on her shoulders, he squeezed. “I figured they'd keep your rig. It's a crime scene.”

Cody hiccupped at the word. “Dad — ”

“Shh. Shake it off, Cody. Your horse is on her way home right now. By the time we get there, she'll be tucked away in her stall with a nightcap.”

“JC?”

“Yes.” He hooked his arm about her shoulders and drew her to his side. “Let's get you home.”

Home. The sound of it wrapped around her like a warm blanket. In reality, any place was better than here. Cody loathed coming back tomorrow night. No trip to the NFR was worth this.

• • •

Remy paused in the stadium exit to suppress the grin playing with his mouth. Flames had lit up Cody's eyes when he taunted her about being the best. Apparently, she didn't like having her boasts thrown back at her. The cowgirl needed someone to keep her on her toes.

Hopefully the ME had arrived before the rain. Remy peered through the deluge at the long, white horse trailer hooked to a cherry-red extended cab truck. It appeared someone was inside. Upturning the collar of his coat and hunching his shoulders, Remy jogged across the lot.

He circled to the back of the trailer and entered, keeping a good distance back. A man in a blue ME jacket knelt beside the victim sprawled on the rubber-matted floor. The air was filled with the stench of blood, death, and manure. Remy preferred the manure.

The ME shifted, and Remy smiled. “Ahh, my favorite doc on duty.”

Dr. Rick Warner glanced over his shoulder. “LeBeau, 'bout time you got here.”

“I've been interviewing witnesses.” Remy crouched to Rick's level. “Why are you here? Don't you usually leave the dirty work to your underlings?”

“Circumstances warranted my assessment.”

“Well, what do you have on our victim so far?”

With a surgical-gloved hand, Rick flipped through his clipboard. “We have a female, age between twenty and thirty, multiple stab wounds, no identification, with a time of death approximately four hours ago. Don't quote me on that, can't get a good reading.” He let the papers fall back in place, as an odd expression lined his face. “I need to show you something.”

Shifting to the victim's side, Rick carefully rolled the body on to its side, revealing a single crushed red rose.

“Interesting.” Remy said.

Rick returned the body to its former position. “She was killed somewhere else. The killer used this trailer as the dumpsite.”

Remy had known Doc Warner since he began working in the DPD homicide division three years ago. The man kept a stoic presence at a scene, but Remy got the sense something rattled him about this victim.

“What aren't you telling me, mon ami?”

“Sit on it, Cajun. When I get a good look at her back at the morgue, I'll let you know.”

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Praise for
Relentless
:

“
Relentless
is an intensely suspenseful book that will have you turning the pages . . . The chemistry between Remy and Cody is intense and powerful. I was surprised at how this story just grabs me and didn't let me go. Pick up this book today and experience the intense ride in finding the brutal killer.”—The Romance Reviews

For more books by Winter Austin, check out:

Retribution

Praise for
Retribution:

“
Retribution
keeps a rapid pace with turn of events that kept me at the edge of my seat. I highly recommend
Retribution,
but if you haven't yet read
Relentless
, please pick that one up before this one.
Retribution
is full of suspense and the events that took place took me off guard.”—The Romance Reviews

Revenge

Praise for
Revenge:

“
Thank you, Ms. Austin, for your writing talent and sharing these amazing characters with us readers. I totally recommend this read to all genre readers.”—The Romance Reviews

“
Revenge
will continuously put you on the edge of your seat … Just a warning: There are scenes that are really intense and graphic. I love [a particular scene] with Cody when she kicks butt because it's one of those intense scenes [that] will leave any reader awestruck.”—Book Lovin' Mamas

Reckoning

Praise for
Reckoning:

“Beautifully written with a plot that blew my mind away . . . I totally recommend this to all readers that love suspense with romance. Pick it up today and enjoy.”—The Romance Reviews

“
Reckoning
is a spine-tingling cop thriller that will tempt the reader at every page! ... The romance between Cody and Remy is tender, yet teasing, and invites the reader into their budding relationship.”—4 stars, Victoria Z. Burg for
InD'Tale Magazine

“
Reckoning
is a taut, complex, fast-moving thriller with a twist you won't see coming while it still manages to include a little hot romance, relational drama (and silliness), and the characters who work very hard to protect each other yet somehow cause each other to end up in life or death situations. A bittersweet but satisfying conclusion to this well-done series. Winter Austin ends it with a bang.”—Hope of Glory-Into the Fire

In the mood for more Crimson Romance?

Check out
The White Carnation
by Susanne Matthews at
CrimsonRomance.com
.