The Hidden Child: A Murder Mystery (Lee Callaway Book 12) by Thomas Fincham

Author:Thomas Fincham [Fincham, Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2025-09-22T00:00:00+00:00

Fifty-Three

Azura stared out the backseat window. Her brown eyes scanned the tree line as their car went past the lonely dirt road leading up to Rocky Peak, where her father promised to take her hiking. Old ’80s rock played from the cassette tape her father had popped into the ancient car’s only audio source. Out here, there were no signals available for the radio.

“Do you want to play I Spy?” Her mother, Kathrine, turned around in the passenger’s seat to look at her.

“Um, sure. You want to go first?”

“I’ll go first,” her father, Clyde, answered. He looked around for a moment. “I spy something big and red.”

Azura thought about it for a moment. There had been nothing but green pastures and cows out here. “You mean that old building we passed a while back?”

“Bingo! Good job, munchkin.”

She shook her head and laughed. “Dad, that doesn’t even count. How can you spy on something in the past?”

“Well, there’s not really anything out here, and I wanted to make it interesting.”

“My turn then. I’ll make it interesting too.” Azura glanced at the side of the road. There was nothing there. She unbuckled her seat belt and slid to the other side. She saw endless trees and wire fences. Then something caught her eye. “I spy something… green?” It was a green too dark to be grass, lying in a slight ditch on the other side of the road. “Dad, stop the car.”

“What is it?” her mother asked.

Azura grabbed the back of the driver’s seat and placed a hand on her dad’s shoulder. “I saw someone. I don’t think they’re okay.”

“Are you sure?” her father asked.

“Yes. Turn around. We have to go back.” She returned to her seat and buckled up.

***

Fisher had just finished checking the surveillance cameras at the home improvement store on the corner of Brock Avenue when Holt called.

“Find anything?” she asked.

“I got a call about a homicide at the edge of town. A few more miles and it would’ve been outside our jurisdiction.”

“So, you’re calling to…”

“I’m calling to have you drop what you’re doing and head on out this way. I’ll text you the location.” He paused. “How’s the search going?”

“Not great. Many places were happy to help, but I didn’t find anything on that date or around it. The stores’ point-of-sale systems were able to pull up purchases, but none matched the ones we are looking for.”

“Well, we can keep looking later, but right now, we’re needed for this.”

“I’m just about done here, and I’ll be on my way.” Fisher hung up the phone just as she received an incoming message. It was the address.

One more, she decided. As much as she wanted to head on over, she also wanted to catch Oliver Darrow’s killer. I’m so close, she told herself. I can feel it.

She drove down the street to a bulk supply store where they also sold gardening equipment. Their online inventory showed that they still had an ample stock of hydrated lime in various-sized bags. It was worth a shot.

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