The Knife Before Christmas by Kate Carlisle

Author:Kate Carlisle [Carlisle, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2024-10-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

I barely whispered the words. Had I gone into shock? By all rights and under almost any other circumstance, I should’ve been shrieking in horror. But the shrieks weren’t coming.

“I can do chest compressions,” I said loudly, and approached Randi, ready to place the heel of my hand on the center of her chest.

“Shannon. Stop,” Eric yelled. “It’s too late. She’s gone.”

“How do you know?” I demanded, then realized it was Eric, chief of police. He would probably know if someone was dead.

“It’s too late. There’s no pulse. And you can see for yourself that she’s lost too much blood. I’m sorry.”

“Blood,” I muttered, then stared at Randi. “Oh my God.”

I’d seen dead bodies before. Way too many, to be honest. And I was usually good for a few screams or a good strong shriek, at least. But this time I was well aware that I showed almost no outward emotional reaction at all. I just stared at Randi’s face, noting that she was still pretty, although her skin was flaccid and her eyes drooped unnaturally. I was saying those words internally to myself as if I were reporting the weather.

One thing was for sure: Randi would hate to see herself looking like that. The blood that had been seeping from her neck had begun to slow down to nothing. Her white blouse was completely stained red. Her life had simply drained out of her. And I was completely numb.

Staring at the body, I realized that I had just seen her taking drink orders at our table barely a half hour before. She must have been killed just before we got down to the wine cellar. Otherwise, we might’ve had a chance to save her. But how could we have saved her when her throat had been slashed so viciously? Ugh.

I forced myself to stare at her face. Her skin seemed to be fading to gray as I watched.

It was a disgusting and horrifying sight, but I still couldn’t scream. And I couldn’t look away.

I was starting to feel sorry for her. I’d never liked the woman. Not at all. But I realized that I could feel sorry for her. It wasn’t enough. I should’ve been devastated by the thought of a young person being found dead right under my nose. I should’ve been crying, maybe even screeching at the top of my lungs since it was all happening right before my eyes.

But this time it was different.

I wasn’t the medical examiner, but I’d seen and heard enough death talk to be pretty sure we’d barely missed running into the killer himself. But wait. Maybe he was still in the cellar. Maybe he was hiding in the closet by the breaker switches.

“Oh God.” I refused to feel woozy, but the thought of running into a killer was overwhelming.

“Shannon?”

I sucked in a breath, then blinked as I slowly met Mac’s gaze. “I…I’m not in shock.”

“You sure about that, babe?”

“Yeah. But I do feel a little anxious. I mean, there could be a killer nearby.

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