Unconditional by Copella Holly

Author:Copella, Holly [Copella, Holly]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Copella Books
Published: 2016-02-08T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-four

Early the following morning, there was a firm knock on the front door. The overzealous use of the brass knocker immediately announced who was outside the door, at least to those living within the Stryker home. Indy hurried down the staircase. She was obviously fresh from the shower with her hair still damp and unkempt. Indy opened the front door to reveal a stately police officer in his early fifties, Sheriff Lerner. The sheriff was a stern, intimidating looking man with a prominent scar on his left cheek. Despite being rumored it was from a scuffle with his seven-year-old cousin when they were in the second grade, the scar commanded respect from the town’s citizens.

“Morning, Indy,” Sheriff Lerner announced in his most pleasant, gruff tone.

Most people believed the sheriff was an unpleasant, surly man, but Indy knew his gruff tone was little more than a façade. She’d met plenty like him over the years in the military. That he’d never been a soldier was almost surprising.

“Morning, Sheriff,” she announced and offered her customary smile while greeting Sheriff Lerner.

A hint of a smile crossed his face, although it immediately disappeared. He hated showing emotion, but she always managed to drag a little out of him just to remind him that he had them. He gently cleared his throat and again turned official, which normally wasn’t suspicious, but he seemed more distracted than usual.

“Sorry to bother you so early the day after Christmas, but we have a little problem on your road,” he informed her. “We found a dead girl in the swamp.”

The news nearly stunned Indy. Had she heard him correctly? “What?”

“Since it's just your house and the mortuary on this road, I thought maybe your father could have a look at her,” Sheriff Lerner informed her. “She's not from around here, or I would have recognized her, and she had no identification. Between us, I think she was murdered.”

“Murdered?” Indy gasped and stared at him a moment almost uncertain how to respond. “I don't think we've ever had a murder around here before.”

“No, we haven't,” he proudly announced, as if the low crime rate was due to his effectiveness as sheriff. “Unofficially, it appears as if her neck was broken.”

Indy suddenly felt a cold chill run down her spine as she stared at the sheriff. A horrible thought struck her.

“Nate's girlfriend was here on Christmas Eve,” she informed him with concern. “She left early Christmas morning before the others were out of bed. I hope it wasn’t her.”

“Twenty-something; looks to be a blonde. I’m guessing she was quite attractive,” he announced. “Sort of hard to tell with the condition we found her.”

Further concern swept over Indy. “You just described Nate’s girlfriend,” Indy announced in a slight gasp. She felt a sense of urgency to find out if the dead woman was, in fact, Nate’s girlfriend. “The guys are still sleeping it off. Maybe I'd better go with you to identify the woman.”

He nodded and stepped aside, allowing her to exit first.

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