Cracked But Never Broken by Kari Holloway

Author:Kari Holloway [Holloway, Kari]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hearts & Blades Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

15

The sheriff's office shared a building with the post office and had since the town was founded more than a century ago. Nancy, the sheriff’s secretary, had already started to decorate for Halloween. Little bats and shapeless ghosts covered the windows and hung from the ceilings. A black Christmas tree sat in a corner and boxes of spooky ornaments laid scattered on the floor.

"Nancy?" Darien broke the eerie silence. "Nancy!" The building wasn't big to begin with, but his voice echoed, as if we were in an empty stadium.

"Maybe they went to Lola's? It is dinner time." I glanced at my wrist and realized I hadn't worn a watch in a while. The once faint outline had faded, blending in with the rest of my skin tone.

Darien shrugged.

A knot of tension bundled in my stomach. Unease crept up my spine. "How about we pop in and check next door?"

Mr. Timothy looked up at the chime of the bell. He jangled the shiny key caught in his mailbox’s old lock.

"Here. Let me help you, Mr. Timothy." I eased my hand around his crowded keyring and forced the key.

Mr. Timothy nodded, as much as he could. "Thank ya. Were you hollering for Miss Nancy?" His body may have been wrinkled and withered from arthritis, but there was nothing wrong with his hearing. He motioned to the bag on the counter. "You can put them in there, please."

I nodded, as I slid the envelopes into the backpack and zipped it up. His granddaughter would make sure the mail was tended. "Mr. Timothy, I thought Alice checked your mail when she got done at Doc Gables."

Alice worked for the town's vet since she was in high school. The last time I saw her, in high school or thereabout, she’s had frizzy red hair and glasses thick enough to be used as lenses on the Hubble Space Telescope.

"Oh, yes. Normally she would. But there was a big commotion about an hour and a half ago. Both docs, Alice, Marley, and Nickie followed the sheriff and Nancy out of town. Where have you two been?" He slid the backpack over a shoulder and picked up his cane.

I looked at Darien as I reached in my back pocket for my cell phone. I had turned it off this morning at Miss Thomas’ and hadn't bothered turning it back on. The light on the bottom panel cycled through the colors of the rainbow as it powered up.

"Sorry, we got to go." Darien snagged my shirt, pulling me out the door with him. I barely cleared the doorjamb before he sprinted for his truck.

"Darien? What's going on?" I jammed my phone back in my pocket. The buzzing on my ass told me enough. I had missed calls, and judging by the vibrating, a lot of missed calls.

I barely slid into the seat before Darien gunned the truck out of the parking lot. "Hold on." The truck fishtailed on the loose gravel, spraying the brick wall with dirt and gravel chunks.

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