If I Should Die_ A Novel of Suspense - Allison Brennan [23]
Sean said, “It’s no secret that I fell down the mine shaft. Word travels fast in a small town. Maybe whoever was hiding the body felt the need to move it.”
“That’s a bit of an assumption,” Weddle said.
“Hardly.” Sean leaned forward. “There was a body exactly where Lucy said it was.”
Lucy knew Sean was irritated that the cops were treating her as if she were crazy, and she wasn’t tickled about it either, but she put aside her frustration and tried to see it from their point of view. She was a stranger, she’d been through a traumatic incident, and she seemed to be seeing things that simply weren’t there.
“I apologize.” Weddle didn’t sound at all sincere. He stood. “I’ll contact the sheriff and give him your statement. He may send a team down there, or maybe not. The mine is extremely dangerous. There are exploration shafts that go down a hundred feet, caved-in ceilings; it hasn’t been maintained in forty years. But he’ll probably want to at least check out where you thought you saw the body.”
“Where I did see a body,” Lucy said.
“That’s what I said.”
“They need to search thoroughly,” Lucy pushed. “They only did a cursory inspection—”
Hammond said, “There were some signs that someone had been down there recently, but nothing significant. I’m not going to put anyone at risk—we need a current map of the mine and additional team members.”
“The lighting was poor, but if you—”
“Ms. Kincaid,” Weddle interrupted. He took a step toward her, intentionally crowding her as a method of intimidation. “We’re going to check out your claim, but we must follow safety protocols.”
“I understand,” she lied. Every muscle itched to defend herself. “I can look at missing persons pictures, see if I recognize her,” she offered.
“I’ll have the station shoot you over what we have. But there’s no one local who’s missing, and no lost tourists. Probably a waste of time.”
“It’s my time to waste,” Lucy snapped. She rose from the couch, and brushed past the cop.
“I’ll let you know if anything turns up,” Weddle said. “About the body or the arsonist.”
Lucy didn’t have any confidence in Weddle’s ability. Surely, the sheriff would show more professionalism when he read the report.
Tim walked Weddle and Hammond outside to their truck.
As soon as they were safely out of earshot, Lucy said, “Sean—”
“I know what you’re going to say, Luce. But until we know what’s going on with the vandalism, we need to keep a low profile. Announcing you work for the FBI or trained as a forensic pathologist doesn’t equal ‘low profile.’ ”
“It’s murder, Sean! The police need to make that young woman’s death a priority.”
“I agree, but let’s see what they do in the next twenty-four hours before we blow our cover. Give them time to do their job. You said the body could have been down there for months—another day isn’t going to make much of a difference.”
Even though she understood his reasoning, Lucy didn’t agree with Sean. They were in Spruce Lake because of the vandalism. Now that there was an arsonist endangering lives, the gravity of the situation had increased. If word got out about their credentials, it could spook the saboteur into hiding—or possibly even escalate the sabotage. But that didn’t mean the police couldn’t uncover their identities with a little looking—an Internet search would easily yield Sean Rogan at RCK East, a private security company, and Lucy’s involvement with a couple of FBI cases might have her name popping up in the media. Lucy didn’t think that just because Spruce Lake seemed to be living in the past, the authorities didn’t have basic tech skills and an Internet connection.
“Luce?”
“You’re right,” she said.
“I have a feeling your mind is working overtime.”
Before Lucy could respond to Sean’s comment, Tim stepped back inside the house. “I think they’re taking you seriously, Lucy.”
“I hope so.”
“You didn’t tell them why we were here?” Sean asked.
Tim shook his head. “As far as anyone in Spruce Lake knows, you’re friends of mine. End of story. I didn’t lie, didn’t expand. But the cops have your