Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

The phone vibrated on the nightstand, yanking Dare from a restless sleep. His bleary gaze landed on the clock and before the predawn hour even registered, the swirling sensation in his gut told him something was wrong. Grabbing up the phone, he bit back a curse when saw Yvonne’s name.

“Yeah?”

He didn’t bother with formalities, and he was grateful his dispatcher didn’t beat around the bush. “Hey, Sheriff. We just got a call for a 1020 in the park.”

Damn. A grimace pulled at his mouth as he rolled from the bed. “Any details yet?”

“Woman was found on a bench. Shawn Ashmore found her just a few minutes ago. I dispatched your men on duty, but I figured you’d want to be there, too.”

“You figured right.” Dare wanted to be present for anything that even resembled a homicide. “Can you give the ME’s office a call—see if Doc Seidel’s available.”

“You got it.” Yvonne hung up, and Dare released a sigh. Death was unavoidable, even in a small town like Brookhaven, where most of the calls tended to be mostly domestic disputes or traffic citations.

He quickly dressed and grabbed his gear, then headed toward the west side of town.

A man sat on the curb, head hanging low, elbows draped on his widespread knees. Dare knew most of the residents, at least by sight, and Shawn Ashmore was Brookhaven High School’s football coach. An avid runner, the man could be seen running through town each morning.

Dare tipped his head at the man as he climbed from the cruiser. “Hey, Shawn.”

The man glanced up at him, his face pale. “Hey, Sheriff.”

He looked like he might cast up the contents of his stomach, so Dare stayed several steps away. “You good?”

He nodded shakily. “Yeah, sorry. Just...” His gaze shifted away for a second. “First time seeing something like that.”

Dare understood that completely. It was hard for first responders to experience death firsthand, let alone civilians. He nodded and pulled out the small notepad he kept in his jacket. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“I was out for a run—same as usual.” The man swallowed hard. “I didn’t even notice her at first. When I got closer, I saw her looking my way, so I waved. But she didn’t wave back. She didn’t even move.”

He closed his eyes and gave a little shake of his head. “I could tell her eyes were open, but I thought she was just ignoring me. She was so still…”

Dare glanced at him. “Did you touch anything?”

“No.” He shook his head emphatically. “I thought it was odd, the way she was sitting there. I cut across the sidewalk to check on her, and that’s when I realized…” He gave a little shudder.

“Do you recognize her?”

Shawn made a face, then shook his head as if doing so would clear the image from his mind. “No, I don’t think so. She looks young, so I thought she might be a student, but I don’t remember ever seeing her before.”

“Did you see anyone else around?”

Shawn pointed across the town square. “Bill Mahle pulled in behind the hardware store about the same time I saw her. But that was it.”

Dare jotted down the information. “Do you know who might have done this?”

“I appreciate your help.” Dare closed his notebook, then glanced at his watch. School started in less than an hour. “Do you need a ride home?”

Shawn glanced up at him, uncomprehending, and Dare elaborated, “I can have one of the patrolmen give you a ride so you’re not late for work.”

He nodded a little dazedly, then slowly pushed to his feet. “I think I might take the day off.”

Dare didn’t blame the man. It was a lot to process. He waved over Evan Landry and asked him to drive Shawn home. Once the man was ensconced in the cruiser and on his way, Dare turned his attention back to the scene. Yellow tape was strung around the park, and several of his deputies milled about, bleary-eyed from having been dragged out of bed at the crack of dawn.

He could tell by the way the woman been painstakingly positioned and cared for that she’d been killed elsewhere and transported here under the cover of darkness. The woman reclined against the bench, her vacant eyes staring out across the playground. She would have been beautiful, but someone had stolen her vivacity, leaving her with the waxy look of death.

If Dare had to guess, she’d probably died sometime in the last twenty-four hours. Dr. Seidel would be able to better estimate the time of death. As if the thought had summoned him, Dare’s attention was drawn to the medical examiner’s van as it pulled up next to the park. He lifted a hand in greeting as the older man climbed out, then ducked under the tape and approached the scene.

Dare turned his attention back to the woman again. She’d been posed here sometime during the night, he supposed, hands folded primly at her waist, feet crossed at the ankles. Her long blonde hair was combed perfectly into place, a slight curl at the ends, almost as if someone had styled it before placing her here.

He quickly briefed Doc Seidel on what they knew so far, then stepped away to let the man work. Dare glanced around. The park was only a block from the center of town, and he could see the flag of the courthouse from where he stood. Who the hell would be brazen enough to leave her here, where he could have been seen at any moment?

He didn’t like what that implied. The killer was confident, and this most likely wasn’t his first time. They would need to check the cameras from the city buildings and surrounding businesses, see if they’d picked up any activity during the course of the night.

Dare gave Dr. Seidel a few minutes to get settled, then crossed over to where the medical examiner was examining the young woman. He didn’t glance up as Dare reached his side. “What do we know?”

Dare quickly briefed the medical examiner, who nodded along, asking questions intermittently. “Anyone touch her?”

“Not that I’m aware of. Shawn Ashmore found her like this during his morning jog. Said he approached her but called it in as soon as he realized she was dead.”

Doc Seidel picked up one of the woman’s hands. “Her nails are extremely clean.”

Dare leaned closer and examined her fingers. There was no polish on her nails, and they looked as if they’d been freshly scrubbed and manicured. He scowled. “He wanted to get rid of any evidence.”

“Probably.” Doc Seidel replaced her hand and continued to peruse her still form. “If he left something behind, I’ll find it.”

Dare watched on broodingly. He doubted they’d get any DNA off this girl and probably very little in the way of evidence. Dr. Seidel completed his work, then loaded the victim to take her to the morgue.

With the body removed, the deputies moved in to process the scene. Dare headed to the station where he dropped Sarge off, then walked the few blocks to the courthouse. Unsurprisingly, news of the murder had already spread, and he put in a request to review the footage from the previous night.

He did the same with the businesses surrounding the park, hoping they would catch a break. It was a long shot, especially since it’d been dark, but they needed to cover all their bases.

Dare returned to the station to find an email from Peggy at the courthouse. She’d attached two files, one from each camera that faced the park, and he settled in to watch. Several hours later, he sat back in his chair, frustrated. Their system hadn’t caught a damn thing.

The cameras were decent quality, but they were too far away to pick up any movement near the park. He’d noted all the cars that had driven past and jotted down their license plates. He would have one of his deputies run those, check with the owners to see if they’d seen anything.

Lieutenant Campbell McCoy knocked on the doorjamb, and Dare glanced up at him. “Anything yet?”

Cam shook his head. “Not yet. We printed everything and sent the evidence to the lab, so we’ll see if we get any hits.”

“Maybe the autopsy will turn up something worthwhile.” Dare scrubbed a hand over his face. “You headed out?”

Cam glanced at his watch, then nodded. “Yeah. I reached out to the surrounding departments to see if anyone matching her description has been reported missing. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

“Do me a favor and have one of the guys run these.” He passed the list of vehicles and plate numbers to Cam. “We need to see if anyone passing through last night noticed anything.”

“You got it.”

Cam disappeared, and Dare ran a hand through his hair. Hopefully they’d have some information tomorrow so they could ID the victim and figure out who the hell had done this.

It still pissed him off that the killer had left her out in the open like that, right in the center of town. Dare took pride in keeping the town safe, and for something like this to happen right under his nose… That wasn’t acceptable.

Dare’s foul mood hadn’t lifted by the time he got home. Grabbing up the empty bag from the fast food place he’d stopped by on the way home, he crumpled it in his fist and slid from the car. He let Sarge out of the back seat, and the dog immediately bolted toward the freedom of the backyard.

The burger and fries sat like lead in his gut, making him feel even worse. He strode around the corner of the garage toward the trash cans. He lifted the lid and froze when a bright flash of red greeted him. The roses he’d bought for Ainsley last night lay on top of the black trash bags.