Deputy Shana Hastings, who, like several others, stood by to begin the search, appeared at his side. “Yes, sir?”
“Check for a linen closet, and find a clean sheet or blanket to cover Mrs. Wilton.”
“Will do, Sheriff.”
Bent’s attention rested on the woman in front of him once more. If she survived, he had a witness. That would damned sure make his life a hell of a lot easier. He glanced toward those open French doors just as Deputies Conover and Shepherd came through the front door.
Where the hell was that medical examiner? She was a doctor; she could help Alicia Wilton until the paramedics arrived.
Hastings returned with a sheet, and they draped it over the woman’s body. “Find out what’s keeping the ME and how far out EMS is.”
Hastings made the calls.
One thing was certain: Bent wanted Vee on this one. Vera Boyett was the best when it came to reading a scene. And if his one barely alive victim survived, Vee would know how to question her to get the full story. Bent counted on Vee as the department’s own personal profiler. The woman was that good. A smile tugged at his lips. Her coming back last year was the best thing that had happened to him since he was just a kid. He surveyed the carnage around him. Other than the rare situation like this one, his life was pretty damned perfect now.
Dr. Jenny Collins burst through the front door. “Sheriff!”
“Out here,” he called back. From the deck he had a clear view through those French doors all the way to the front. He watched the ME’s progress as she noted each body she encountered. A pause at the hot tub and then she made her way to where he waited.
Collins frowned. “You have a live one?”
“We didn’t think so at first,” he admitted. “Her pulse is faint, but it’s there.”
“EMS is five minutes out,” Hastings said as she tucked her cell away.
Bent sent her a nod and turned his attention back to the ME.
“Let me have a look.” Collins got down on one knee on the other side of the victim.
“This is the property owner’s wife, Alicia Wilton,” Bent explained. “Husband’s the one in the hot tub.”
Collins leaned down and checked the right eye for a reaction to light. “Well”—she sat back—“my specialty is the dead, but I’ll do what I can until someone else gets here to take over.”
“Thanks.” Bent stood and headed back into the house. He greatly appreciated anything Collins could do for the sole survivor of this nightmare. His attention shifted back to finding and collecting evidence. That was the one thing he could do for all the victims.
“Sheriff!”
He turned back to the ME with a questioning look.
“I think you might be looking for this.”
He moved back to where Collins knelt next to Alicia Wilton. Collins pointed to a large, bloody, stainless steel knife lying on the step next to Wilton.
“It was under her.”
Bent shouted for Conover, then turned back to the ME. “Looks like you found our murder weapon.”
3
Boyett Farm
Good Hollow Road, 11:00 a.m.
Vera Boyett tapped the necessary key to send the email. She pushed back her chair and stood, then stretched. She’d been at this for hours, and her body felt stiff. More coffee and a long walk were what she needed now.
Like that was going to happen. She’d finished the report on her findings for the Moore County Sheriff’s Office. But she had an additional one to finish up for Franklin County. With another elongating stretch, she padded out of the library that had been her mother’s favorite room in this big old farmhouse. Vera had decided the room would be her office. She liked the windows that looked out over the front lawn, where the many shrubs and flower beds her mother had planted decades ago still bloomed in their season. A set of French doors allowed her to shut herself away from the rest of the house.
She grunted at the idea of just how unnecessary that was these days. There wasn’t anyone to shut herself away from, unless she counted Bent. A smile tugged at her lips. And he was rarely here in the daytime. Both her sisters, Eve and Luna, were living with their respective partners. Luna and Jerome had gotten married back in January, built their new home and were expecting their first child in a mere six weeks. The idea that Vera was going to be an aunt still made her feel a little giddy. Shewasn’t at all sure what the position entailed, but she was up for whatever Luna and that baby needed.
