His gaze went to the switches and then the lining of the door.
Thefuck?
“Someone glued it shut,” he muttered, almost to himself.
“Why would anyone do that?”
He opened his mouth to answer Claudia’s question, but a distant scream sounded from inside the station—Aspen’sscream.
Aspen pushed her phone aside…wayaside. She needed to stop distracting herself and do some work.
Although, Jessehadtexted her first, so technically it was his fault. But calling Callie had been all her.
Focus, Aspen. You’ve almost finished the first draft.
She looked at the words on her laptop screen. Just a couple more chapters and she’d be there. But the ending was always the hardest part…for her, at least. She had to wrap the entire thing up, give her characters the happy ending they deserved,andgive just a hint of the next story.
The next story… How long would that take her to release? If someone had asked her six months ago, she’d have laughed at their assumption that she’d even finishthisbook. But now? It might not take long at all.
Maybe music would help. When all else failed, music often got her fingers typing.
She was searching through a list of songs when a distant popping noise sounded, followed by a thump.
Her head shot up. What the heck was that?
She remained still as she listened for any more sounds. But there was nothing. In fact, the station sounded eerily quiet.
She nibbled her bottom lip. Should she go check it out?
Ha. What would be her next excuse to get out of writing? That she needed to assist the deputies in their next arrest?
She tapped her foot and looked back at the laptop screen, telling herself that sheneeded to write.
That lasted all of five seconds. She wasn’t working anyway; she may as well check out what was going on.
She rose and stepped into the hall, turning left and passing the kitchen to step into the large workspace where all the deputies’ desks were located. Only it was dark. Like, pitch-black kind of dark. The lights were off and the blinds down, although it was pretty much dark outside anyway, so open blinds probably wouldn’t help much.
What was going on, and where was everyone? She flicked the light switch on the wall just inside the room.
Nothing.
A cool chill slipped over her skin. Something was wrong. There’d been at least three deputies here when she’d arrived with Jesse. Where was everyone?
She needed to find Jesse.
She was mid-turn when she saw it. A shoe sticking out from behind a desk, visible in the light from the hallway. Her heart sped up, and with shaking fingers, she lifted her phone and turned on the flashlight. She moved closer and aimed it at the shoe.
Not just a shoe…a person.
She rounded the desk and her heart stopped.
It was one of the deputies. What was her name? Margot? She lay still on the floor, blood seeping into her clothes from a wound in her chest.
Aspen stumbled back a step.
Shot!Someone had shot her right here in the sheriff’s station.
Aspen ran forward and dropped beside her.
