Free Gone to Her Grave (Rogue River Novella Book 2) by Melinda Leigh Page A

something up.”
    Stevie grinned. “That’s the spirit.”
    Carly dried her eyes with the hem of her T-shirt. She dragged her backpack across the ground and opened the zipper.
    Stevie looked over her shoulder. “Whatcha bring?”
    “Roman candles and bottle rockets.” Carly had already set up Dad’s homemade launcher, a board outfitted with a metal chute, a few feet away.
    “I can’t believe we’ll never do this with him again.” Stevie’s voice was wistful.
    Since they were little girls, their father had taken his two daughters out on the summer holidays and treated them to small, and illegal, fireworks displays.
    “I always felt so wicked when we did this,” Carly said.
    “Me too. He was such a stickler for every other law on the books, but fireworks turned him into a kid.”
    He’d had other traditions he shared with James and Bruce, but the fireworks had been for Stevie and Carly only. He’d probably thought the boys would blow themselves up too. Carly thought about Bruce dunking her in the lake with all the maturity of a ten-year-old. Dad had been right. Bruce was twenty-three, and Carly wouldn’t trust him with fireworks today.
    “We’ll shoot the rockets over the river. Less chance we’ll set something on fire.” Carly angled a bottle rocket into the chute.
    Stevie straightened the bronze badge grave decoration that marked her dad as a cop. “I have something to tell you.”
    “That sounds ominous.”
    “Zane asked the medical examiner to look at Dad’s death again.”
    Carly froze. “He doesn’t think . . .”
    “There’s no evidence Dad’s death was anything other than a heart attack. All we have is some suspicious behavior and Mom’s feeling . Reopening the case was her request.”
    “Most people in this town would believe one of Patsy Taylor’s feelings over a DNA report,” Carly said.
    Stevie snorted. “So true.”
    “Didn’t the boy who died in May die from a heart attack?” Carly’s mind spun.
    “Yes.” Stevie nodded. “The new drug that’s circulating seems to kill via cardiac arrest.”
    “Could be a coincidence.” But Carly didn’t believe it, and Stevie’s silence said neither did she. Carly looked back at the gravestone. “I just can’t believe anyone would hurt Dad. He was such a good guy.”
    “Nobody deserved a white hat more than Dad, but even in Solitude, criminals don’t like cops.”
    Carly considered another strange event. “Have you heard from Roy?”
    Roy Krueger had been their father’s second-in-command in the Solitude PD. After their dad died, Roy had taken over the department for ten days before quitting and leaving town.
    “No,” Stevie said. “His house is empty, his car is gone, and his cell is disconnected.”
    “I can’t believe he just quit.”
    Stevie lifted a shoulder. “He said he didn’t want the stress.”
    Thoughts of stress and crime brought Darren Fisher to Carly’s mind. “After the incident with Ted Warner, did you search Darren Fisher’s place?”
    “No,” Stevie said. “We know he was associated with Ted, but we didn’t have probable cause for a warrant. There are times when the Fourth Amendment can be a pain in the butt.”
    “I hear you.” Carly said. “I went out to the Fisher place today to check on Tammy and the kids. I was trying to get them to apply for assistance. Darren was weird and intimidating.”
    Stevie shot her a look. “Next time you go out there, call me. I carry a gun.”
    “I will. Mrs. Fisher had taken the kids to visit her sister. With just Darren there, the place had a whole different vibe. I’ve had enough of him, but I worry about those kids.”
    “I know you do, but promise me you won’t go out there alone.”
    “I won’t. I hate to admit it, but he scared me today.” Carly rubbed her forehead. “But back to Dad. You think someone caused him to have a heart attack?”
    “I don’t know what to think.” Stevie got up and paced a few feet away and back. “But something