Free Dying to Tell by Rita Herron Page A

scent of bleach wafted down the steps. Ms. Lettie had said she’d cleaned up the blood.
    Still, the stench of death lingered, and the empty house was a reminder of the violence that had happened.
    And that her grandfather was gone forever.
    “It’s clear,” Jake said as he jogged down the steps.
    Sadie shoved her suitcase against the wall, suddenly feeling very much alone.
    Jake’s gaze skated over her, dark and intense. A sliver of something that looked like concern, like the old Jake, flashed in his expression, making her stomach twist. “Will you be all right here alone?”
    Sadie lifted her chin. “Of course, Jake. I’ve been on my own for a while.”
    Anger replaced the concern in his eyes, making him look cold and harsh in the dim light. “Fine.” He handed her his business card. “But here’s my cell phone as well as the office’s direct line, in case you need it.” He headed toward the stairs. “Let me know what you learn from your sister.”
    Sadie shrugged. That depended on what her sister told her. She didn’t intend to give Jake any rope to hang her with.

    The thought of leaving Sadie alone in that big old house bothered Jake more than he wanted to admit. Dammit, she had left him high and dry years ago, and hadn’t contacted him since.
    But pain had darkened her eyes when she was with her sister. Pain he remembered seeing years before.
    No wonder she’d run.
    He pressed the accelerator, the rambling farmhouse fading in his rearview mirror as he headed toward home.
    It probably wouldn’t have worked if they’d left Slaughter Creek together, anyway. They’d only been teenagers, acting on hormones and lust. He’d been looking for...he didn’t know what. A way to please his father?
    No, he’d never done that.
    And being with Sadie sure as hell hadn’t helped. In fact, his dad had warned him to stay away from the whole damn Nettleton bunch.
    Arthur Blackwood had been a tough-ass military man all the way. Rigid. Focused. Had trained him and his brother, Nick, to be the same way. And he’d had plans for them both to follow in his footsteps.
    Until he’d left them without a word.
    And Sadie...what had she been looking for? A way out of Slaughter Creek.
    She’d found it, too. Only it hadn’t been with him.
    Was someone waiting for her back in San Francisco?
    Not that it mattered to him. He had Ayla and his job, and that was all that mattered.
    But he had promised Grace’s mother some answers, so he turned into the entrance for the duplexes where Foley lived,noting signs of children in the tricycles, wagons, and bikes in the yards. Several units had cars parked in the driveways, and he checked the address, frowning when he noticed it was dark.
    No vehicle in the driveway either.
    He grabbed his flashlight, then strode up to the door and rang the bell. Shabby sheers hung on the front windows, and when no one answered the door, he shone the flashlight inside. Dammit, no sign anyone was inside.
    Crickets chirped in the background, and a dog barked. He strode around the side of the duplex and looked in another window. No one there either.
    And no furniture.
    In fact, the place looked as if it had been cleaned out.
    Mazie had said Foley was a temp, so Jake phoned the only temp agency in town. When it rolled to voice mail, he left a message for someone to call him about Herbert Foley.
    He noted a rental sign in a neighboring yard and called that number.
    “Logston’s rentals,” a man said.
    “This is Sheriff Blackwood. I’m trying to locate one of your tenants.”
    “What’s the name?”
    “Herbert Foley.”
    “Foley...oh, yeah, a big guy, paid in cash for a month, then cut out.”
    Jake frowned. “Do you know where he went?”
    “Nope, didn’t even stay the whole month.”
    “When did he leave?” Jake asked.
    “Just a minute, let me check my notes.” Papers shuffled. “Okay, here it is. I went by to talk to him about mowing the yard the middle of the month, but the neighbor said she