Free Oracle Rising by Morgan Kelley

he didn't doubt that she would too.
    Yeah, he knew how dangerous that could be. Once burned, twice shy, was his motto.
    Motioning toward his deputy, the man immediately rushed over.
    “Yeah, boss?” he asked.
    “Roosevelt, I want you to look over my right shoulder at the brunette in the crowd. She’s wearing a denim jacket and is chewing on her lip. Who the hell is she?”
    The deputy did just that, pretending to be carrying on a conversation with his boss.
    It wasn’t hard for him to find her in the crowd. “The pretty one?” he asked.
    “Yes.”
    “I don’t have a clue. I haven’t been in town all that long, boss, but I know just about everyone. I don’t recognize her. Had I run into her, I would have asked her out. She’s hot.”
    “Down boy,” he warned. Something about the deputy’s comments rubbed him the wrong way.
    Then again, he’d thought the same exact thing. How could he fault the young man? He’d been a horny twenty three year old once too. Only, he’d been married at the time.
    Horny and married didn't work well together.
    Well, not in his experience.
    He thought about the woman.
    “Does she still look freaked out?” he asked.
    Roosevelt focused on her. “Yeah, she does. It looks like she’s about to bolt.”
    Slowly, he turned.
    The man was right.
    She looked like a deer in headlights, ready to run.
    “I want you to follow her. Get me her address, and let me know where she rests her head at night.”
    “Do you want it on the DL?”
    He laughed. “Yeah, I do. I like to know all the strangers in my town, and eventually, I’m going to be welcoming her to Crosspointe.”
    Yeah, once the shit died down.
    The man nodded. “I’ll run her plate if she gets into a car. It won’t take me long to get an ID.”
    The sheriff patted him on the back. “You’re a good deputy, Roosevelt. You’re a great addition to our team.”
    The man raced off when he saw the pretty brunette scurrying away. There was no way he was going to let his boss down.
    Rhett Longfellow watched his deputy head out. When he was gone, he switched his focus back to their new ME. He was leaning over the charred remains, studying the victim.
    Heading over, he joined him. “Doc, what do you have? I need you to tell me it’s not Mandy Ryan. If it is, our boss is going to be on the warpath.”
    Doctor Marco Allen glanced up from the remains. “I can’t tell you much,” he stated. “From the rings on her fingers, melted into her flesh, and the breast tissue that wasn’t as badly charred—all that I can tell you is that it’s likely a female.”
    “Great. We’re boned.”
    He knew it. It was going to be Mandy Ryan. His ass was grass.
    The doctor didn’t disagree.
    “I’m glad I’m not in your position, Sheriff.”
    Yeah, Rhett wished he wasn’t either.
    “I’ll know more once I open her up.”
    “And when will that be? I’ve already called the town dentist for records. I need an ID, and fast.”
    He understood the urgency.
    “As soon as I get them, you’ll get an ID. Why don’t you give me some time with her, and I’ll see what I can dig up?”
    He was good with that.
    “Do you think she was alive at the time she died?” Rhett asked, praying she wasn’t. That had to be a horrible way to go, and he knew it.
    “I won’t know until I cut her open, Sheriff. I have to get a peek into her lungs. If I find smoke in her, you’ll have your answer, now won’t you?”
    Rhett sighed. “Okay, make it fast.”
    He laughed. “Sheriff, I can’t. She’s not the first person on my list of autopsies today. I have that older couple who died in that car accident late last night. She’s in position number three. I won’t get to her until later.”
    “Doc…”
    “Don’t ‘Doc’ me. We don’t know if this was just an accidental death or something more. I’m not bumping victims because you have the mayor about to go nuclear. Policy states that I autopsy by order they came in, and a double is going to take me