Free Buried (Twisted Cedars Mysteries Book 1) by C. J. Carmichael

writes? Her own kids , Dougal. She hasn’t seen Chester or Cory since they were toddlers.”
    “Maybe there’s more to that story than you know.”
    “Give me a break. You haven’t lived here. I have. Kyle is a terrific father and I love him.”
    Her brother let his hands drop. He looked defeated, suddenly.
    She had an urge to tell him not to worry, she was going to be fine. But she was still too angry with him for that. Just two days ago she had been happy. Blissfully, joyfully, innocently happy. And now, even though nothing had changed, nothing real anyway, she knew she wasn’t ever going to get back that feeling.
    * * *
    Charlotte sat at her desk while eating her chicken salad sandwich. She never went out for lunch, because they didn’t have enough staff. Twisted Cedars Library had been running on a shoe-string budget ever since its inception. Sometimes she dreamed about what she could do for the community if she only had more resources.
    But whenever she went to the board with her ideas, they were never able to see past the bottom line.
    Charlotte was partway through her sandwich, when thirteen-year-old Laila Gill came in with a backpack full of books. Laila never dropped her books into the return chute out on the street. She always delivered them personally to Charlotte, thanked her politely, and then asked for more.
    Laila was probably the library’s best customer. The girl reminded Charlotte of herself as a young teenager. Books had been her lifeline then, as she suspected they were for Laila.
    Charlotte put her hand on a stack she’d been collecting since Laila’s last visit. “I managed to find the next three in the series. Want to look at them?”
    “I’ll just take them all.” Laila pulled out her library card, which, despite being laminated, was tattered at the corners.
    Charlotte was helping Laila pile the books into her pack, when Dougal returned from his break. She wondered how his conversation with his sister had gone. Not well, judging by Dougal’s scowl.
    Charlotte slipped the hardcover of Smokescreen into Laila’s pack. “See you soon, honey. Say hi to your mom for me.”
    The words were for Laila, but her eyes were on Dougal. He brought a certain energy to the library. It was exciting having a real, published author doing his research here. Was it crazy of her to hope he might decide to move back home and do all his writing from Twisted Cedars? An author could live anywhere, after all. And she would find it so interesting to help him with his research.
    He gave her a nod before returning to the table where he’d left copies of the local paper and the library quarterlies.
    An hour later, she couldn’t resist asking him how things were going.
    “Well,” he said. “Can I ask you a question?”
    “Sure.” She slipped into the chair next to his.
    “Tell me more about your Aunt Shirley.”
    This was the last subject she’d expected him to bring up. “What do you mean? About her involvement with the library?”
    “Everything. Her work life. Her personal life.” His dark eyes were intense as he leaned closer. “Let’s start with this—was she married?”
    “No. She lived with my parents for a while, and then moved to a little cottage off the Old Forestry Road. Maybe you’ve seen it. Wade calls it the Librarian Cottage. He checks on it from time to time. It’s about five miles from town. My father didn’t like her being so isolated, but she said it suited her.”
    “I do remember that place. We used to party there sometimes.”
    “So Daisy had a key? I always wondered if she had. I noticed one was missing when I was settling my parents’ affairs.”
    “Yeah. She and Kyle used to go there a lot, as well. Just the two of them.”
    “Oh.”
    “So that’s where your aunt lived? On her own?”
    “Yes. Until she...died.”
    “Do you know the circumstances of her death?”
    Last night her mind had gone to just this subject. She thought back to a family gathering when she was