Dying to Tell Read Online Free PDF Page A

heartache he suffered when she broke it off with him?
    Hell, he’d felt like a fool. All those times he’d driven by her house, by their favorite spot by the creek, pining for her. He’d even kept her painting of Slaughter Creek, although he stowed it in the attic so it wouldn’t remind him of her.
    She cleared her throat. “Tell me what happened, Jake. Did Amelia really kill Papaw?”
    He drummed his knuckles on the desk. “It appears that way.”
    When she showed no response, he tacked his professional mask in place. He was a lawman. She was the sister of a suspect in a murder investigation.
    If she’d talked to Amelia lately or to her grandfather, she might offer a clue that could help them understand this whole damn mess.
    Then he could close the case; focus on finding out what happened to his father. She could leave, and he could forget about her all over again.
    He had Ayla now. Ayla was the love of his life.
    Sadie had deserted him. And so had Ayla’s mother.
    He would never trust another woman again.

    Sadie dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands to control the trembling. She dealt with traumatized children, with detectives, with DAs, with violent angry defendants, all the time. She could do this. “Jake, please talk to me. I need to know Amelia’s condition when you found her.”
    He hissed a breath, then leaned back in his chair. “When I arrived at the house, I heard crying from upstairs, in the bedroom. Walt was dead, gunshot wound to his head. Amelia was hunched on the floor with the shotgun in her hands.”
    Sadie gulped. “He was shot in the head?”
    Jake nodded. “Yeah. It was a mess. Blood was everywhere...”
    Sadie bit her tongue in denial. Her sister might be crazy, but she wouldn’t kill Papaw...There had to be another explanation.
    One of the personalities in her head?
    But why? None of them had ever turned violent toward Papaw before.
    To one other person, yes, but not to family...
    Something wasn’t right.
    “Nobody else was there?” she asked. “Maybe someone else shot Papaw and put the gun in Amelia’s hands.”
    “Amelia was the only one in the house.” He spread his hands on the file on his desk, covering the folder that probably had photos of the crime scene. “After I took the gun away from her, I searched the house and perimeter.”
    Then Sadie spotted another file peeking from the stack and noticed it was labeled “Arthur Blackwood.” A shudder coursed through her. Oh, God, was Jake looking into his father’s disappearance?
    Of course he would...
    Had he found out anything so far?
    A tense second passed, and she tried to pull herself together. “Did my sister say anything?” Sadie asked. “Offer any explanation about what happened?”
    Jake shook his head, making a lock of black, wavy hair fall across his forehead. She had the insane urge to sweep it back with her fingers like she used to do. She could almost hear the way he groaned her name when she touched him.
    When he touched her...
    No, Sadie, you can’t go there. Too many secrets. Too many lies.
    Besides, hadn’t she heard he’d married? She couldn’t see who was in that photograph on his desk, but it was probably his beloved wife.
    “I tried to talk to your sister,” Jake said. “But she just stared into space as if she couldn’t see me. As if she was lost in her own world.”
    Despair threatened...she’d seen her sister like that before. So many times.
    Jake continued in a monotone, “I called the coroner for your grandfather, then Ms. Lettie phoned Dr. Tynsdale and he came right away.”
    “What did Dr. Tynsdale say?”
    “That Amelia was traumatized. She’d slipped into a near catatonic state.”
    “But you arrested her and brought her here instead of the hospital?”
    Jake’s jaw tightened. “I had to, Sadie. She was holding the damn murder weapon in her hands.”
    Sadie felt panicky, as if the room, the walls, the years, were closing in on her. As if they were going to shatter and