If You See Her Read Online Free PDF Page A

strangely dry.
    She knew what they were going to tell her.
    She’d woken that morning in a nondescript, bland hotel room with the certain knowledge that her cousin was dead.
    Joely was dead.
    She’d been dead for close to two weeks, and although the sheriff hadn’t gone into detail, Nia knew Joely hadn’t gone easy.
    In a matter of minutes, Nia was going to know those details. Soon, Nia would see her cousin again and somehow, she knew it was going to leave a scar on her, on her heart, on her soul.
    Just keep walking, Nia. One foot after the other …
    She reached the doors a lot sooner than she wanted and went inside. A blast of cool air washed over her and she shivered, unreasonably cold. Logically, she knew it was hotter than hell outside—the weather in Kentucky could suck, something she had experienced before. Pushing up over ninety and the humidity was worse. But she was freezing. Cold. And now, she was freezing coldwith sweat drying on her skin and the air-conditioning blasting down on her.
    One foot after the other … one foot.
    Up ahead, she saw a short, older woman with a helmet of gray hair, wickedly bright eyes.
    She caught sight of Nia and instinctively, Nia dodged into the nearest open door.
    As she came to a stop in the open doorway, she happened to notice the words
Sheriff Dwight Nielson
on the frosted glass door.
    My lucky day
, she thought dismally.
    Nia swallowed around the knot in her throat and said, “Sheriff Nielson?”
    Shock could be a lovely thing, Nia thought, somewhat disconnected.
    She closed her eyes and the tears burning there slid free and rolled down her cheeks. She didn’t want to be here, standing by Joely’s side, staring down at what had been done to her.
    Beaten—so badly beaten, Nia couldn’t even recognize her.
    Her hair, that pretty, reddish-brown hair, was all wrong—cut too short.
Why did you cut it, baby?
Nia wondered, inanely, reaching up to touch Joely’s hair with a shaking hand.
    So wrong. All of this was wrong. Joely’s battered face, the short hair.
    Nia barely recognized her.
    Swallowing, she looked up and whispered, “I think it’s her. But … can …” She paused and took a deep breath. “I need to see her shoulder. The back of her right one.”
    The sheriff and the medical examiner shared a look and then together, they rolled the body over.
    The sight of that brightly colored tattoo against Joely’spale flesh—it hit Nia like a dagger, straight in her heart. She wanted to scream. Wanted to hit something—break something. She wanted to sob … knew she would shatter if she let herself.
    Breathing shallowly, she looked away.
    Joely. It was Joely … she might not be able to recognize that battered, bruised face, and the hair might not seem right. But she knew that butterfly tattoo.
    Nia had an identical one. Joely’s was on her right shoulder, Nia’s was on her left. They’d gotten them on spring break, their senior year in high school … and they’d been grounded for two weeks after, because they hadn’t gotten permission.
    With a shaking hand, she reached down and touched the butterfly.
    The feel of Joely’s cold flesh under her fingertips was a brutal, almost painful assault to her senses.
    Human flesh shouldn’t feel like that.
    Ever.
    Joely …
    She bit down on the inside of her cheek before the sob could break free, bit until she tasted blood.
    Then she turned and met the waiting gaze of the sheriff and coroner. “It’s my cousin. Jolene Hollister. Joely.”
    The sheriff reached up, resting a supporting hand on her shoulder. “I’m terribly sorry, Ms. Hollister.”
    Nia nodded. Pressing her lips together, she reached up, touched her neck absently. “She … ah, she wore a necklace. Always. Never took it off—it was her mom’s. A gold chain, with a heart on it?”
    “There wasn’t a necklace. Her engagement ring was still on. We have that locked away—we’ll get that taken care of before you leave.”
    “Okay.”