When the Smoke Clears (Deadly Reunions) Read Online Free PDF

Maybe someone saw something.
    Approaching the officer in charge, Hunter asked, “What do we have, Simon?”
    “A dead body.”
    “Great.” Hunter sighed and couldn’t ignore the twinge of sadness he felt every time he walked into a situation like this. Even after years of working homicide, a dead person was never just another day on the job. It was a person with a soul. Someone he might have been friends with in another time and place. “Where?”
    “In the basement. We’re waiting on the medical examiner to get here.”
    “Serena Hopkins?”
    “Yep. She’s on her way.”
    Hunter felt a flash of satisfaction. Even in high school he knew Serena was smart. And now she was back, one of the best in the business. The best that he’d worked with, anyway. She’d moved back from Spartanburg, South Carolina, a year ago on personal business and accepted the offer of Chief Medical Examiner without hesitation.
    Katie asked, “How do we get to the basement?”
    “That way, through the kitchen.” Simon waved to a young officer and the man trotted over. “The photographer is down there now. Officer Mays here was first on the scene. As soon as the photographer is done, show these detectives where the body is. Y’all don’t touch anything ’til Serena gets here, please.”
    Officer Mays nodded. “The basement door was open when she found the body.”
    “She?”
    The young officer consulted his notes. “Alexia Allen.”
    Hunter’s lungs suddenly lacked air. Alexia Allen? Home? He stared at the officer. “Are you sure you got her name right?”
    “He got it right.”
    The voice from his past echoed through his brain.
    So, she’d finally come home.
    Memories flooded his mind and he paused a moment to get his bearings. Then he turned to see her standing at the top of the stairs leading from the basement. She had the same red hair and flashing green eyes. He said the first thing that came to his befuddled mind.
    “You’ve got blood on your hands.”
    “I-I’m a first responder,” she stammered, then bit her lip. Her jaw firmed. “I didn’t have any gloves . . . I just . . . I did my best to see if I could stop the bleeding and revive him.” Regret flashed across her face. “I couldn’t.”
    His eyes dropped to her hands. They were shaking, but she was holding herself together, her expression flat, impassive. She’d also contaminated the crime scene, but he’d deal with that later. The victim always came first. “How’d he die?”
    “He was stabbed in the neck and bled out,” she stated, her voice now cold, eyes blank.
    Shock? “Are you okay?”
    “I will be.”
    Still very little emotion. Interesting. “What was he doing in your mother’s house?”
    “I have no idea.” A small shudder wracked her frame. “I just got here a little while ago. When I walked in, I heard something.” She grimaced. “I’ve already been through all of this with the first officer on the scene. You want me to go through it again?”
    “If you don’t mind,” Katie said.
    For the first time since he’d entered the house, Alexia took her eyes off of him. Her gaze landed on his partner with a blink. “I guess not. The noise came from the basement, then I heard him running down the steps. I followed and found—” she swallowed hard, “—Devin.”
    “The body?” Hunter’s interest sharpened. She knew him? Wait a minute . . . “Devin? Your ex from high school?”
    Her nose reddened, but no tears appeared. “Yes.”
    “And you don’t know what he was doing here.” Katie didn’t bother to keep the skepticism from her voice.
    She focused those gorgeous green eyes at his partner. “No. I don’t know what he was doing here.”
    She’d picked up on Katie’s disbelief, her response almost mocking as she repeated Katie’s words. He wanted to apologize for his partner.
    But wouldn’t.
    Statistics showed more often than not that the victim knew the killer. He certainly understood his partner’s immediate