forgotten (Twisted Cedars Mysteries Book 2) Read Free Page B

before she supposedly left town. He’s also the only one we know who had a grievance against her. We know from her lawyer that she’d been fighting him for partial custody of their kids.”
    “Could it have been a stranger, Wade? Someone just passing through town, maybe?”
    “Hard to understand how a stranger would have been able to bury her body at a cottage only a local from Twisted Cedars would know how to find. Plus, why would Kyle have used her bank card to make it seem she was living in Sacramento, if he didn’t have something to hide?”
    “That’s the most damning thing of all, isn’t it?” Years ago her father had set up a joint-account for his daughters. A fund they could dip into if they ever got into a jam.
    Ever since Daisy disappeared, monthly withdrawals had been made from random ATMs in Sacramento. While he was alive, their father had kept transferring funds to the account. After his death, Charlotte had continued to do so as well.
    Perhaps they’d been foolish to see the withdrawals as proof Daisy was alive.
    Maybe if they’d been more assertive with the bank, tried more investigators than the two they’d hired—one when Daisy disappeared, another after their parents’ deaths—Kyle’s ruse would have been discovered earlier.
    “I just wish it could be someone other than Kyle. Not that I’m a fan of the guy. But I hate the idea of my niece and nephew losing both parents. And from all accounts—including Jamie—Kyle is a good father.”
    “I hear you. We’ll have more to go on in a week or two. We’ve sent some evidence to the lab for testing—hair and fibers found on the tarp that was wrapped around her body. Also blood traces we found on a corner wall in Kyle’s kitchen, under a couple layers of paint.”
    Charlotte frowned. “Blood traces in the kitchen?”
    “Evidence suggests she was moved after she died.”
    “Supposing Kyle wanted to kill her. Why would he do it in his kitchen?”
    “We can’t assume he intended to commit murder. Perhaps they’d been arguing—they did that a lot, by all accounts. Maybe the fight got physical. A hard shove against the sharp corner of the wall could have been all it took.”
    Charlotte could feel tears coming, and she swallowed hard. “It’s some comfort to think Daisy’s death might have been an accident. But if it was why wouldn’t’ Kyle call 911? Why did he bury her out in the forest—leaving his children, and all the rest of us to worry and wonder what had happened to her?
    “It’s unconscionable,” Wade agreed. He finished his beer, then nodded at her almost empty glass. “Want another?”
    “I better go home.” Her head had started to ache. Plus she had a feeling Dougal might be returning from his trip today. He’d said he was only going away for a week and it had already been eight days.
    She hated to admit how much she longed to see him.
    Because counting on Dougal was never a smart move.
     
     

chapter three
     
    d ougal Lachlan stood in long term parking at the Portland Airport and tried to remember where he’d parked his SUV. Holding a duffel bag in one hand, and a pet carrier with his cat Borden in the other, he needed a third hand to get out his keys.
    It was seven in the evening and raining. He’d just spent ten hours flying from New York City to Portland, with a connection in Chicago, and he still had a five and half hour drive to Twisted Cedars.
    Home. Strange to be calling it that again after all these years.
    But then, a lot was strange these days.
    Most notably, finding a buried body in the former garden at Librarian Cottage.
    And then that body belonging to Charlotte’s sister Daisy.
    He was worried about Charlotte. She hadn’t answered any of his calls while he was away. Maybe she was pissed at him for taking off so soon after finding Daisy’s body. But he had his demons, too.
    And he’d had to get his cat.
    Borden let out a yowl of displeasure from inside her carrier.
    “I hear you.” He set down