Victoria Houston - Loon Lake 14 - Dead Lil' Hustler Read Free Page B

hands on his hips and his big head thrust forward. “I didn’t know you knew Chief Ferris, Doc,” said Bud. The knowing grin on his face irritated Osborne. “How long has this been going on? What have I missed?”
    “It’s business, Bud, all business,” said Osborne with a dismissive wave. “For the last couple years, I’ve been asked to fill in for Pecore when he’s, ah, you know, out of sorts as they say. You know what I mean—on occasion. The county and the police department like to have a health professional as coroner when they can and I have the time so—there it is.”
    The grin hadn’t left Bud’s face so Osborne heard himself rattle on, “I had to call 911 this morning and Chief Ferris wanted to be sure that there hadn’t been an accident—that’s all.”
    “You called 911?” asked Bud, raising his eyebrows.
    “Yeah, my grandson’s got some virus or something. Not sure, yet. No big deal, Bud.”
    Heading toward the exit, Osborne gave a weak grin and waved goodbye, hoping that would satisfy Bud, for the moment at least.

Chapter Four
    After the race to the emergency room with the siren on and lights flashing, Lew decided to take her time driving back to the station. She wanted time to think over the crisis facing Doc and his family.
    How could the life of that rambunctious little boy be in such danger? And without warning? One minute he’s a child coming down with a cold and then…
    A crackle from the police radio interrupted her thoughts.
    “Chief Ferris? Dani, here. I’m back at the station—is Dr. Osborne’s grandson okay?”
    “They’re running tests,” said Lew. “See you in a minute, Dani, I’m only a few blocks away—”
    “That’s why I radioed, Chief. The Forestry Service called in a few minutes ago. Two kayakers found a body in the Pine River. Sounds like it’s in bad shape—like really dead. Y’know—like bones and all?”
    Lew couldn’t help getting a kick out of Dani’s take on some of the situations that the police had to deal with. The young woman had never considered herself a candidate for police work but after being assigned to help the Loon Lake Police with an investigation at the local tech college, she surprised everyone, including herself, with a natural talent for using the computer for advanced searches and data analysis.
    “I’m a geek and I never knew it,” she had laughed when praised for using the computer to locate the source of criminal activity on the college campus.
    It didn’t take much for Lew to convince her she had a future on the investigative team. Although the nineteen-year-old changed her major at the tech college from cosmetics to law enforcement, she had not lost her less-than-sophisticated perspective on dead bodies.
    “Yeah, so, at first the ranger who took the call thought they must have found a dead bear but the kayakers told him bears don’t wear snowmobile suits so—”
    “Okay, okay,” said Lew with a sigh. “I’ll get Pecore on the line and have him meet me there. Do you have an exact location?”
    “Yes, I do,” said Dani.
    Lew pulled over to jot down the directions.
    “Damn,” she said to herself as she scrolled through the numbers on her cell phone looking for Pecore’s home number. Wasn’t the day bad enough without being forced to work with that razzbonya?
    Thanks to his brother-in-law, Loon Lake’s longtime mayor, Pecore had been appointed Loon Lake’s coroner in perpetuity or, at least, until the mayor expired. This was in spite of the fact that his prior work experience was limited to running a tavern—though which side of the bar he preferred was a subject for debate among many Loon Lake citizens.
    Worse had been Pecore’s longtime habit under the former chief of police of letting his two golden retrievers into the coroner’s office and its long-out-of-date small morgue where bodies had once been stored until identified. More than once the dogs had been seen nosing around the shelves holding