Pretty Broken Dolls: An absolutely gripping crime thriller packed with mystery and suspense (Detective Katie Scott Book 6) Read online

  The reality of watching a murder victim fished out of the family’s large pond would be deeply disturbing, even to a seasoned professional. All Katie could do was wait and hope that her colleagues proved her instincts and experience correct.

  She kept moving, hoping to keep her body warm. Glancing up at the top of the driveway, she saw a dark gray sedan parked on the street. She had noticed the vehicle earlier, and this time there was a man leaning against the side. Of medium build with blond hair and sunglasses, he appeared to be in his forties or fifties, and was distinguished-looking, despite his casual outfit of heavy navy windbreaker jacket and jeans. He stood like a statue, unmoving, watching the entire search take place.

  Katie began to approach him, wanting to confront him about what he was doing there. She picked up her pace, but the man didn’t make a move.

  That’s when she heard the commotion. Looking back, she saw one of the divers giving a thumbs-up sign. Chad yelled that they had found something, and a sense that was partial dread mixed with a strange relief flooded her body.

  McGaven yelled across the pond to the men. “What do you have?” He then turned and called up to Katie, “They found an ATV!”

  Katie felt a momentary sense of reprieve that it wasn’t a body, and hurried to meet up with McGaven.

  “They found it?” she said breathlessly.

  “Yep. You were right,” he said with a half-smile on his face.

  “I knew it had to be close.” She shivered.

  “Those damn instincts of yours…”

  They watched patiently as the crew prepared to pull the all-terrain vehicle from the deep, murky water. One of the search and rescue officers unwound the winch and tossed the heavy-duty hooks into the water. Then the diver disappeared underwater again to secure the hooks to reinforced places on the sporting vehicle.

  As the churning winch began to pull, the ATV slowly emerged like a prehistoric animal out of the lake. One of the wheels was bent, so once it was dragged completely out, it was lopsided, dripping with muddy water. It appeared there were several dents in the side, and the top roll bar that was supposed to keep you safe was crushed inward and would probably have killed the driver—but there was no driver.

  Katie shuddered as she immediately recognized the vehicle from several framed photos inside the house. She wasn’t certain if she was happy or sad—perhaps a bit of both.

  But the recovery crews weren’t done yet—there was still more of the pond to search. Chad switched places with a teammate and they began the painstaking process once again.

  “I think there’s an umbrella in the car,” said McGaven as drizzle started to fall around them.

  “I’m fine,” Katie said and pulled her hood around her head to keep her ears warm.

  They heard several car doors open and close in the Stanton driveway and turned to see Detectives Hamilton and Alvarez exit a vehicle and walk down the path to meet them.

  “Who called Hamilton?” said McGaven.

  Hamilton was the detective in charge of any new homicide investigations. Katie had had some tense moments with him, but they had managed to keep their investigative relationship on a professional and friendly basis.

  “Well, technically the sheriff did, but I requested it.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I knew if there was a body found, we would need the help,” Katie said.

  “If Jared’s body is in the pond, I think this is an open-and-shut investigation,” he said.

  “Hi, Detective McGaven,” said Hamilton, nodding his greetings. “I see they found an ATV.”

  “So far,” said McGaven.

  “They still have almost half the pond to explore,” said Katie, trying not to let her teeth chatter in the cold. The four of them stood watching the pond. They didn’t speak for moment, keeping their eyes fixed on the divers and what they might pull up.

  The rain gathered speed as a soft rolling thunder sounded in the distance. Clouds propagated in several shades of gray, pushing forward and gathering across the sky.

  Chad’s head popped up from the water suddenly and he gave the signal that he had found something, but not what it was.

  Another ATV? Belonging to his dad?

  Jared?

  The other diver conferred with him a moment. Katie strained to hear the conversation and tried to read the body language. She waited anxiously.

  Was it something?

  Chad swiveled toward the shoreline and made a gesture at one of the police officers, who in turn hurried away to his patrol car.

  Katie stepped forward to get closer to the pond, mesmerized by how gracefully Chad moved. She didn’t care how wet she was going to get as the rain picked up momentum: she was chilled to the core anyway and more water wasn’t going to make a bit of difference.

  Chad made eye contact with her and he subtly nodded. Even in this terrible situation, she still felt the strong connection of love for him—her fiancé. She waited to make absolutely sure what he was implying was correct and he confirmed it with a grim expression. She knew what it meant.

  Turning around, she spoke to the rest of the crew in a hushed tone. “Looks like we have a body.”

  McGaven confronted her. “You sure?”

  “Yes.”

  Hamilton walked up. “Okay, we’ll get the coroner, but for now let’s pull the body up and out of this rain.” Turning to Katie, he said, “Your crime scene awaits.”

  Katie looked at him, a bit confused—she wasn’t sure if she had heard him correctly.

  “That means you’re working the crime scene—what there is of it,” he stated. “You haven’t let me down yet.” Hamilton corrected himself, “You haven’t let us down.” He gave her a genuine smile, looking much more likeable as he relaxed his face.

  Katie nodded and then looked at McGaven. “Back me up,” she said as they walked to the south side of the pond—the closest to the recovery area—and waited.

  She began preparing herself silently for what she was about to see. She glanced back at the house, expecting one of the Stantons to come running toward the pond screaming, but the house remained quiet—and no one came out.

  She turned her attention back to Chad and the other diver as they pulled something to shore; it looked like a large black garbage bag. It was round, not the length and shape that would indicate a body. Could it just be a bag of debris?

  To Katie’s relief, the drizzly rain had stopped, but the rumbling of thunder continued to approach, gaining in volume. Taking off her warm mittens, she slipped on plastic gloves and knelt down, reaching her hand forward as McGaven used his body to block the view from the house and the neighbors.

  Katie barely touched the bag but she felt something bristly. Flipping back the plastic, she revealed brown hair, then an ear, then the side of a young man’s head. Katie gasped as she took in the grayish skin, concaved, shriveled, looking more like a rubber mask in a Halloween store than anything human. One eye was gone, but the other was blackened and staring out. It was the decapitated head of a man. A young man.

  Katie drew her hand back in revulsion and turned away for a moment to compose herself. “It’s a young man. It’s… difficult to tell, but it appears to be Jared Stanton.”

  Several of the surrounding group members sucked in air but couldn’t tear their eyes away from the horrendous site of Jared’s face staring back at them.

  McGaven retrieved his small pocketknife and handed it to Katie. She looked at him and reluctantly took the blade, not wanting to see more, but then sliced a small area on the opposite side of the construction bag.

  It was just as she had thought.

  Carefully, she turned back the bag, revealing the remains of a young man. His torso, arms, and legs were crammed inside—the dismembered limbs broken and crooked to fit into the bag. The water had done damage to the body and decomposition wasn’t the same as it would have been if he were buried in the dirt. Jared Stanton’s body and decapitated head were bloated and shiny, and Katie knew
that now the skin was exposed to the air, it would soon slip off, turning black.

  Katie took a few moments to try to ascertain what type of tool might have been used to separate his body. Jared’s legs still had on jeans, his torso was wrapped in a T-shirt, and sneakers were on both his feet. She examined his head and neck to establish if there were any obvious clues to what had killed him—if there were any cuts, bullet holes, or traumas that led to his death—but nothing was obvious.

  She immediately stood up and addressed McGaven and Hamilton. “The body needs to be taken to the medical examiner’s office so it can be identified officially as Jared Stanton. We need to find out what was used to dismember him—and if there are signs of trauma, drugs, or poison in his body. This isn’t the time or place to conduct any kind of examination, not in this weather.” She swallowed hard and continued, “The ATV needs to be transported to the police impound so that forensics can search and document it, getting any VIN numbers to identify it.”

  She turned to Chad who was waiting in the background as far away from the body as possible. “I need the rest of the pond scoured for anything else that shouldn’t be there, especially anything that could have been used as the murder weapon, and the other ATV.”

  There were two deputy sheriffs standing nearby. Katie summoned them. “I want you two to document anything in the barn that might be missing or might have been used to dismember the body, like a chainsaw, hand saw, knives, or whatever you can find, to assist forensics when they get here. Make sure that you keep any tools or items you find protected from this rain.”

  They nodded that they understood and left.

  As Katie turned and began walking back up to the house, she eyed the blond stranger getting into his car.

  “Hey, Katie,” said McGaven, diverting her attention to him.

  “Yeah,” she said but kept moving.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Taking a break to take some notes on the events and begin our report,” she said and hurried in the direction of the police vehicle.

  Chad caught up to her. “Where are you running to?” he asked gently, knowing that every case took its toll on her.

  “I’m fine. Just need to get the paperwork together for the sheriff.”

  “Hey.” He took her arm and examined her face. “Take some time for yourself, okay?”

  She forced a slight smile and nodded, not wanting to let him know how disturbed she was by the scene.

  “See you later. Okay?”

  It was clear that he wanted to kiss her but it would have been inappropriate at the crime scene in front of all of their co-workers.

  “Bye,” she said and watched Chad return to the group.

  As Katie looked for the blond stranger, scanning the street in both directions, she spotted the car driving away.

  Her cell phone rang. She wasn’t going to answer at first, but it was the sheriff.

  “Scott,” she said, making sure that no one was near. She felt conspicuous when she talked with her Uncle Wayne.

  “Anything?”

  “Yes. A body and ATV have been found.”

  “Everything okay?” His voice was softer than his usual gruff sheriff demeanor.

  “I noticed that detectives Alvarez and Hamilton are here.”

  “I sent them.”

  “I see.”

  “I need a report from you and McGaven, and then you can set this case free and let the detectives close it.”

  Katie stopped for a moment. It surprised her that he referred to “the case” as free.

  The sheriff continued, “Alvarez will take over to make sure that everything is in order and he’ll be working the entire homicide investigation from start to finish, since it was originally his case.”

  “That’s it?”

  “That’s it,” he said. “You’ve done your job—excellent work. You’ve had back-to-back cases lately and deserve a break. I don’t want my cold case team burned out.”

  Katie sighed.

  “Have the report on my desk no later than tomorrow.”

  “I will.”

  “And, Katie,” he said.

  “Yes?”

  “Take some time for yourself,” he said again. “When you’ve completed the reports on the Stanton case, take the rest of the day off and tomorrow.” He sighed. “That’s an order.”

  Chapter Two

  Friday 1330 hours

  Katie drove into her driveway and cut the engine, relieved that she had finished all the necessary paperwork for the week. She sat for a moment, gathering her thoughts. It surprised her that she wasn’t mad about the fact that she and McGaven didn’t get to finish out the Jared Stanton missing person and murder case after the body was found. Mr. and Mrs. Stanton were taken into custody not long after the body was discovered.

  She sighed and leaned back against her seat. It saddened Katie that the daughter, Amy Stanton, would have to be thrown into the mess of losing her family; first her brother and then her parents, to whatever fate they faced. Closing her eyes, she could still see the photograph of Jared Stanton’s smiling face as he sat on his ATV—a time for fun and family now shattered and gone.

  Katie stepped out of the car, pulling her jacket and briefcase with her. She hadn’t realized how tired she was; her arms and legs seemed barely able to carry her body up to her house.

  She found a small white box sitting on the porch. There was no name on the front but she opened it, and inside was a beautiful tropical plant terrarium. She had loved terrariums ever since she was about ten years old. The only person besides her parents who knew that was Chad. The note simply read: I thought of you. With all my love, Chad.

  “Aww…” she said, “I love you too.” Her heart was full and she couldn’t quit smiling. She picked it up and carried it to the front door.

  She was met by the deep barks of Cisco.

  Opening the door, a black blur bounded around her before she could get inside. Cisco, a black German shepherd, had been her army partner for two tours in Afghanistan. No matter how bad her day was, Cisco made everything better. They had been through more together than she had with any human, whether friend or family—it was a bond that could never be broken.

  “Hey, buddy,” she said, dropping her jacket and briefcase on the kitchen counter. She carefully took the terrarium out of the box and set it down on the table. “I’m home early for once. What do you think of that? And the entire weekend.” She scratched behind his ears as she went to the refrigerator to retrieve a cold soda.

  The moment Katie opened the back-door slider, Cisco jetted by her and bounded into the yard, making his usual rounds. Katie smiled as she watched the dog run around, taking time to check out every bush and tree. The air was still cool but there were signs around her yard indicating that spring wasn’t too far away. Birds were more active, weaving in and out of the trees. The acreage was greener, which would soon produce buds and then flowers.

  Katie took a seat on her favorite porch swing, enjoying the moment. It was something that she hadn’t done in several months. As she looked around, she was reminded, as so often, of her parents, who had been killed in a car accident when she was a teenager, leaving her Uncle Wayne to raise her. This was her childhood home, and every inch of the house and yard held warm memories.

  Cisco ran up and gave two playful barks before running after a low-flying bird.

  Katie laughed. His antics always brought a smile to her face. Watching him play helped her to decompress from the day and her current investigation.

  Her mind wandered to Chad, her thoughts filled with wedding plans and beginning their life together. It was difficult to believe that she was going to be a bride. How her life would change… Wouldn’t it?

  Cisco, fully refreshed and relieved of the angst of being stuck inside, padded to her and easily jumped up onto the swing.

  Katie petted the dog, but instead of relaxing, she found herself becoming edgy. It was unusual for her to have some time off and to find
herself with no work to go to. Chad was working a forty-eight-hour shift at the fire department, and she wanted something to do.

  Standing up, she said to the dog, “You want to go for a run?”

  Cisco immediately jumped down and began his usual German shepherd whine in complete agreement.

  Katie went inside to change her clothes. Running was something that helped her think and unwind, and that’s what she was going to do.

  Chapter Three

  Monday 0745 hours

  Walking through the forensic division of the Pine Valley Sheriff’s Department, Katie felt refreshed from the relaxing weekend and ready for the week. She saw McGaven’s truck in the parking lot and knew that he was already perusing the top tier of the cold case files.

  Katie and McGaven used one of the empty forensic offices due to the lack of room upstairs in the detective division. It suited them. The area was quiet and secure, giving them the sufficient space they needed to work through mounds of evidence and paperwork. It was an added bonus that the forensic evidence department wasn’t far away.

  Pushing the door open, she wasn’t surprised to see her partner already hard at work.

  “How do you always get here before me?” she said, shedding her jacket.

  “It’s a gift.”

  “I think it’s the fact that you love this job.”

  “Maybe.”

  Katie’s cell phone rang. “Scott.”

  “You here? McGaven, too?” the sheriff said in his gruff business voice.

  “Just got here. And yes, Gav is here too.”

  “Good.”

  “What’s up?” she asked, sensing he had something important to tell them.

  “Can you come to my office?”

  “Okay. We’ll be there in five.”

  The connection ended abruptly.

  “Well…” She slowly put her phone down.