See Her Die (Bree Taggert #2)(13)

Limping, Brody stopped next to the boat ramp. The area around the concrete looked like frozen swamp. Empty water bottles and other pieces of litter were piled up against the ramp and embedded in the ice. Clearly, this was a downstream point that collected debris. Brody sat down and barked.

“What is it?” Bree was right behind him.

“I don’t know.” Matt crouched next to the dog. The thin ice at the edge of the lake cracked under his weight. The sound echoed, and Matt’s waterproof boots broke through, sinking into a few inches of water. He brushed some drifted snow off the ice. Something thin and dark was suspended beneath it. A branch?

“What did he find?” Bree leaned over Matt’s shoulder.

He moved more snow with his glove. The ice cracked further, breaking apart and shifting on the water. The thing underneath was no branch.

Exhaling, he straightened and caught Bree’s eye.

Bree drew in a sharp intake of breath. Something bobbed to the surface between long, jagged sheets of ice.

A human hand.





CHAPTER SIX

Bree lunged forward. At the very edge of the lake, her boots crunched through the ice, and water sloshed over her ankles. The hand looked male. Was it the shooter? Depending on how long the man had been underwater, there might be a chance he could be revived.

She grasped the body by one of the biceps. Matt gave Brody a command. The dog lay down, then Matt took the man’s other arm. Together, he and Bree dragged the body onto the bank. Definitely male. He was dressed only in boxer shorts.

His skin was bluish-gray. Bree doubted he could be saved. But cold-water drowning victims had been resuscitated after being underwater for up to forty minutes. When she’d been a rookie patrol officer in Philadelphia, she’d pulled a kid out of the Delaware River. He’d been in the water for at least a half hour. It hadn’t seemed possible that he had been alive. Not only had he been resuscitated, he’d survived.

Bree rolled the man onto his back and gasped. His face was destroyed, pulverized into a mess of broken bone and ragged flesh.

She jerked backward, then exhaled. “It takes a lot to surprise me.”

Water soaked through her gloves and chilled her hands for two shallow breaths. There would be no euphoric feeling of saving a life today.

“I’ll bet.” Matt rocked back on his heels. He was an impressive figure. Snow dotted his short, reddish-brown beard. A broad-shouldered six foot three, with a corpse at his feet, he looked like a Viking warrior on a winter battlefield.

Wind whipped across the lake, empty, frozen, and desolate. Bree glanced down at the brutalized body, and a feeling of foreboding passed through her. The case was going to be freaky. She could feel it in her bones. She had two handguns strapped to her person, but she was still glad to have Matt by her side.

A few yards away, Brody whined.

Bree shook off her initial shock. There was no need to take the victim’s pulse. No one could survive the injuries to his face and head. His brain was visible in several places.

Shivering, she leaned forward to inspect the corpse’s hands. Some aquatic creatures had been nibbling on his fingers. “I shouldn’t have disturbed the body. He’s been in the water too long.”

“No way to know that until we pulled him out and turned him over.”

“True.”

“The body looks young,” Matt said. “Possibly older teen or twentysomething.”

“Yes,” Bree agreed. The corpse was lean in a way that suggested youth. The victim’s hair was shorn close to the scalp but was too wet for her to determine color. Mud smeared the skin. Plant matter and other lake debris clung to the body. “Could it be the university student you’re looking for?”

“I hope not.” But Matt’s jaw was clenched and his eyes grim. He didn’t want this to be Eli.

“I’ll call the lead detective,” Bree said. “And let him know we have a body the approximate age of the missing man.”

Other than the damage to this man’s face, the corpse wasn’t in bad shape. Cold water had delayed decomposition. A body on land for one week resembled one that had been in the water for two.

Bree stared down at the ruined face. The body had been freshly pulled from the lake, and the victim’s wounds were oddly bloodless. “His whole face is bashed in. I can’t imagine any accidental way that could have happened.”

“Me neither. Nor do I see any other obviously fatal injuries.” Matt exhaled hard. “It would take some serious rage to do that to another human being.”

“It would.” Bree stepped back. “I’ll call the medical examiner.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I’ll get you and Brody a ride back to the cabin too.” She and Matt retreated back onto the frozen lake. She reported the death to the ME’s office, then called Todd and gave him the news. “We’ll need a forensics team over at the boat ramp.” Then she glanced at Brody. The dog looked sad. “I also need a car for Matt and Brody. The parking area is part of the crime scene. Don’t let anyone drive over the existing tire tracks.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Todd ended the call.

Bree turned to Matt. “How is he?” She motioned toward the dog. Brody had stretched out on the snow, resting as if he knew his job was done.

Matt’s jaw tightened. “I’ll take him to the vet today. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious.”