Grave Echoes: A Kate Waters Mystery Read Online Free

leaning on the pedestal of the staircase.
    “Yes.” She gave him a kiss and left.
    As she walked to her Jeep, the brisk wind wailed around her, whipping her hair across her face. A strange feeling came over her, like something more than just a storm approached. She sensed it like an inaudible voice from somewhere deep in her mind, brewing with a heedful message. She wanted to believe it was just her sleeping spells or Jev’s isolation, maybe even her horrid hallucinations. Whatever the cause, something nagged at her. Sort of like being watched. Subtle. But detectible nonetheless.
    ***
    Bright orange cones blocked off one side of the road when Detective Orwin Wells pulled in behind two squad cars. Guilt washed over him as he recalled his boredom earlier this evening. The last thing he wanted was an accident to make his shift more exciting, especially when it involved a young woman not much older than his own daughter.
    Three high-powered fluorescent spotlights lit up the wreckage. The rain came down like a translucent veil. Wells noticed two police officers, clad in slickers and rubber boots, directing traffic through the narrow corridor of deciduous and evergreen trees, where green tentacles of ivy engulfed the hillside, clutching the trunks of firs, maples, and everything else within its grasp.
    His partner Ted Johnson, a specialist in the homicide unit, analyzed tire treads on the opposite side of the road from the crumbled car with another officer wearing a jacket from the Forensic Investigation Motor and Vehicle Incidents (MVI) team. Wells had worked with several officers from MVI, but didn’t recognize him.
    Wells grabbed his coat and flashlight and stepped out of his car, hunching against a curtain of rain. He stuck a piece of gum in his mouth; it always seemed to help him think better and wasn’t bad for his lungs either. He walked over to Ted and the new officer. Both of them held their hoods straight to protect their faces from the rain. Ted seemed to be in a pleasant mood, Wells noticed. He could tell by the way he crouched toward the younger officer. Whenever a case involved foul play, Ted usually guarded himself with a stiff posture—not wanting to show emotion.
    “It’s about time you came,” Ted said, gripping Wells by the shoulder when he approached. “This is Jake Foster, from motor investigations.”
    Wells extended his hand. “Good to meet you.”
    “It is a pleasure, Detective Orwin Wells,” he replied.
    “Foster here is fresh out of the academy, top of his class,” Ted commented.
    Wells had already guessed that from the brightness in the young man’s eyes—most experienced investigators had seen enough accidents to drown the initial excitement of a new investigation, where novice officers hadn’t the chance yet to shoot at another person, hadn’t had to watch countless gruesome autopsies, and hadn’t had the joys of processing paperwork, testimonies, and procedural reports for criminal investigations.
    “Ahh, we got a hotshot,” Wells joked. The young officer smirked with dropped eyes. “But I would be the first to tell you, we could definitely use a “top gun” around here.”
    The young officer looked back at Wells. “That’s right; I’m not working with the drug force,” he said.
    Wells and Ted laughed, knowing it was the drug division who kept the ‘hotshot’ reputation well alive.
    Wells noticed Jake shivering, believing he wasn’t acclimated to the wet cold this side of the Cascades yet. “Are you new to the area?”
    “Yeah,” Jake said. “Just came from Nevada.”
    Wells smiled. There was something crippling about Oregon’s cold rain that even those who’d lived in the snowy regions still had difficulty adjusting to the climate. “Welcome to sun-shiny Oregon,” he said.
    Jake laughed and shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. “Right—they never mentioned that in the brochure.”
    Ted returned to business, motioning to the totaled car. “Her name is