Buried Secrets (New Adult Dark Suspense Romance) by Emme Rollins Page A

sell much ammo outside of deer season,” Will told him. She heard the old cash register totaling things up. “Although, with what’s been happening around here lately, I should probably start advertising in the window.”
    “I ain't takin’ no chances,” Mike said. “Not after that Summers boy…”
    “Damned right.”
    “And poor Nicky Chandler,” Mike continued. “What the hell was he doin’ in the boneyard?”
    Good question. Dusty had been planning on going up front and paying for her things, maybe talking to Will for a minute or two. The mention of Nick's name had started to change her mind.
    “What a thing.” Will sighed. “Horrible, horrible thing.” Tears pricked Dusty’s eyes at the sadness in his voice. “I know the family real well. He was such a good boy.”
    “Was supposed to be going to MSU, right?”
    “Yeah,” Will agreed. “I’m really gonna miss him. When he was a kid, he used to come help me clean up, do inventory, whatever else needed doing. Him and his sister—they never asked for nothing, just came and kept me company.”
    Dusty leaned against the shelf. Tears, unbidden, welled up. She and Nick had once thought old Mr. Cougar was the best thing to come along since Kool-Aid.
    “It’s a real shame.” Mike paused and then asked, “So what do you think it is, Will?”
    The old man didn’t seem confused by the question. He knew exactly what Mike was asking, and so did Dusty.
    “Well…” Will cleared his throat. “I can't rightly say. Newspaper says it's a big cat of some kind, but the sheriff finally started setting traps left and right up there by Clinton Grove and all he's catching is rabbits.”
    “Do you think it's an animal?”
    Dusty's ears pricked up. She felt awful, stomach churning, knowing she shouldn’t be listening, but she couldn’t stop herself. Julia certainly wouldn’t approve—but her instincts told her to stay put.
    “I just don’t know. But I’ll tell you something—I saw the Summers kid when they brought him in. I was yakking with Matt down at the station. Damned kids spray painting the walls again on the side of the store.”
    “Again? They catch anybody?”
    “I catch’em, they’re gonna wish the cops got to ’em first.” Will gave a short bark of a laugh. “They don’t have a clue. I think I know who did it, but we both know he won’t get brought in for it, just like he didn’t get into any trouble for stealing those fireworks.”
    Shane, Dusty thought, reading his thoughts as she knew Mike would. In Larkspur, trouble was always spelled S-H-A-N-E, although she couldn’t fathom Shane and those guys doing something like spray painting words like YOLO and herpaderp on the side of Will’s store. That sounded more like junior high kids to her.
    “That’s only because he was always hanging around with Nick Chandler,” Mike reminded him. Hearing that comment was like eating glass. She tried to swallow past the shards.
    “Not anymore.” Will commented, continuing with his story. “Anyway, I was there when they brought the body in, just a couple of kids carryin’ him in a blanket, not knowing any better, not even knowing who he was—couldn’t tell who he was anymore.” Will’s voice dropped. “Kid looked like he'd got himself caught up in a meat grinder. I nearly lost my dinner, I can tell you.”
    Dusty felt like she was going to lose hers—yesterday’s dinner, today’s breakfast. Everything she’d ever eaten. She actually had to squat down, low to the floor, hanging onto the edge of the shelf and trying to regain some sort of control over her body’s reaction.
    “So there were bite marks, like it says in the paper?” Mike asked.
    “Bite marks? Feh!” Will gave that barking laugh that wasn’t really a laugh again. “Mike, the kid was shredded . The only way they would've been able to identify him—if his friends hadn't come out of hiding long enough to find out what happened to him, that is—would've been dental