Tattered Legacy (A Nora Abbott Mystery) by Shannon Baker Page A

the doors. She stepped out on the deck polka-dotted by drying raindrops. It took her a moment to recognize what she heard.
    Rachel’s voice sounded irritated. A man responded, matching her heat. Nora jumped to the edge of the deck, ready to dash to the front of the cabin if necessary.
    The sight of Lee’s white pickup stopped her. She inched a ways before she spotted Rachel and Lee standing in front of the hood of the pickup. Lee held Rachel’s hand and only a couple of feet separated them. Lee’s head bent and Rachel’s raised face was only inches from his. Nora couldn’t see their expressions, only their profiles. Their anger dropped away and they stood, motionless. They communicated without words. These were not the movements of strangers.
    Nora backed up and retreated to Lisa’s office. She clicked the door closed and stood in front of it, staring into nothing, trying to understand what she’d seen. Her eyes slowly focused on the Navajo rug. She lifted her gaze to the bookshelves next to the wood stove.
    She already suspected Lisa’s death might not have been an accident. Maybe Lee killed Lisa so he and Rachel could be together, Nora thought wildly. Right. That made sense because people always killed someone instead of just asking for a divorce. Sheesh, Nora. Jump to conclusions much?
    Her eyes came to rest on the jumble of loose pages and books, pamphlets, and magazines scattered on the bottom shelf. Wait. What was that? There, thrust between stacks of papers, she caught sight of a DVD case, the slim black edges barely visible.
    Nora rushed across the room and squatted down. She snatched the case, excited to see the DVD nestled inside. Lisa’s bold handwriting dated it May 28. No year. But if it was this year, this DVD was only three weeks old. If it was a backup, it would only be missing images from a couple of shoots.
    Hope swelled in her chest. This might save the day.
    Nora lunged for the laptop, fingers running along the sides, looking for a disc drive. Damn. The newer machine didn’t have a one. Desperate, she jumped from the desk and rummaged through the debris scattered across its surface.
    She yanked out a drawer. The wood stuck. Nothing but files and notebooks. She shoved against it and tried another drawer. This time she hit pay dirt. An external drive sat amid discarded phones and charger cords.
    Nora pulled it out, sweeping her hand through the dead and dying electronics. She came up with a USB cord and quickly attached the driver to the computer and inserted the DVD.
    This was it: Lisa’s work. Something for Nora to hold on to.
    Nothing but a whirr of digital and black screen. Nora’s heart shriveled.
    The screen flashed bright and suddenly sprang to life with a broad view of the cliffs. Time-lapse photography took the scene from dawn to midnight in a matter of seconds. Stars shone bright, then faded as the sun swept across the sky and reemerged. The image faded to a creek, the same spot Lisa’s box had rested just that morning. Again, the images on the screen shifted to show a trampled, barren creek bed eroding away and leaving desolation behind. A gushing black flood of tainted water showed the uglier side of tar sands mining.
    Lisa’s film. Edited but without narration. Nora and Darrell could finish it. No one with a heart could turn down the chance to protect this iconic landscape. Lisa had done it!
    “What are you doing?” Rachel’s ragged voice demanded as she stood in the doorway between the living room and kitchen.
    Nora jerked and sucked in air. “You scared me.”
    “This is Lisa’s office. She’d hate for you to be in here.”
    Nora couldn’t point out that someone, sometime would have to be in here and pack up Lisa’s life. Maybe sharing the news that Lisa’s work would go on might help Rachel. “I found it.”
    Rachel’s face blackened like a storm cloud. “Found what?”
    Nora spun the laptop around to face Rachel. “The film. I suppose it’s missing the last bits,