Veiled (A Short Story) by Kendra Elliot Page B

she died in the tub and then eventually rolled over?
That was a question for the medical examiner.
    “Who are they going to send out here?” Jack whispered.
    She knew Jack was asking which pathologist the medical examiner’s
office would send to process the scene. This town was a good three hours from
the main Portland office where she worked.
    “I don’t know. Probably someone from the county office,
since it’s closer.”
    “Her legs are really bruised,” Mathews commented to the
other cop. “Do you think she was hit by a car and then dumped in the hot tub?”
Garcia shrugged his shoulders.
    Lacey tried not to choke.
    A new male voice spoke up. “That’s lividity. Blood pools
where gravity pulls it once the heart can no longer circulate it. She was on
her back for some time after death.”
    Jack spun around. “Terry?” He shook the big man’s hand and
slapped him on the shoulder. The newcomer was dressed in jeans, but had a badge
attached to his belt. He was the size of a linebacker.
    “Jack Harper! How come dead bodies turn up whenever you’re
around?” asked Terry.
    Lacey’s jaw dropped, stunned that someone could be so
insensitive to Jack’s past, but Jack laughed it off and turned to Lacey.
    “Do you remember Terry Schoenfeld? He responded the morning
they found the skeleton of that Co-Ed Slayer victim on one of my properties,
and before that we were on the Lakeview force together. We go way back.”
    Lacey faintly remembered the big cop from their only meeting
one day last winter. That was the same day she’d met Jack. She’d been on the
job. Called to a snowy recovery site to examine the dental work of the
skeleton.
    Jack turned back to Terry. “What are you doing out here?” He
gestured to the badge and squinted at it. “You decided Lakeview wasn’t a small
enough police department, so you transferred to Seaport?”
    “The wife grew up here and always wanted to move back. She
loves the ocean. When I saw they had a chief of police position open, I
applied,” Terry answered. “Money’s about the same, but the workload is a lot
lighter even with the increased responsibility.”
    “You’re the chief?” Jack’s eyes lit up. “Congrats.”
    “I have been for ten days. Thanks for bringing the first
murder in two decades to my town.” Terry moved his focus back to the body, and
his demeanor changed at the sad sight. “Ah, damn it,” he whispered.
    “Lacey spotted her from our balcony,” Jack said, gesturing
toward their oceanfront suite. “I ran down and hauled her out. Tried
compressions, but she was long gone.” He swallowed hard. “She was floating on
her stomach when I found her.”
    Terry nodded, his gaze still on the dead woman. He moved
closer and squatted next to the body. He pulled a pen out of his pocket, using
it to carefully move the wet veil covering the top half of her face.
    “Holy shit!” exclaimed Mathews. “That’s Patty Marino.”

C HAPTER T WO
    The wedding dress and veil disturbed Lacey on a deep level.
She’d bought some bridal magazines when she and Jack became engaged a few
months back, and she’d been overwhelmed at the selection of dresses. Enough
that she’d put the whole dress-shopping process out of her mind. This was not
the way she’d expected to be reminded of it again.
    “Was she getting married?” Lacey asked. To her eyes, the
dress on the body was out of date. It had the styling of dresses a decade ago.
    “Not that I know of,” said Mathews. He looked ready to
vomit. “She and Will have been divorced for about a year now, I’d say. She
works at The Anchor. Tends bar. She was a real sweetheart,” he said, his voice
cracking as he wiped at his eyes. He appeared to be in his late twenties and
could rival Terry for size and bulk. He made the smaller Garcia look like a
fifth grader.
    Lacey’s heart broke for the man as she glanced at Terry.
    Terry shook his head. “I don’t know her. I haven’t been here
long enough. When will the