He arrived on scene twenty minutes later and texted Cam as soon as he cut the engine. She’d want to know. And when she arrived, he could maybe slip away and not be too late for his date with Sally.

Walking onto the property, he scanned the area, taking in every detail as he went.

The farmhouse was an average size, probably three-bedroom, with weathered wood siding. Run-down. The front window, right of the door, was cracked in the bottom left corner. The porch was sagging, the second step caved in. The property looked about a hundred years old and had fallen into major disrepair.

But when?

How long had it been standing empty?

An SUV was parked to the right of the house, next to Lucas McGowan’s car and a van that said Polaris Construction on the side.

Nate’s eyebrows dipped together. The SUV must belong to Lucas’s girlfriend. Nate was pretty sure her name was Alaina. Blaine had told him all about her.

The woman flipped houses. He paused by her vehicle and spotted drop cloths and painting equipment in the back, along with a ladder. Which meant she’d probably bought this place for next to nothing to renovate and turn over for a profit. With Aspen Falls constantly growing, it was probably a sound investment. The property was only ten minutes from a proposed elementary school—construction was due to start in the next few months. Within a couple of years, the area would probably be booming with new families moving in.

There was bound to be someone who’d want a home with a little bit of land, some space to spread out and raise a family instead of squashing into one of those cookie-cutter houses in the newer developments.

Rounding the corner of the house, he spotted one of the squad cars parked in front of a detached garage that looked ready to fall over. It had a definite lean to it. Nate could probably give a decent huff and it’d groan, then crash to the ground.

Officer Bart McGregor stood next to Alaina, his notepad out as he interviewed her. Her petite arms were crossed, her blonde hair neatly tucked up in a ponytail. Lucas stood beside her, rubbing her back as she spoke to the officer.

“Hey, Mick.” Nate softly greeted the officer by his nickname. Mick looked relieved to see him. The guy was a brilliant policeman, but useless at interviews. He hated being first on scene.

Nate shared a quick look with Lucas and forced himself to shake hands with the guy. He was Blaine’s best friend, but he and Nate never really saw eye-to-eye. Lucas had once been a cop, but he’d quit the force to become a private eye. Nate was aware he’d been injured and taken off active duty, but he always thought it sucked that the guy hadn’t taken the desk job he’d been offered. It was a way to still help the community and he’d rejected it, instead branching out on his own to stick his nose into police business from a different angle. Nate found it frustrating, and wasn’t shy about hiding his feelings on the matter.

However, this situation wasn’t about them. It was about a set of bones that deserved as much investigation as any other mystery.

“It’s Alaina, right?” Nate pointed at the petite woman.

“Yes.” The blonde nodded. “The guys I hired to help with some demo work found the body about an hour ago. We called it in right away.” She pointed to a group of men who were hovering against the side of the house, looking on edge and uncomfortable.

Jessica had just arrived on scene and instantly looked to Nate for direction. He nodded toward the men and she walked across to them immediately, pulling out her notepad for questioning. He had every confidence that she’d get what he needed.

“I’ve already spoken to the guys,” Lucas chipped in. “They found the skeleton under the floorboards in the workshop behind the garage.”

“Have you seen it?” Nate’s voice took on a tight edge.

“Yes, I looked from the doorway, but haven’t disturbed the scene.” Lucas’s pointed look shut Nate up. “Are forensics on their way?”

“You know they are.” Nate looked to Alaina. “How long you been working on this place?”

“The sale went through last week. We just started tearing down the outbuildings that are too far gone to save. Haven’t started on renovating the main house yet.”

“Your project will have to be put on hold during the investigation.”

Her face pinched with annoyance but she nodded. “I’m aware of that.”

“Can you show me the remains, please?”

Alaina and Lucas led him around to the back of the garage where a separate workshop had been attached. The shed-like structure had cracked windows and a rickety wooden door with a rusted handle. Nate took mental pictures as he hovered in the frame. Flicking on his flashlight, he stared down at the busted floorboards. Four had been pulled up entirely, neatly stacked as the workers systematically took apart the shed. In the gap that remained was a shallow trench with a blanket-wrapped skeleton inside. The workers must’ve gotten the fright of their lives when they pulled open the blanket and found the dusty remains.

Nate watched his step as he gingerly entered the shed. Crouching down beside the skeleton, he stared into the empty eye sockets and quietly murmured, “What’s your story?”

“Chuck said he didn’t know what was in the blanket and that’s why it’s open. He thought it was just trash,” Alaina said.

Nate nodded.

“As soon as he saw the bones, he left the building and called me over. I told the guys not to go near the scene again.”

“Good move. Thank you.” Nate stood tall and checked his watch, wondering how far away Kelly was. The poor crime tech was in for a long shift. As far as Nate could remember, she’d never had to deal with remains like this before. She’d no doubt have to call in outside help.

Alaina shifted from foot to foot in the doorway, obviously agitated. He glanced up in time to see her sharing a look with Lucas. He gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed the back of her neck before tipping his chin at Nate.

Alaina caught his eyes and sighed. “I guess it would be too much to ask that we try to keep this as quiet as possible?”

Nate gave her an inquisitive look.

“The murder. In the house I’m going to be selling.”

Nate held up a pointed finger. “One, we don’t know if it was a murder.” He held up his thumb. “And two, if it was, we don’t know that it happened here.”

Alaina rolled her eyes. “You know what I’m saying. There’s a body buried under the floorboards. That’s no accident. Someone was trying to cover it up. And trying to sell a house where a crime was committed might be near impossible in this town.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Nate murmured. “We don’t know that it’s a crime yet.”

“But we do know that the dead body is here,” she said. “On this property. That I will be selling at some point.” She took a deep breath. “So it would be great if we could keep it on the down-low.”

“I’m not sure how to help with that. As soon as you called it in, it became public knowledge.”

Alaina huffed and closed her eyes like she was only just realizing this.

Lucas winced and kneaded her neck, muttering under his breath, “Jarrett will no doubt be here soon.”

Nate’s right eyebrow peaked as he gave the guy a stiff nod. “Look, Alaina, I appreciate where you’re coming from, and I’ll do my best to make sure that the bare minimum is reported in the news. I can’t disclose details of an open investigation anyway, so Jarrett’s hands will be tied to some degree…especially if we can convince him not to do any snooping of his own.”

Lucas scoffed. “That’ll be a hard sell. Jarrett’s a fucking bulldog.”

“Well, so am I.” Alaina straightened, a determined look on her face. “I’ll have a word with him when he gets here.”

“Yeah, good luck with that.” Nate hid his grin by scrubbing a hand over his mouth. “Look, as soon as Jess finishes getting statements, we can send your guys home. The less people hanging around here, the better. Do you have a list of their contact information in case we need to follow up on anything?”

“Yes, I can get that for you.”

“Good. I’m also going to need to look at all the records you have on the property. Sales and purchase agreements. That type of thing.”

“I’ll compile that for you when I get home tonight.”

Nate nodded. “Okay, well, you guys can head off when you’re ready, then. I’ll give you a call if I need anything.”

“I’d rather stay,” Alaina said.

Nate huffed.

“It’s her property. She has every right to stay.” Lucas squared his shoulders and glared at him.

Unable to argue with the guy, Nate gave them a tight smile before turning back to look into the workshop.

Tipping his head, he stared down at the blanket with the bones wrapped inside. It looked as though the victim had been rolled up and put to bed.

Had the person been buried alive? Tucked away unconscious? Or already dead?

Was he or she lovingly buried by a family that couldn’t afford a funeral? Or was there something more sinister going on?

Nate felt his blood simmer with the questions. The mystery was calling to him, and the fact that it was probably years old only motivated him more. He’d do anything to catch the person who killed his mother. He’d never had that closure, and that’s why he fought so hard on every case, but particularly homicides. The two he’d worked had consumed him like nothing else.

Families deserved closure.

He knew firsthand that this was true, because he’d been looking for his own for years.

Nate sensed he wouldn’t be able to rest until this case was closed. His mind thrummed with a steadily growing list of things to do.

It was going to be a long night.