Buried [Completed]

Excerpt from: Forgotten

 Book 2: Twisted cedars mysteries

Chapter one- Forgotten

Sheriff Wade MacKay was on his way home from a morning fishing on the Rogue River in Oregon, when he found the crashed truck, the body, the unconscious woman. It wasn't often Wade spent his Friday mornings off duty, but a mental health day was in order after a solid week spent investigating the suspicious death and illegal burial of Daisy Hammond, a friend of his from his high school days. 

Seven years ago, when Daisy had left her twin children and ex-husband behind, everyone assumed her well-documented mental illness— which began after the birth of her children— was at fault. Random withdrawals from her bank account had fed the assumption she'd moved to Sacramento, where she was living quietly, under the radar. Not until her remains were discovered by local true-crime author— and yet another former high school buddy— Dougal Lachlan, buried out back of an old cottage belonging to the Hammond family, had anyone suspected foul play. Making the situation even more terrible, a third high school buddy of Wade's, Daisy's ex-husband Kyle Quinpool, was the prime suspect for the crime. Law enforcement in Curry County had to deal with their share of domestic violence. But homicides, fortunately, were rare. And Wade hoped not to see another one for a long, long time. 

Once the sun rose beyond the tops of the tallest cedars, Wade packed his rod and tackle in the back of his truck, along with a cooler containing three summer steelhead trout on ice, all of them around four pounds. The fishing had been a success but he wasn't looking forward to getting home, or to the weekend ahead. Any day now the results from Daisy's autopsy would be in. Then he'd have to haul Kyle to the office for another interview, probably followed by an arrest, this time. 

Wade felt sickest about Kyle and Daisy's two kids. Nine-year-old Chester and Cory were away at summer camp right now and had missed most of the drama so far, thank God. They'd been dealing with their mother's absence for seven years already. Now they would likely lose their father, as well, to the Oregon State Penn. Not exactly your classic happy childhood. 

Back in the days when Wade had been young and summers seemed so blissfully long, he'd fished this same spot with his father. Even then he'd known he wanted a simple life, like his parents. He loved this corner of the Pacific Northwest, where there were more trees than people, roads that might not see a driver for days on end. He'd dreamed of being the Sheriff of Curry County, with a home, a wife and kids, and one day a week to spend in the wilderness that was the essence of this place. At age thirty-three he'd landed the job. Now, a year older, he still didn't have the wife and family. Frankly, his love life was a mess. 

On a day like today though, being unencumbered didn't seem so bad. His fishing spot was off Bear Camp Road, a narrow and crooked traverse over the Klamath Mountains that linked the small Oregon towns of Agness and Galice, carrying on to Twisted Cedars, Wade's home. He patrolled here regularly, knew every curve, viewpoint and pothole. Normally he would have made it home in under an hour. If it hadn't been for the accident. 

He was listening to Chopin's Nocturne in E Flat Major when he spotted the overturned four-axle. He slowed and pulled over. Gripping the steering wheel, he took a deep breath, as he transformed from man enjoying a morning off work, to first responder at the site of a traffic accident. The music continued, impervious to the tragedy in front of him. He'd owned the disk forever— it was a gift from his mother and inexorably linked, in his mind, to his morning fishing trips. His mom had taught piano lessons to the children of Twisted Cedars— including Wade and some of his friends. For thirty years, Monday through Friday, from four o'clock until the dinner hour, kids would tromp in and out of the MacKay family home for their thirty minutes of musical torture.