Deadly Obsession by Katie Reus Page B

rotten food.
    “Why don’t you stay out here?” he murmured.
    Lilly snorted under her breath and he didn’t bother arguing. At the arched entrance to the open studio, he jerked to a halt.
    “Shit.” Lilly breathed out the word as she peered around Braden.
    Mallory Spinoza’s lifeless body hung against the wall, suspended by some sort of ropes. A thick mass of dark blood pooled below her dangling feet.
    “She probably died this morning,” Lilly said quietly.
    They wouldn’t know until Hailey ran the autopsy, but he guessed Lilly was right. Everything about the scene was too fresh. “Come on,” he ordered, needing to get away from the body.
    Without waiting for a response, he headed back toward the main door. By the time they were outside, he noticed how pale Lilly was. “You okay?”
    “I’ve seen worse. I’ll be fine.” Her voice was monotone and she sure as hell didn’t look fine, but he didn’t comment.
    “You mind covering the door while I get rid of them?” He nodded toward the growing crowd.
    “Of course not.”
    Braden gritted his teeth as he crossed the parking lot. Things had just gone from bad to worse and there wasn’t a big chance he’d be able to keep this murder out of the news anymore. Mallory lived alone, just like the other victims, but she was a well-known face in the community. And she had a lot of family. There was no way in hell he was going to be able to keep this quiet.
    He was glad he hadn’t eaten breakfast this morning because he wasn’t sure he’d have been able to keep it down. Seeing Mallory like that made it hard to keep his professional face on. Everything about these killings was brutal, sadistic and too damn personal.
     
    When Lilly saw a media crew pull into the already full parking lot, she fished her NSA badge out of her purse and hung it around her neck. She wasn’t exactly worried about someone writing an expose on police impropriety but just in case this ever went to trial, Lilly didn’t want Braden taking heat for letting her on the scene without proper ID.
    Hailey was inside with Detective Isaacs and Braden was deep in conversation with one of the officers. They’d roped off most of the parking lot with crime scene tape but they hadn’t dispersed the crowd. Just the opposite in fact, it was growing by the second.
    And no one but her seemed to notice the tall blonde in the red skirt and matching jacket who ducked under the tape and was making a beeline for Lilly.
    Lilly stepped in front of the glass door and crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you think you’re doing?”
    “Lilly Carmichael. Well, well, look who’s come home.” The woman’s words dripped with unexpected sarcasm.
    Lilly narrowed her gaze. The woman looked slightly familiar but she couldn’t place her. She ignored her statement and took a step forward, forcing the blonde to move back. “Again, what are you doing?”
    The woman rolled her eyes and held out a tape recorder. “What does it look like? I’m here to cover the story.”
    After Lilly had been rescued in Africa she’d been harassed by reporters at the airport in Djibouti, when she’d touched down in D.C. and then for weeks afterward. Even talking to a reporter left a bitter taste in her mouth. Not to mention the woman still hadn’t identified herself and that just pissed Lilly off. “Get behind the tape and tell your crew they better not get any ideas either. You don’t have the authority to be here. That yellow tape means this is a crime scene.” She spoke slowly, enunciating each word as if the woman was a small child.
    “What gives you the authority to tell me what to do?”
    Lilly adjusted her arms so that her badge was visible. She didn’t respond because she didn’t want to actually establish that she was working with the Hudson Bay County Sheriff’s Office. The Department of Defense logo across the top of her badge spoke volumes all by itself.
    “Well…” The woman’s voice trailed off as she