Luckily, the place didn’t look half-bad—a romance book was lying on her coffee table where she’d left it last night with a bookmark saving her place. A pair of blue fuzzy slippers were sitting beside her recliner, her fuzzy blue robe tossed over the back of the couch, and her aqua hoodie was hanging on the back of her dining room chair, her sneakers sitting beside it from an early morning run she’d taken before she’d gotten the call from the boss. Her gardening gloves were resting on top of a kneeling pad on her kitchen island, with packages of Pacific Northwest wildflower seeds of baby’s breath, flax, phlox, cosmos, coreopsis, bluebells, blue lupines, and more sitting next to that. She’d planned to plant them this morning before she got the call from the boss to come in. She hoped to do it this evening now that she was working full-time. At least during the summer, the sun set later.

  The kitchen was clean after they’d had dinner and her breakfast plate was in the dishwasher. Adam didn’t seem to notice anyway, which made her wonder how his place looked, and why she was even thinking about that, she didn’t know.

  “I’m going to take a quick shower. Can you be away from work for that long?” She would wash her shoes later and put on more sensible shoes for her new job.

  “Uh, yeah, sure. It’s all part of the job.”

  “Good. Because I’m too muddy to just wash off my feet.” She headed into her master bath and closed the door, then began stripping off her clothes. She could imagine that everyone who had seen her at the site where the body was found would be joking about her and her heels and making poor Adam carry them for her. Then she had to go and barf into a bag, and he had to carry that too.

  She’d never envisioned him in that role before. A real sweetheart who didn’t have any issues with his masculinity.

  She needed to fill out a bunch of paperwork when she returned to the office to change her status from part-time to full-time, at least until her boss could open the position to other applicants and find someone who was qualified to do the job.

  Washing off the mud in the shower took longer than she thought it would. She could imagine trying to get it off her shoes when she returned home after work and how hard that would be once it dried on. Here she thought she would have her afternoon free, unless another body turned up or another witness needed her to do a sketch. She hoped she could manage better at the morgue and wouldn’t get sick this time.

  What she couldn’t believe was that after she had dressed in nice slacks and a blazer and boots, she found Adam in the kitchen using a paper towel to dry off her shoes. He’d actually cleaned them!

  “Wow, thanks so much.” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, since appreciating his thoughtfulness and just saying so didn’t seem to be enough.

  He smiled. “I figured I would do it after I cleaned the mud off mine. Yours were actually easier to clean. Less surface area and not as many ridges on the soles as the bottom of my shoes have.”

  “Who would have ever thought fewer ridges on the sole of a shoe would be a good thing.”

  “Yeah, it’s harder to make casts of unique shoe imprints in criminal cases though.” He grabbed his raincoat. “It’s stopped raining at least. Are you ready to go to the morgue?”

  “Do you have more barf bags in your car?”

  “A couple. Yes.”

  “Good. Thanks again for cleaning my shoes and all the rest. Okay, so why did you say I might be needed over the weekend for cases in the morgue if I’m already seeing them today?”

  “Willy always covered them.”

  “Ahh.”

  “Don’t quit on us, please. Your eyewitness sketches were always on the money when we finally caught the perp and compared your sketch with the accused. Willy didn’t have your innate ability to coax details out of a traumatized victim.”

  “Yeah, but these are different.”

  “You’ll do great. I have every faith in you.”

  When they finally reached the morgue, Sierra was apprehensive about what to expect. She was glad Adam was with her but hoping he didn’t have too much work to do and she was keeping him from it.

  All three victims were men, all having been fished out of the Willamette River recently, their bodies swollen and degraded. She realized—as she wore a mask that did not help to reduce the smell of decomposing bodies because she was a wolf and the smell was so strong anyway—that Adam was right there with her, barf bag in hand.

  She quickly took photographs of each of the men at various angles and then did a rough sketch of each of them as she asked the coroner, Dr. Patrick Silverson, “Ages? Cause of death?”

  “Drowning. It could have been accidental. Several things come into account when trying to determine if the cause was accidental or not. Cool water slows down decomposition, but putrefaction accelerates once the bodies are removed from the water. We have to consider the water currents, rocks, branches, and other obstacles they could have come into contact with postmortem, which could make it appear that they sustained injuries due to a struggle with unknown assailants. One of the men was caught submerged under tree roots and other debris, another swept up on a rocky beach. A fisherman spotted him as he was headed through the woods to the beach to fish. He contacted the bureau and a search was conducted. The other man was found a mile downstream from the other two. It looked like they were in their forties to early fifties.”

  “But no one has reported any missing men between those ages, I take it,” Sierra said, finishing up her drawing of the last man.

  “No. Which is where your help comes in.” He smiled at Sierra. “I hear you’re our new full-time sketch artist. And you’re available now.”

  “Word gets around fast.”

  The coroner smiled again. “Yeah, your boss is super pleased about you working full-time. As to the other matter?” Dr. Silverson glanced at Adam. “Well, we’re all glad for that too.”

  She closed her sketch pad. “I will try not to disappoint everyone. About the sketches.”

  “You’ll do great,” the coroner said.

  She thanked him, and then she and Adam ditched their masks and left the morgue.

  “The smell is the worst the first time you have to deal with this,” Adam said.

  “I don’t think I would ever get used to it. Now using our enhanced sense of smell to locate dead bodies? That would be a plus. Having to do an autopsy or anything else with them for a long period of time?” She shook her head. “Thanks for being there for me, barf bag in hand.”

  “You did really well, all things considered,” Adam said as they climbed into his Hummer.

  “Thanks. So what do you think? Foul play?”

  “It’s hard to say. I would have to go along with what the coroner said as far as the drowning being accidental unless we find evidence that says otherwise. They were fully clothed. I’ve got the pictures of them after the one man was pulled from the water. The others were already decomposing on the riverbank.”

  “Okay. So they weren’t swimming if they were wearing all their clothes.”

  “I would say more likely they were boating, maybe fishing when their craft overturned and none of them were wearing life jackets. They were wearing lightweight jackets, sneakers, socks, T-shirts, and jeans.”

  “Wedding rings?”

  “There was no jewelry found on any of them.”

  “Wallets?”

  “No. They might have left them in a cabin or a car, not wanting to get them wet or lose them. We’re checking all the area cabins but haven’t succeeded in locating where the men might have been staying. No cars in the vicinity that would have belonged to them either. All were accounted for.”

  “No boat found?”

  “No. Which makes it my case. I’ve been looking into any stolen boats that might be resold in the area. The whole scenario leads me to believe someone found the boat downriver and took it. I can’t think of any other explanation.”

  “But no one has reported the men missing.”

  “Which leads me to believe they were here on a fishing trip and aren’t expected to return for a while. Maybe they didn’t tell anyone where they were going to be. Hopefully, once you’re able to draw the sketches and we share them with the public, we can get somewhere with the case.”

  “What about DNA?”

  “That’ll take a while, and if they’re not in any system, it won’t lead us anywhere either.”

  “Okay, then I guess it’s up to me to help you learn who they are.”

  He smiled at her. “Exactly.”

  As soon as they arrived back at the bureau, a brunette dressed in a brown suit and sensible shoes hurried to catch up to them. She was all smiles.

  “You’re taking Willy’s place, aren’t you?” the woman asked, joining them and offering her hand. “You’ve got to do it.”

  Sierra shook her hand and smiled. “You must be Tori.” Sierra hadn’t ever seen her before, but she smelled like a red wolf.

  “Yes, and you must be Sierra. I’m so glad to meet you. Adam’s told me all about you.”

  Sierra glanced at Adam. His ears turned a little red. She hoped he hadn’t told everyone about her failed relationship.

  “Well, not everything. He just mentioned you had retired from the army and your brother’s here too. And your parents are still living in San Antonio. Here it is, my first day on the job, and Adam hands me all his casework and tells me to get right on it and solve them.”

  That didn’t sound like Adam.

  “Your brother had called him, tasking him with locating you. That was most important, for sure. Adam spent most of the day calling airlines, then hotels.” Tori smiled. “If I ever go missing, I hope someone is that dedicated in searching for me.”

  “With a pack behind you, you can count on it,” Sierra said, not wanting Tori to get the wrong impression about Adam. What if he wanted to date Tori? “Adam said your household goods are being delivered on the weekend. If you need some assistance in sorting things out, I would love to help. I just went through that rigmarole a while ago myself.”

  Tori smiled and looked relieved at the same time. “I’d love that. I absolutely hate moves, and if I had to do this by myself, half the boxes won’t be unpacked for over a year.”

  Sierra laughed. She liked the pretty brunette already.

  “I’ll help too, if you think I won’t be in the way,” Adam said.

  “Nope, that works for me too. Maybe we can order sandwiches for lunch while we’re emptying boxes,” Tori said. “My treat.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Sierra said.

  Adam agreed.

  “I guess I’d better work on these sketches if you could give me the photos of the men when they were first found, Adam,” Sierra said.

  Adam went over to his desk and found the file on them, then handed them to her.

  She glanced at the new arrivals walking into the police bureau.

  “It looks like an eyewitness just came in for you to do your magic, Sierra,” Adam said.

  “Okay, that first then.” She took the files and set them on her new desk.

  A police officer was escorting a teen and a middle-aged woman who looked like an older version of the girl, both blond, both blue eyed, both anxious-looking as the mother rubbed her hands and the teen looked nervously about.

  The officer escorting them said to Sierra, “She witnessed a robbery at a drugstore. Can you draw a sketch of the alleged assailant?”

  Now that, she could do.

  * * *

  Tori sat down at her desk and got on the phone to check on a case while Adam was drawn to watch the way Sierra put her young witness at ease. She began by asking her about hobbies and what her favorite books were and what she loved to watch on TV.

  He was much more cut to the chase. Nothing but the facts, ma’am. So it was interesting to see how she worked a witness. The teen had been nervous, subdued, but now she was smiling, animated, talking about everything…but the robbery.

  Tori joined him at his desk and smiled down at him. “She’s good at it, isn’t she? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sketch artist who could bring a traumatized witness out of his or her shell that fast.”

  “Yeah, she’s good. That’s why she likes to do the sketches of eyewitness accounts.”

  Sierra talked to the girl for a long time and continued to work on the sketch. Then she showed it to the witness. She pointed at the nose and Sierra erased and worked over it again. Then she showed the girl the picture again.

  The girl nodded. Sierra had her sign the picture on the back, behind the area of the face so that no one would see it or reveal the witness’s name when the picture was scanned. Since it was considered official police evidence, it had to adhere to the chain of command. Sierra thanked the girl and her mother, and they left the building while Sierra handed the sketch to Adam. He scanned it into the system, and the original would be kept on file in the evidence room.

  He’d heard the girl remark that the man had a mole on his chin, but Sierra hadn’t added it. “No mole, eh?”

  “No. As much as I want to really make these look exactly like the person that is described to me, if someone doesn’t recall the mole or some other feature I’ve added, they might think it’s not the right person, when it really is. It makes it less likely for the public as a whole to recognize the alleged assailant. More of a sketch makes it better.”

  “Okay, so no prettier image.”

  She smiled. “Nope. That’s for my art on the side. Like when I’m doing portraits of wolves and people. Then I can add more fun details.”

  “Gotcha. I always wondered about that. Do you need anything? I’ve got to do some investigating.”

  “No, I’m good, Adam. Thanks.”

  “Sierra! You need to get over to the personnel office and take care of that paperwork. They’re all over me about that this morning,” the chief called out.

  She smiled at Adam. “I’ll have to take care of these sketches in a little bit. Off to fill out paperwork.”

  “I’m glad you’re working with us,” Adam said.

  “Just wait until you see what I come up with on the sketches of the bodies in the morgue,” she said, then took off for the personnel office.

  Chapter 10

  After Sierra filled out the paperwork and had officially become a full-time staff employee of the bureau, Adam and Tori took off to learn about a stolen boat that someone had purchased illegally. Meanwhile, Sierra studied the picture the police had taken of the man they had removed from the water, right after he had been discovered. She did a new sketch of him, since his face was much more preserved than after he had been out of the water for some time at the morgue. When she compared the new sketch with the one she’d done at the morgue, she was pleased to see that the two were really compatible. Maybe she could do Willy’s job after all. At least she was feeling more confident in her abilities.

  Her boss left his office and joined her at her desk, a cup of coffee in hand. “How are you coming with the sketches of the guys in the morgue and the one of the carjacker?” her boss asked.

  “Adam just sent me the photo of the man caught under the debris in the river. I was redoing the sketch since the picture shows him before his body deteriorated and gives a much better visual.”

  Her boss looked over her other work. “Looks good. Scan them in and then we’ll make sure they get out. I got word that the owner of the stolen vehicle just came to at the hospital. Adam will meet you over there. He needs to get a statement from him too.”

  “Okay, I’ll head over to the hospital.” After she signed the sketches of the three men in the morgue and scanned them in, she gave them to an officer who would send them out. She hung on to the carjacking one though, wanting to see if it looked the same as the eyewitness’s account after she spoke with him. She hoped he was well enough to talk and could remember accurately what he’d seen.

  With her sketch pad sitting on the passenger seat, Sierra drove to the hospital. She hoped she could get a better sketch of the carjacker before his face had been destroyed in the car accident. Then she could compare her original sketch with the witness sketch and see if she had been on target. If so, she would feel even better about her ability to draw postmortem sketches. The real test was putting them out for the world to see and finding someone who could identify them.

  When she walked into the hospital lobby, she saw Adam looking serious as he texted someone on his phone, frowning, but as soon as he saw her coming, he smiled as if she had brightened his whole day.

  “Where’s Tori?” Since they’d left to do an investigation together, Sierra had assumed they would both be here.

  “She’s still questioning the man about a boat he purchased. I needed to speak with our victim concerning the carjacking. A police officer at the house where the man purchased the boat without a bill of sale had to come to the hospital because his wife is in labor and he dropped me off.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  “Mr. Kinney, the carjacking victim, is on the fourth floor. Come on,” Adam said.

  When they reached the victim’s room, they found a woman and two teen girls visiting him, all three of them looking worried. Mr. Kinney had a bandage wrapped around his head and bruises on his face and looked like he’d had a bad beating.

  Adam introduced himself and Sierra.

  Mr. Kinney introduced them to his wife and daughters, and then his wife said, “I’ll take the girls downstairs to the cafeteria. We’ll get a bite to eat and then return in a while.”

  Mr. Kinney sighed and looked vastly relieved that his wife and daughters would leave during the interview. They kissed and gently hugged him, then left the room. Sierra assumed he wouldn’t want to go over the details in front of his family.

  “Why don’t you do the sketch of the assailant first, and then I’ll ask my questions,” Adam told Sierra.