Hero's Return. B.J. Daniels

      Tucker nodded. So why did he still feel guilty? Nor did it feel as if it was over. “What about the person who hid her body downstream?”

      “Because the death was an accident, the person who hid the body would have been facing only misdemeanor charges for the improper disposal of a corpse. Since the statute of limitations has run out...”

      “So you aren’t going to pursue this? You aren’t even going to look for whoever was helping Madeline?”

      “I can’t see using manpower when no charges could be filed, anyway.”

      He thought of Kate and that darned dream came back with her standing naked in the mist at the edge of the pool. He frowned as he remembered the tinkle of the ankle bracelet in his dream.

      “Did your deputies find any jewelry at the scene?”

      “No, why?”

      “Maybe a little silver ankle bracelet with tiny bells on it. I believe Madeline was wearing it that night.” He sounded lame even to himself. The woman in the dream who’d been Madeline up until that last minute had been wearing a silver ankle bracelet with little bells on it. Until this moment, he’d forgotten about the bracelet he’d bought her.

      “I’ll send Harp back out there. Will give him something to do.”

      “Who’s Harp?” Tucker asked, still distracted.

      “Harper Cole. Mayor’s son and a deputy I inherited. While he’s doing better at the job, he has a pregnant wife he calls every few hours to make sure she’s all right.”

      “And that’s a bad thing, him checking on his wife?”

      Flint groaned. “You have to know Harp. He tends to overdo everything. So putting him on creek dirt duty will at least give all of us a break,” his brother said with a laugh. “What do you have planned today?”

      Tucker glanced at the clock, cringing at how early it was. “Going back to sleep.”

      “Sorry for waking you up.”