Page 3 of Not Your Body

Kate drove home, intending to grab a couple hours of sleep before plunging back into this brutal case. The bloody images lingered in her head, stirring unsettling memories from the past. Something else also stirred inside her, but Kate resisted it,fought it—too afraid to let it resurrect.

Pulling into her driveway, Kate shut off the Bronco and stared at her modest home. One-story, two-bedroom, one bath. The house was flanked by towering evergreens and the morning fog lingered, spilling out of the trees to blanket the lawn. The windows were dark, the only light coming from the porch light that illuminated the fog with an eerie glow. Kate rubbed her eyes and exited the vehicle.

The crime scene team and the coroner would be a while. She had time for a short nap. The thought of falling asleep set her on edge, though, as she feared the return of the nightmares that not so long ago had plagued her slumber. They had finally faded out a couple of years ago. Kate had hoped they wouldn’t return. Since last week and the case of the female victims, the nightmare images were trickling back in.

Kate entered her home and turned on the entry hall light. Maybe this time her exhaustion would pull her into a dreamless sleep. Kate removed her jacket, boots, and gun belt, and walked into the kitchen in her stocking feet. Her shoulders felt heavy, and her body weighted as thoughts ofdutyplagued her mind.

You can’t allow distractions to prevent you from doing your job.

For a moment—a split second—Kate had believed the universe was finally offering her something good… rather thantakingit away. These newly developed circumstances suggested otherwise.

You don’t know that you’re right. Maybe they aren’t the one.

Kate clung to that tiny thread of hope… even as it swiftly unraveled in her grasp.

She’d witnessed the rage and indignation—theneedfor justice andrevenge.These eviscerating emotions weren’t foreign to her—in the past, she’d seen them staring back at her from the mirror. They were the emotions of a woman wounded; a woman angered; a womanscorned.And she knew what those “emotions” were capable of.

Kate fixed herself a cup of tea, resisting the urge to splash in a bit of thehard stuff.She was technically still on duty andneverdrank on the job, regardless of how much she might need it at times. She took her tea into the living room. Heavy drapes covered the windows, deepening the shadows. Kate placed her cup on the end table near the sofa and unfastened the front of her uniform shirt, peeling it off. She dug under the remaining tank top, unsnapped her bra, and removed it without taking off the tank.

“Much better,” she whispered as she turned on the end table lamp.

“I agree.” Though soft, the feminine voice emanated strength.

Kate jerked upright and instinctively went for her weapon. It wasn’t there—still stuffed in the holster hanging in the entry hall. “Who…” Kate started when the hooded figure seemed to materialize out of the shadows. The amber lamplight only partially illuminated the intruder’s face, but it was enough… Kate would recognize thoselipsanywhere.

Jade Palmer.

Kate’s number onesuspect.

“Ms. Palmer…” Kate remained calm,outwardly.Inside, her heart pounded, and butterflies filled her stomach. “What are you doing in my house? How did you get in?”

Jade Palmer, twenty-four—five years younger than Kate—moved with casual grace as she took a few steps toward Kate. Cloaked in the loose, oversized hoodie, Kate had no issue imagining the slim, curvaceous body hidden underneath—as she’d met the young woman just days earlier following the assault on two college girls. One of whom was Jade’s younger sister.

“No need to be so formal, Sheriff,” Jade murmured with just enoughsensualityto make Kate’s skin tingle. “You’ll arrest me for murder before the day is through. That’s rather personal. We should be on a first-name basis, don’t you think… Kate?”

The emphasis on theTsent a jolt through Kate, spiking her erratic pulse. “Why would I arrest you?”

“You’re a smart woman, Kate. I know that you know.”

She did it.A sliver of nausea wormed through Kate’s gut, and she realized how tightly she’d been grasping that thread of hope, that small chance that Jade Palmer wasn’t guilty.

“I could have gotten away with it,” Jade said. “I’m a smart woman, too. Even if I was a suspect, you wouldn’t have found any evidence against me.”

“Then why are you here… confessing?” Kate wondered. “And how do you know those were the men who assaulted your sister and her friend? We had no lead, no evidence.”

The young woman came closer and slowly pushed back the hood of her sweater, revealing her lovely face and intensejadeeyes. “Because I didn’t tell you the full story.”

“What?”

“I had the evidence,” Jade whispered, gazing into Kate’s eyes. “I knew who they were when we spoke before.”

“What?” Kate blinked. “Then why…” She frowned, confused. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have arrested them.”

“No,” Jade murmured, a hardness creeping into her stare. “It wouldn’t have been enough. Not in this new,blossomingworld of ours. They need to know that thisbehavioris notacceptable.”Her full lips twitched as fury sparked in her eyes. “Thatwearenottheirproperty.Wewill notpardonthem. Theywillpay for theirsinsagainstus.”

The cop in Kate wanted to argue that men who commit such vicious crimes against women would be held accountable for their actions. Shewantedto argue that point. But how could she when such a man held the highest office in the country—an abuser of women facing no consequences, ratherawardedfull control of a nation? And why? Because he was a richwhiteman who emboldened the misogynists of the country to follow him, toworshiphim… promising themlibertiesto do as they please, without consequence.

“You know I’m right.” Jade touched Kate’s face, tracing her fingertips along the sheriff’s high cheekbones. “I see it written all over your face. If we don’t fight backhard…they will keep taking from us until there is nothing left.”

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