Page 26 of Midlife Shifter Unexpected

“I think I found your dead bodies,” I said, holding up my phone to show the little red dot on the map. “The sheriff said some hikers found them a few hours ago.”

“We were concentrated at the cemetery. They already breached it,” Mae exclaimed.

“Can Jane stay with you?” I asked. “I really need to go meet with the sheriff.”

“Why don’t you take her with you? Maybe she can tell something about the crime scene that the rest of us can’t,” Mae said.

“We’ll go inside the cemetery on the other side.” Hilda confirmed with a nod.

“Everyone must be careful,” Jane warned. “I have a premonition; the killer is not far away.”

Chapter 19

The crime scene was close to the cemetery, but it took a long time to get there by the fire roads that lead the way around through the forests. The area was all state park land and regularly used by hikers going from the coastal towns, stopping off at the hot springs and then hiking through the forest toward the larger inland towns.

“You seem to have been caught up with a lot of crazy stuff lately,” Jane said as we navigated the dirt fire roads.

“I’m surprised you’re not running screaming somewhere else in the world. Anywhere but here,” I laughed. “You’re doing the opposite, though. You’re like, all in.”

“Are you kidding me?” Jane said. “This is the most fun I’ve had since I was a little kid watching my grandma do voodoo down by the bayou.”

“That didn’t really happen.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s what actually happened,” Jane said. “You don’t know everything there is to know about me.

“Well, you probably know more than you ever wanted to know about me,” I chuckled as I dropped the car down a gear to take a particularly sharp turn.

“ I think it’s very exciting and interesting. In fact, I think I might stick around a while,” Jane said.

“Let’s find out who’s killing people first before we decide whether you’re sticking around or not,” I said. “But if you do decide to hang out, I could use some help with the doggie day care.”

“That’s not the only thing you need help with,” grinned Jane with a knowing look that made me blush.

When we got to the crime scene, the sheriff was already there, but I could see why he called me in. Word had already gotten around to the locals, and they were starting to gather around the site to find out more about what had happened.

“You need me for crowd control, don’t you?” I asked the sheriff.

He turned to me, looking like a Santa Claus in Khaki green with his bushy white beard and rosy red cheeks.

“Yes, I do,” Sheriff Ted glanced at the burgeoning crowd.

I turned to Jane as I made my way to the sheriff’s car to get the crime scene tape. “Walk around the side and see if you can get any insights into what actually happened here. We need to know if it’s supernatural forces causing these dead bodies or if it’s something else.”

“Ten four,” Jane gave me a salute. “Oh, I feel so James Bondish.”

“James Bond was an international spy,” I said. “We’re probably just researching a hunting accident.”

But as I turned the corner to look at the crime scene, I realized I was wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong.

“Oh, mon Dieu,” Jane said in a hushed voice.

The path led around the bend in the creek where there was a clearing with a large oak tree. The bodies of two people were strewn all around the glen. Torn limb to limb, their bloody carcasses created macabre decoration in the foliage.

“I don’t think this was a hunting accident,” Jane leaned over and whispered to me.

“What, did you use all of your psychic powers to determine that?” Was all could I stammer out.

“There’s no need to get snappy with me,” Jane said. “This is not something I come across every day.”

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