Rizzoli & Isles 8-Book Set

start about halfway up,” she said. “Someone fell down those stairs, hitting the steps on the way down. And landed here.” She lowered the lamp, illuminating the dried pool at the bottom of the stairs. Something gleamed in that blood, a silvery thread that she had missed earlier that afternoon. She croucheddown and saw that it was a long blond hair, partially trapped in dried blood.
A woman
. A woman who had lain here while her heart continued to pump, at least for a few minutes. Long enough for a lake of blood to pour from her body.
    “An accident?” said Doug.
    “Or a homicide.”
    In the dim light, she saw his mouth twitch in a half smile. “That’s a medical examiner talking. What I see here isn’t necessarily a crime scene. Just blood.”
    “A lot of it.”
    “But no body. Nothing to tell us one way or another how it happened.”
    “The missing body is what bothers me.”
    “I’d be a lot more bothered if it was still here.”
    “Where is it? Who took it?”
    “The family? Maybe they brought her to the hospital. That would explain why the canary was forgotten.”
    “They would
carry
an injured woman, Doug. They wouldn’t drag her across the floor like a carcass. But if they were trying to get rid of a body …”
    His gaze followed the drag marks until they vanished into the shadows of the hallway. “They never came back to clean up the blood.”
    “Maybe they were planning to,” she said. “Maybe they couldn’t get back into the valley.”
    He looked at her. “The snowstorm kept them away.”
    She nodded. The flame in the lamp shuddered, as though buffeted by a ghostly breath. “Arlo was right. Something terrible happened in this village, Doug. Something that left bloodstains and dead pets and empty houses.” She looked at the floor. “And evidence. Evidence that tells a story. We keep hoping that someone will come back here and find us.” She looked at him. “But what if they’re not here to save us?”
    Doug gave himself a shake, as though trying to snap out of thedark spell she’d spun around him. “We’re talking about a whole community that’s missing, Maura,” he said. “Twelve houses, twelve families. If something happened to this many people, there’d be no way to hide it.”
    “In this valley, you could. You could hide a lot of things.” She looked at the shadows surrounding them, thought of what might be hidden beyond the glow of the lantern, and drew her jacket tighter. “We can’t stay in this place.”
    “You’re the one who thought we should wait to be rescued. You said it this morning.”
    “Since this morning, things have gone from bad to worse.”
    “I’m trying to get us out of here. I’m doing my best.”
    “I didn’t say you weren’t.”
    “But that’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it? That everything’s my fault. That’s what you’re all thinking.” He gave a loud sigh and turned. “I promise, I’ll find a way to get us out of here.”
    “I’m not blaming you.”
    He shook his head in the darkness. “You should.”
    “Everything’s just gone wrong, things that no one could predict.”
    “And now we’re trapped, and Arlo’s probably going to lose his leg. If not worse.” His back was still turned to her, as if he couldn’t bear to meet her gaze. “I’m sorry I ever talked you into this. It sure as hell isn’t the trip I was hoping for, not with you along. Especially not with you along.” He turned to look at her, and the lamplight deepened every hollow of his face. This wasn’t the same man whose eyes had twinkled at her in the restaurant, not the same man who’d spoken so breezily about trusting in the universe.
    “I needed you today, Maura,” he said. “It may be selfish of me, but for my sake, and Arlo’s, I’m glad you’re here.”
    She managed a smile. “I can’t say I share the sentiment.”
    “No, I’m pretty sure you’d rather be just about anywhere else right now. Like on that plane headed for home.”
    To Daniel
. By now her flight would have landed, and he’d knowshe wasn’t on it. Was he frantic? Or did he think this was her way of punishing him for all the heartache he’d caused her?
You know me better than that. If you love me, you’ll know I’m in trouble
.
    They left the bloodstained hallway, walked back through the shadowy front room, and stepped outside, into a landscape lit by the moon and stars. They could see firelight glowing in the house where the others now slept.
    “I’m