Hush Little Girl by Lisa Regan (first e reader .txt) 📗

about something so awful, but you have to try. You deserve to have a beautiful day. There are others on your team who can handle this just as well as you would.”

Josie knew this was true as well. Her colleagues were the very best in the business. Of course, with her and Noah getting married, that left Gretchen and Mettner to do the work. Josie walked over to the dresser where a clutch purse rested with her personal items inside. Taking out her phone, she said, “I’m just going to call Gretchen.”

“Josie!” Trinity objected, but the phone was already ringing.

Gretchen answered on the fourth ring. “Boss,” she said. “I might have to forfeit my place as a bridesmaid.”

“I understand,” Josie said. “What’ve you got?”

They dropped easily into work speak, Gretchen rattling off details in the tone she used on every case. “Young girl, twelve or thirteen, possibly. Laid out at the base of the church steps like she’s sleeping. No obvious signs of trauma.”

“So you don’t know if it’s a homicide,” Josie said.

There was a second of hesitation. “Let’s just say it’s suspicious.”

“You think she was a guest here?” Josie asked.

“Not sure, but it will be easy to figure out. If any guests are looking for a missing twelve- or thirteen-year-old with white eyelashes, we’ll know they’re looking for this girl.”

Josie felt a cold shock go through her. “What did you say?”

“Her eyelashes. They’re white. It’s the strangest thing. But it’s a pretty distinct feature, so…”

Josie had stopped listening. The hand that held her phone dropped to her side. Her phone fell onto the carpet.

Trinity walked over and tugged at Josie’s elbow. “Come on, now. Let Gretchen handle this. You know she’s more than qualified.”

Josie heard Lorelei Mitchell’s voice in her head. Poliosis. It’s a genetic thing. Harmless. Just the absence of melanin in your hair or eyelashes. She hates it, but I think it makes her look striking.

“I have to go,” said Josie. This time, when Trinity tried to block her way, Josie pushed her aside and strode toward the door. She was only vaguely aware of the chorus of protests at her back. The door to the groom’s suite opened only a second after Josie emerged. Out stepped Noah, looking so handsome in his tuxedo that it momentarily took her breath away.

“Josie,” he said.

They stared at one another. In a dim corner of her mind, Josie realized it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the ceremony. But the bad luck had begun long before this moment, hadn’t it? When the young girl in front of the church died.

Noah’s eyes traveled the length of her body and then back up to her face. His jaw hung open for a second. Then he closed his mouth and swallowed. “Wow,” he said, voice husky. “You look… amazing.”

“So do you,” she breathed.

For a moment, she considered going back to the bridal suite, taking all the requisite photos, and then heading downstairs to the wedding hall as if nothing outside was amiss. She could walk arm-in-arm with her biological father down the aisle toward this man. This lovely, incredible, kind, decent human being that she loved with her whole heart. They could say their vows and dance into the night, their partnership strengthened by their promise to one another. No one would blame her. In fact, Josie knew everyone who had come for this event would be very upset with her if she didn’t do that.

Noah said, “Misty told you about the body.”

Josie nodded.

“What did she say? They wouldn’t tell me anything other than that they found a body.”

“She said it was a little girl, Noah. They found her outside the church.”

His face took on an expression of sadness.

Josie said, “I saw Hummel heading in that direction. They wouldn’t need an Evidence Response officer unless…”

“It was a murder,” he finished.

“Suspicious,” Josie corrected. “I talked to Gretchen.” She relayed what Gretchen had told her about the girl’s eyelashes.

“You met her,” Noah said.

Josie nodded. “The day we hit the deer and her mother took me back to her house while you went for help. Her name was Holly.”

Silence fell between them. Josie looked down at her dress, immaculate white. How could she tell him? If a child had been murdered in the grounds of the resort where they were planning to marry, on their wedding day, Josie wasn’t sure she could go through with it. It wasn’t just any child, it was a girl she had met only three months earlier. A sweet, quiet girl with a shy smile but a fierceness about her, particularly in the way she had hovered protectively over her little sister. A deep ache opened in Josie’s chest and flooded her body.

She sensed more than saw Noah take two long strides toward her. Then his hand appeared, palm open, inviting. She placed her own hand in his and looked up at him.

“Let’s go,” he said.

Two

In the lobby, Celeste Harper waited, her tall, thin frame draped in a regal maroon gown that flowed to her ankles. Dark curls cascaded to her bare shoulders. Beside her stood her husband, Adam Long, dressed in his customary chef’s garb. He held his white hat in both hands. His eyes didn’t seem to know where to look. Although he wasn’t that much older than his wife, his hair had already turned bright white and he hadn’t bothered to regularly dye it. “Makes me look more distinguished,” he had joked during one of the many meetings Josie and Noah had had with him, Celeste, and Tom to plan their nuptials. Celeste was heir and owner of the resort, and Adam was the head chef. They were usually pleasant and generous with their smiles, but as Josie and Noah descended the grand central staircase hand-in-hand, Josie saw that Adam’s skin was ashen. Celeste held her cell phone to one ear while she pressed her other hand against her forehead. She paced back and forth near the lobby’s front desk, whispering angrily into