Chapter One

“Angus, stop squirming!”

Kat kicked the Escalade’s door shut, barely able to hold on to the wriggling puppy in her arms. Angus was adorable, but he had enough energy in his furry little body to fuel a jet engine.

She headed up the brick path to the small ranch house office, noting a blue SUV parked in the driveway. “That’s a good sign, Angus. Somebody’s home.”

The puppy got in a slobbery kiss on Kat’s chin, making her smile. Angus sure liked to lick. He’d only been staying with her at the Canine Haven since last night, but she missed him already. His bubbly puppy personality had been just the ticket to get her mind off other things. Like getting dumped. That had definitely sucked.

A large wood sign in the front yard confirmed she was in the right place. Garman Investigations. The phone number on the sign was the same as the one on Angus’s dog tag.

Kat had called the number twice last night and once this morning. No one had returned her voicemail messages regarding the puppy being found wandering in the neighborhood.

A plaque on the front door said, Come on in. She hefted Angus against her shoulder, holding him tighter. The door opened into a small reception area with several chairs against a wall and a table littered with magazines.

“Hello?” She closed the door behind her then waited. No one answered. “Hello? Is anyone here? I have Angus.” The place was deathly quiet.

She continued through the reception area to a short hallway. An overturned dog bowl and several dog toys lay on the floor by the back door. Kat grimaced at the metallic and sickly, rancid odor. “Ooh.” She held her hand over her nose, as if that could actually filter out the smell. It didn’t.

The puppy went utterly still, like someone had unplugged his little generator. His tiny black nostrils flared. Whatever the smell was, Angus didn’t like it, either.

Hair on her nape tingled. Another door off the hallway was open. Cautiously, she moved closer until the edge of a desk came into view. The metallic scent grew more pungent and she began breathing through her mouth, which helped. Some, anyway. A bad feeling edged its way into her mind. At the open doorway, she raised her hand to knock, then gasped.

Bile rose in her throat. She blinked then blinked again. Oh. God. Not even the worst slasher movie could have prepared her for this.

A woman’s body lay on the floor. Her eyes open and sightless. The entire torso was covered in various shades of red. Blood.

Kat stumbled backward. Her shoulder slammed against the doorframe. She sucked in quick, shallow breaths, swallowing repeatedly to keep from throwing up, then darted her eyes to the hallway.

This can’t be real. But it was.

What if whoever did this was still here?

Angus’s high-pitched whimper broke through the haze of shock, and she ran through the reception area, hugging the puppy tightly to her chest. She flung open the door then bolted down the steps and across the front lawn to her car, glancing over her shoulder twice before she made it to the street.

Breathing heavily, she jerked open the door and hoisted herself and Angus inside. After setting the puppy on the passenger seat, she slammed the door shut and punched the lock button.

With shaking hands, she fumbled to release her cell phone from the hands-free contraption on the dash. Finally, she clicked open the release. Her fingers were so unsteady she nearly dropped the phone, snagging it in the nick of time.

Then she did something she’d never done before in her life—dialed 911.

The operator answered.

“Blood!” was the only word she managed before having to swallow again or vomit. “So much of it. Please, hurry.”

But there was no hurry. Not really. The woman was not only dead, she was…

Desecrated.