I made my way down the dock and caught sight of a small crowd by the waterfront park. A trickle of unease slid down my spine. An ambulance and a sheriff’s department SUV were also there. God, I hoped everyone was okay. I walked slower. I was about to force myself towards Main Street when I caught sight of Caelyn. She was white as a sheet.

I instantly changed direction and headed for my friend. As soon as I was at her side, Caelyn threw her arms around me. Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke. “Oh, God. Shay.”

My body was strung tight as I rubbed a hand up and down Caelyn’s back. “What is it? What happened?”

“Someone’s dead. They aren’t saying who. Brian found him on the bench.”

I followed Caelyn’s line of sight to a large man who looked more than a little pale and was talking to Sheriff Raines. I’d seen him before. A fisherman I often crossed paths with on the docks. We’d share a wave or a head nod, but I hadn’t known his name. This man, who would likely now be scarred for life by his discovery. “Do they know what happened? Heart attack or a stroke?”

Caelyn’s arm tightened around me. “People are saying they think he was murdered.”

“What?” My gaze snapped back to Caelyn. “Who’s saying that?”

“Just whispers. They put up those curtains before I got here.”

Walls of fabric that looked like the old-fashioned dividers you might see in a doctor’s office had been set up, but that didn’t stop people from trying to see around them, standing on tiptoes or bending to the side. Crime scene tape blocked them from any sort of success.

“What is happening on our island?” Caelyn whispered.

“I wish I knew.” There had been more than a small community’s share of violence and death lately. And now this? My safe place was feeling a little less secure.

An SUV pulled up next to the ambulance, and a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties climbed out. “That’s the new doctor,” Caelyn said in a hushed tone.

He shook hands with the sheriff, and after a few words, Sheriff Raines pulled back the wall to let him through. The curtains weren’t pulled back for long. Maybe a count of fifteen. But those seconds stretched into an eternity.

The image in front of me would be seared into my brain forever. A young man so pale he had to have been drained of blood. What looked like black paint covered his arms, but I could see the stab wounds, even through the paint. Small items had been strewn across the bench, and ugly words had been spray painted around him. And his chest…oh, God, his chest had been carved open.