Time Didn’t Heal All Wounds, and the Scars were About to be Ripped Open

Stevenson When I’d moved from Homicide to the Cold Case Unit my friends headed, I’d thought it would be a new start. The minute my marriage fell apart, I’d lost my purpose. Years passed, and I hadn’t found myself until I’d helped my friends catch a serial killer, but I’d also found friends and family. As I’d searched for a case among dusty boxes, a decades’ old murder and missing person case caught my attention. The autopsy report sent me to the ME’s office and the man I’d avoided for months.

Doc Making death my job didn’t allow for normal friends, but the dead needed an advocate, and it was the only purpose I’d known. Being a medical examiner was all I’d had for decades, and I didn’t know what to do outside my job. I had a group of friends, all worked in law enforcement and forensics, but one thing was missing. Short, adorable middle-aged men weren’t getting swept off their feet. When my secret crush needed my help with a case, to the detriment of my sanity, I said yes. All I had to do was not be my weird self and blurt out everything in my head. When a missing person case turns out to be more than it appears, can Stevenson keep Doc safe from a twenty-year-old threat?

(TW: May contain mentions of sexual, physical, and mental abuses. Passive Suicidal Ideation, self-harm, and mental illness. These are mainly off-page, but there may be detailed flashbacks and conversations of said acts. Yet if these are triggering for you, please feel free not to read the story. Your self-care and mental health are more important. Thank you.)