Sorry I took so long to update. Life has an annoying habit of getting in the way of my Muse! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. Hope I can make the rest of the story live up to them.

Once again, I do not own Cold Case or anything related to them.

Chapter 1

"Heads up, Rush!" a voice sprang gaily out of the darkness. "We got a new case."

The normally serious and business-like Detective Lilly Rush peeled her face from the desk, pressing her fingers against her eyes and groaning. Her head was killing her. Drat her "girls" for choosing precisely last evening to go on a dating rampage! The result had been a night of endless caterwauling… which, added to the stress of her on-going feud with Scotty, couldn't possibly be good for her nerves. She felt as if she'd been run over by a truck.

Vera was perched on the edge of her desk, peering curiously at her. "You okay?"

"Perfect. Just perfect."

That was all she needed—someone breathing down her neck. Even if it was a friend. She wasn't up to giving explanations to anyone. Her mind flashed back to her bed at home, its covers invitingly open…

"Come on, then. Boss is waiting."

Lilly had the distinct feeling of being underwater as she made her way toward Stillman's office. Her body seemed bolted to the floor, her feet heavy as lead. Usually she would've jumped at the thought of a new case, but today she just wished she were a million miles away.

"What's up, boss?"

"Call came in a few minutes ago," Stillman announced, his countenance even graver than usual. "Some woman reporting a dead body in her backyard. Apparently she was doing some gardening, hauled some dirt over to plant a tree—and there it was."

"Grave must be pretty shallow for her to have found it like that," Scotty remarked, appearing out of nowhere. "How come they didn't come across it before?"

Lilly started. Where the hell had he come from? How could she not have noticed he was in the room?

In a minute her headache was back with a vengeance. She really didn't feel like dealing with him today.

"Hey," Scotty conceded, giving her a half-hearted nod.

Lilly's "hey" back was just as non-commital. Their eye-contact was so brief, it seemed impossible anyone in that room could have missed they were scarcely talking to each other. So why were they being so discreet? No glances exchanged, no ominous eyebrows lifted. Even Vera, who couldn't hold his tongue to save his life, hadn't made so much as a comment in edgewise. And Stillman still insisted on pairing them off together. What the hell was wrong with them all?

Boss was still talking. Focus, Rush.

"Just moved in, apparently. Anyway, you can ask her yourselves. CSU's already on it, but we need someone interrogating the witnesses. Lil, you and Scotty go. Woman's name is Kylie Feldman."

Lilly's shoulders slumped in spite of herself. It had become predictable. A whole day of Scotty to look forward to—just what she needed.

Kylie Feldman was a redhead, and much shorter than Lilly had anticipated. Her nose was snubby and the sprinkling of freckles across her cheeks added to her childish appearance—although she was all of 39, according to her social security number.

"I had just asked the gardener to shovel over some of that soil in the corner when I saw it," she was explaining, still a bit shakily. Her brown eyes were wide and stricken as she showed them around her garden'. "I didn't know what it was—didn't want to touch it. My husband told me I should call the police."

It wasn't much of a garden, really. Just a walled-in, ten-by-ten foot square of loose dirt, basking in the cold Philadelphia sunshine—and absolutely swarming with CSU people at the moment. Lilly took a moment to wonder what sort of garden this kind of woman would have turned it into, had she had the chance. Would she have planted roses and some rhododendron bushes? Fruit trees maybe? Try to make a little orchard?

"How long ago did you move here?" Scotty's voice, all business, broke through her thoughts.

"Just a few weeks ago. We wanted a bigger place." Hesitantly, Kylie added, "I'm trying to get pregnant. We've always wanted a family. I know it's kind of late for me, but we wanted it so bad. I just had to try…"

Lilly's heart went out to her. She looked so genuinely frightened over what had happened, so hopeful and naïve. This was hardly the way a killer would act. But she knew from experience appearances could be deceiving—personal sympathies were no reason to kick professionalism out the window.

"Do you know the people who lived here before?" she asked.

"Just some couple called Bryant. I never met them. It was my husband who handled most of the deal."

Funny how Kylie seemed to be getting more and more nervous as they approached the makeshift grave—her eyeslooked wide and hauntedand she couldn't seem to stop wringing her hands. Her voice was beginning to falter. Was it shock at finding the body, Lilly mused, or an admission of guilt?

Just before they came to the corner getting most of the attention from the CSU, Kylie suddenly stopped in her tracks and gave up altogether, freezing them with a look of utter panic. "You mind going by yourselves the rest of the way?" she gasped, shaking like a leaf in the wind. "I just—really don't want to see it again."

Without waiting for an answer, she turned and practically ran back into the house. Lilly gazed after her, stunned. "What the—?"

"Lil." Scotty's voice rang out unexpectedly ominous from where he stood, leaning over the hole in the ground. "Maybe you better come take a look at this."