Field of Bones: A Brady Novel of Suspense (Joanna Brady Mysteries)

by J. A. Jance

  Joanna had finished loading the books into the box and was taping the cover shut when the landline phone on Butch’s desk jangled awake. Plucking the handset off the charger, she picked it up and answered. “Hello.”

  “Joanna?” It was a woman’s voice, one Joanna was sure she had heard before, although she didn’t recognize it right off.

  “It’s Carole Anne Wilson,” the voice continued. “How are you, and how’s the baby?”

  Of course. Carole Anne Wilson was Butch’s editor in New York.

  “We’re both fine,” Joanna said. “How are you?”

  “I’m great. Is Butch home?”

  “Sure, but he’s in the other room,” Joanna said. “Let me take the phone to him.”

  Out in the kitchen, Dennis was squatting in front of the oven, watching to see if his pumpkin seeds had started to burn yet, while Butch put the finishing touches on crimping a pair of piecrusts.

  “It’s Carole Anne,” Joanna said, offering him the phone.

  He dusted off his hands on his apron before taking the phone. “Hi, Carole,” he said. “Yeah, I’m baking pumpkin pies. What’s up with you?”

  For the next several very long seconds—the better part of a minute—he listened, while a huge smile spread across his face. “You’ve got to be kidding!” he said at last. “That’s great. Thank you so much for letting me know.”

  “Letting you know what?” Joanna demanded as he handed the phone back to her.

  “I made the list!” he said.

  “What list?”

  “The New York Times Best Sellers list. I didn’t make it the first week, but I did on week two. Just the Facts clocks in at number twelve on the combined hardback/e-book list.”

  Joanna was dumbfounded. “You made the New York Times list? Really? That’s amazing!”

  “Not really, because Gayle Dixon is the name on the list instead of Butch Dixon, but yes, we made the list. Just the Facts made the list!”

  “What does that mean, Daddy?” Denny asked without taking his eyes off the pumpkin seeds.

  “It means that maybe someday I’ll be able to make enough money by writing books that your mom will be able to stay home for a change. She might even start running the household,” Butch added with a wink in Joanna’s direction.

  “Are you sure?” Denny asked. “You’re a better cook.”

  Joanna and Butch both burst out laughing at that. “Out of the mouths of babes,” Butch said.

  “That’s all right,” Joanna said. “Check with me four years from now. If you’re making handfuls of money by the time the next election rolls around, maybe it’ll be time for me to pull the plug, quit being sheriff, and learn to cook.”

  “Don’t even think about it,” Butch advised. “Given your recent history with maternity leave, you wouldn’t last two weeks.”

  Grandpa Jeb’s Sunday Meat Loaf

  2.15 pounds ground chuck

  1 cup oats

  4.5-ounce can chopped green chilies

  ½ cup milk

  ½ cup minced onion

  2 eggs*

  2 teaspoons salt

  2 teaspoons chili powder

  About 2 hours before serving, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 1½ hours.

  Recipe compliments of Carl and Barbara Bender

  About the Author

  J. A. JANCE is the New York Times bestselling author of the J. P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady series, the Ali Reynolds series, and five interrelated thrillers about the Walker Family, as well as a volume of poetry. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.

  www.JAJance.com

  Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

  Also by J. A. Jance

  JOANNA BRADY MYSTERIES

  Desert Heat

  Tombstone Courage

  Shoot/Don’t Shoot

  Dead to Rights

  Skeleton Canyon

  Rattlesnake Crossing

  Outlaw Mountain

  Devil’s Claw

  Paradise Lost

  Partner in Crime

  Exit Wounds

  Dead Wrong

  Damage Control

  Fire and Ice

  Judgment Call

  The Old Blue Line: A Joanna Brady Novella

  Remains of Innocence

  Random Acts: A Joanna Brady and Ali Reynolds Novella

  Downfall

  Field of Bones

  J. P. BEAUMONT MYSTERIES

  Until Proven Guilty

  Injustice for All

  Trial by Fury

  Taking the Fifth

  Improbable Cause

  A More Perfect Union

  Dismissed with Prejudice

  Minor in Possession

  Payment in Kind

  Without Due Process

  Failure to Appear

  Lying in Wait

  Name Withheld

  Breach of Duty

  Birds of Prey

  Partner in Crime

  Long Time Gone

  Justice Denied

  Fire and Ice

  Betrayal of Trust

  Ring in the Dead: A J. P. Beaumont Novella

  Second Watch

  Stand Down: A J. P. Beaumont Novella

  Dance of the Bones: A J. P. Beaumont and Brandon Walker Novel

  Still Dead: A J. P. Beaumont Novella

  Proof of Life

  WALKER FAMILY NOVELS

  Hour of the Hunter

  Kiss of the Bees

  Day of the Dead

  Queen of the Night

  Dance of the Bones: A J. P. Beaumont and Brandon Walker Novel

  ALI REYNOLDS NOVELS

  Edge of Evil

  Web of Evil

  Hand of Evil

  Cruel Intent

  Trial by Fire

  Fatal Error

  Left for Dead

  Deadly Stakes

  Moving Target

  A Last Goodbye: An Ali Reynolds Novella

  Cold Betrayal

  No Honor Among Thieves: An Ali Reynolds/Joanna Brady Novella

  Clawback

  Man Overboard

  Duel to the Death

  POETRY

  After the Fire

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  FIELD OF BONES. Copyright © 2018 by J. A. Jance. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  FIRST EDITION

  Cover design by Richard L. Aquan

  Desert landscape © Glass House/Getty Images; sky © Cressa Cruzan/Shutterstock; vulture 1 © Natalia Kuzmina/Shutterstock; vulture 2 © Maria Jeffs/Shutterstock; vulture 3 © FotoRequest/Shutterstock; vulture 4 © Bruce MacQueen/Shutterstock

  Digital Edition SEPTEMBER 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-265759-6

  Print ISBN: 978-0-06-265757-2

  Version 08082018

  About the Publisher

  Australia

  HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.

  Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street

  Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

  www.harpercollins.com.au

  Canada

  HarperCollins Canada

  Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower

  22 Adelaide Street West, 41st Floor

&
nbsp; Toronto, Ontario, Canada

  M5H 4E3

  www.harpercollins.ca

  India

  HarperCollins India

  A 75, Sector 57

  Noida

  Uttar Pradesh 201 301

  www.harpercollins.co.in

  New Zealand

  HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand

  Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive

  Rosedale 0632

  Auckland, New Zealand

  www.harpercollins.co.nz

  United Kingdom

  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

  1 London Bridge Street

  London SE1 9GF, UK

  www.harpercollins.co.uk

  United States

  HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

  195 Broadway

  New York, NY 10007

  www.harpercollins.com

  * (May substitute ½ cup Egg Beaters Southwestern Style for the eggs.)