by L A Dobbs
Sam sat in his chair, toed his black shoes off, and started tugging the boots on. “Sorry, Harry. Frank Buckner found some bones out in the woods behind his place.”
“Human bones?”
“Yep. We’re going to find the rest of them.”
“Oh, I see.” Harry scratched his chin. “Old Bucky, huh? You sure you can trust what he says? He can be a little fanciful.”
“Went out there and took a look myself.” Sam gestured to the lump under the towel, and Harry’s eyes widened.
“Ahh, that seems important. I just came by to see if you wouldn’t mind a late lunch with Marnie Wilson.”
“I think I’ll be kind of busy today, Harry.”
“Yeah, yeah. I see that. But you know Marnie really wants to help out and wants to get your take on a few things.” Marnie Wilson was Harry’s favorite candidate for mayor. Sam didn’t really know her well, but Harry had been pushing hard for his approval. Not that he had to push that hard; the current mayor was no prize and pretty much anyone would be better.
“Maybe some other time.”
“Yeah, see, her schedule is real busy and it would be a big personal favor. She has an opening later this afternoon and…”
Sam was barely listening as he laced his boot and mentally went over the list of things he’d need for the search. Orange vest for Lucy. Bug spray. Evidence bags and gloves. Flashlight. Lucy’s leash… now where was that?
Sam pulled his bottom desk drawer open. Not in there. He opened the one above. He hardly ever used Lucy’s leash because she was trained to stay by his side, but he wanted it just in case they ran into anything she shouldn’t get into out in the woods.
“It would mean a lot to me, I’d consider it a big personal favor, but if you’re busy…”
Sam’s heart hitched at the dejection in Harry’s voice. Even though Harry could be a pain, the truth was he had helped in several investigations. Sam didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but the search was a priority.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be searching,” Sam said. The leash was in the middle desk drawer. He pulled it out and looked toward Lucy. Wyatt had found her vest and was putting it on her.
“Good. Then you might still be able to go. I mean, if you find what you’re looking for. I’m sure she won’t mind if you’re busy. I’ll let her know what’s going on and she can swing by. If you’re here, good; if not, no big deal.”
“Okay, fine.” Sam was pretty sure he wouldn’t be there. If Marnie Wilson wanted to waste her time swinging by an empty police station, that wasn’t his problem.
“Good.” Harry turned to leave. “Good luck out there. I’d offer to help but…”
“Don’t worry. We have Lucy. She’ll find what we’re looking for.”
Lucy’s ears perked up as if she’d understood his words.
“Then I’ll see you later.” Harry left.
Sam pulled his flashlight from the drawer, stood and shrugged into his vest. “Reese, can you call Bev Hatch and find out if she can join us? I’ll let her know the location when we get there.”
“Will do.” Reese turned and headed back to her desk.
Sam looked at Wyatt. “Ready?”
“Yep.”
“We’ll take the Tahoe.” Sam had a supply of gloves and evidence bags in the vehicle.
Lucy trotted to the door and waited for them.
Out in the bullpen, the cat sat on top of a filing cabinet, its paws tucked underneath, jet black fluffy hair puffed out all around it. It stared at them with ominous green eyes. Lucy gave the cabinet a wide berth, but that didn’t stop the cat from hissing.
As they jumped in the Tahoe and drove back toward Frank’s, Sam couldn’t shake the feeling that what he was about to find in the woods would not be what he expected.
Chapter Three
Sergeant Jody Harris eyed the white bakery bag on Reese’s desk in the station’s reception area. She could really go for a jelly doughnut right now, but the snug fit of the belt around her normally slim hips gave her pause. Maybe she should lay off the sweets for a while. She was pushing forty now and couldn’t pack them away like she used to.
“Sam and Wyatt took off to search the woods to find the rest of the bones.” Reese barely looked up from her typing.
Jo tore her eyes from the bag and frowned at Reese. “Bones?”
Jo had just returned to the station after a grueling hour of trying to settle the latest argument between Rita and Nettie. She’d finally gotten them to shake hands when Rita promised to buy a new flat of petunias and plant them. When she’d left, Rita was breaking out the fruitcake, and they were sitting down to tea.
She hadn’t heard anything about any bones. What was Reese talking about?
Reese stopped typing, leaned her elbows on the desk, and looked at Jo. “Yeah, if you turned on your police radio you might have heard about it.”
Oh, that. Jo wasn’t used to having a dispatch radio installed in the Crown Vic—one of two official police cars the town owned. She kept forgetting to turn it on.
“Anyway,” Reese sighed and pushed the bag of doughnuts toward Jo. “Turns out Frank Buckner’s dog dug up a bone in the woods. A human bone.”
Something in the back of Jo’s mind stood at attention; her frown deepened. “A human bone?”
“Yep. A femur. You just missed them. They took Lucy to try to locate more bones.” Reese nudged the white bag closer and Jo shook her head. Reese lifted her brow and shrugged before pulling a chocolate cruller from the bag. “He’s going to text me the coordinates so you can join them. Bev Hatch is on her way. She mentioned something about notifying the state police.”
Jo’s mind reeled. Human bones in the woods were bad enough, but Jo had a personal reason to be concerned — the real reason she’d come to White Rock in the first place.
Images of her kid sister, Tammy, flashed in her head. She didn’t have many, because her sister had been abducted when she was eight years old. Jo had been ten, but memories of that time cut deep.
Her family had been torn apart by the subsequent futile search for the person who had taken her. The police assumed it was a serial killer. They’d captured someone who they thought had done it, but they’d never recovered any trace of her sister, and he’d never admitted to taking Tammy. Jo had been haunted by not knowing.
That haunting was what had sent her into law enforcement and what had eventually brought her to White Rock. After decades of investigating privately, she’d been led to this area when she’d gotten a tip that trees with certain markings—signs she suspected were connected to Tammy’s killer—had been found in this area. She’d never found those trees, though, other than in a few grainy photographs connected to another case and whose locations were unidentifiable. After five years here, she’d finally decided to let go of the investigation, put it away, and move on with her life.
And now this? Could this be what she’d been looking for the whole time?
“Earth to Jo…” Reese was staring at her. She tipped the open bakery bag in her direction. “You spaced out. I think you need a doughnut to keep your blood sugar up.”
Jo peered in. No jelly? Darn it. She picked a honey-dipped doughnut and absently tore off a small bite. Of course Reese would have no idea why she was acting so weird. She’d never told anyone about her sister, not even Sam. That could present a big problem now if this bone was connected.
Jo stuffed another bite in her mouth and talked around it. “Any idea how old the person was or how long the bone had been there?”
Reese shrugged and munched the cruller. “John just came and got it. Said it’s probably an adult and has been out there maybe a few years. He’ll have to examine it closer. Wyatt thinks it might be a hiker who got lost two years ago.”
The tension in Jo’s shoulders eased. She glanced out the window toward the rolling blue mountains in the distance. That could be it. Simply a hiker who got lost. This northern town near the border of Canada with its unspoiled forests, prist
ine lakes, and ranges of mountains was a mecca for hikers. But the forests could turn unfriendly in an instant. Hikers got lost, and once you were in deep, those lacking the proper equipment could find it nearly impossible to get out.
“What did Sam say? Does he think the bone is that old?”
Jo swallowed, the doughnut tasting like sawdust at the thought of Sam. He’d become more than just a partner over the years. They had built up a bond. Sam had shared his secrets with her; why hadn’t she shared hers with him?
She’d wanted to, but it seemed there had never been the right time. She felt guilty that her whole reason for hiring on here had been to further her personal investigation into her sister’s disappearance. At first that hadn’t mattered, but that was before she had gotten to know her squad mates.
The longer she’d worked here, the more the place had grown on her. And Sam, too. Their friendship meant a lot to her, and she didn’t want to risk it for anything. Even though they were just friends, she couldn’t bear the thought of not working with him every day. Sam would be hurt if he knew she’d been holding back on her sister’s case. She needed to tell him soon, even if this bone wasn’t related.
Jo shoved the rest of the doughnut in her mouth and brushed the crumbs from her hands. “I need to get out there.”
“Not right now. If you’d had your radio on, you’d know that you have to meet with Kevin’s brother in ten minutes.”
“Kevin’s brother is coming here?” She really needed to get in the habit of turning on that radio.
“Yeah. He wants to talk about what happened and drop off a few things. Some thumb drive and Kevin’s badge.”
Darn! Jo couldn’t put it off, especially because Kevin had taken the bullet meant for Lucy. The bones would have to wait.
“Sam will let me know the coordinates and you can join them when you are done.” Reese went back to her typing.
“Okay, thanks.”
Jo headed to the coffee machine and grabbed a K-cup and her yellow smiley face mug. At least this would give her a chance to load up on caffeine. She’d need it if she was going to help search for bones in the woods.
With the mug full, she headed toward her desk when…
Hiss!
Something sharp snagged the collar of her shirt.
“Ouch!” She turned to find the fluffy black cat sitting atop the filing cabinet, looking at her with faux innocence in its alien-like green eyes.
“Cut that out!” The filing cabinet was as tall as Jo, so the cat was positioned above her, staring down with a look of superiority. “You know, I’m beginning to regret fighting to keep you here at the station instead of taking you to the animal shelter.”
The cat’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Is Major bothering you?” Reese appeared at her side, a noxious smelling nugget in her hand.
Jo turned to Reese. “Major?”
“Yeah. Major Payne. Major for short. That’s what I’m calling him.”
“Him?”
Reese nodded and held the treat out to the cat, making soft cooing and clucking noises. Major regarded her with suspicion.
“Yeah, it’s a him. Eric gave him a wellness check and all his shots. He needs to be neutered, by the way.” Eric, Reese’s boyfriend, was going to veterinary school.
Major’s paw shot out, slapping the treat from Reese’s hand.
“Guess he doesn’t like the idea of being neutered.” Reese picked the treat up and plopped it on the filing cabinet in front of the cat. He simply glared at it.
“Lucy might get a kick out of it, though.” Jo took her coffee to her desk and left Major glaring at the treat.
The cat had shown up at the back door a few weeks ago, and the two animals had been at odds ever since. The cat kept stealing food from Lucy’s bowl. Lucy hid the cat’s toys. It was like having two children. But Jo liked having animals, and she had a feeling Sam did too.
Jo opened her laptop, her gaze sneaking to the icon for her personal files in the corner of the screen. Most of the information on her sister’s case was on her other laptop at home, but this file had some general information on White Rock geography. She’d felt it was safe to keep it on her work laptop as there was really no indication it was part of her secret investigation. She opened the file, searching Google Images for the beech trees that she suspected marked the areas of shallow graves for victims similar to her sister. There were no beech trees on Frank Buckner’s land.
Good. Wyatt was probably right. It was just a lost hiker. If Frank’s dog had come home with the bone, it had likely been lying out in the woods, not buried in a shallow grave. She’d been in a panic for nothing. But now that those old feelings had surfaced, a new seed took root. Had she abandoned her sister’s case prematurely?
Chapter Four
Lucy and Ranger hadn’t gotten any friendlier since their standoff in Frank’s backyard, but both must have sensed there was an important task at hand. They kept their distance from each other, trotting slightly ahead of everyone else into the woods.
Sam had notified the county sheriff, Bev Hatch, and she volunteered a few men for the search, but Sam had told her to give them a few hours. She wouldn’t be able to mobilize that quickly anyway, and he held out hope that they would be able to find the bones easily. If it was a hiker who died of exposure, the rest of the bones should be close, unless animals had dragged some away. Sam hoped that wasn’t the case. He wanted to save the county the trouble of a big search.
The mid-morning sun had warmed the air, and even deep in the shadow of the woods it was hot and sticky. Sam lifted the rim of his baseball cap to brush the sweat from his forehead and then swatted a gnat with the cap before placing it back on his head.
Their presence had scared away most of the wildlife except for a few blue jays that watched them from the tops of tall pines and one brave squirrel that clung to the side of a tree about ten feet up, chattering at them noisily as they passed. Sam figured she was probably protecting a nest or a stash of acorns.
Beside Sam, Frank, who had his white socks pulled up over the cuffs of his pants to prevent ticks from climbing his legs, huffed and puffed to keep pace. He’d insisted on coming, pointing out that they needed Ranger to lead them to the area and he was the one who could best control the dog.
“Come on, boy, lead us to spot.” Frank wheezed.
Sam and Wyatt exchanged a look. They’d been following the dog for ten minutes, and he seemed more interested in sniffing rocks and logs than leading them to where he’d found the bone. Truth be told, Ranger seemed kind of goofy, and Sam was questioning whether he had the wherewithal to find the spot again. Even Lucy seemed dubious, judging by the uncertain glances she kept casting back at Sam. But Lucy had sniffed the bone earlier in the car, and she was smart enough to know what they were looking for. She had a keen sense of smell. If more bones were around, she’d find them.
If animals had gotten to the bones, they could be spread about the forest, so Wyatt and Sam spaced themselves fifteen feet apart, each scanning the ground in front of them as they walked. A search would typically have more people spread out to cover a wider area, but at least this gave them a head start.
Up ahead, Lucy barked.
“They must have something,” Frank surged forward with a burst of energy that belied his age.
They crested a small hill to find the two dogs on opposite sides of a tree. Lucy stood stock still, her ears straight, her tail hanging motionless, her gaze riveted on a patch of earth. Everything in her stance indicated that this was something important. Ranger wagged his tail, lunging back and forth. He ran to Frank, then back to the tree excitedly.
Sam stopped beside Lucy and gave her a pat on the head to let her know she’d done a good job. He scanned the area in front of them.
“I don’t see any bones.”
Lucy whined and pawed at the dirt. Maybe Lucy had just stumbled on a chipmunk’s acorn stash or something else of canine interest. No, she wouldn’t act so seriously
if it was just that. But if she’d found the bones, where were they?
Sam didn’t have a good feeling, and judging by the deep crease between Wyatt’s brows, neither did he.
“Is this where you found that bone, boy?” Frank asked his dog. “Show us where the rest of them are.”
Ranger barked and chased his tail in a circle. Lucy glanced over at him. Sam got the impression that if a dog could roll its eyes Lucy would’ve done so.
Sam studied the ground. If Ranger had found the femur here, other bones might be visible——unless he’d been finding the bones and dragging them off for a while. Maybe the femur was the last of them and the only one he decided to bring back home. Or maybe other animals had dragged off the rest of the bones. Still, the smaller bones from the hands and feet … those should be here somewhere.
Sam kicked away a pile of wet leaves with his boot, disturbing a fire newt that wriggled off, seeking refuge under a rotted log. Instead of hard earth, the ground was soft. It had been disturbed, and claw marks ringed a shallow depression. Had Ranger dug the bone from here? It wasn’t deep enough for the size of the bone, but something had clearly been digging. And Lucy stared at the hole.
Sam crouched down and gently brushed away more leaves. He didn’t want to disturb the scene just in case. The moldy smell of wet leaves and the tang of damp earth wafted up as he worked, carefully brushing away clumps of earth as dark as coffee grounds and just as moist.
Ranger wasn’t quite so gentle. He trotted to the other side of Sam and started clawing at the dirt.
“Whoa there boy, hold on!”
Lucy growled her disapproval of Ranger’s actions, which only made him dig harder.
Rip!
Ranger jerked back his paw. A scrap of blue material was caught in his claw. Sam looked into the hole where he’d been digging. A tattered piece of shiny blue fabric reached up through the dirt. A tarp? His stomach plummeted.
Sam tugged on the scrap. It was stuck. Judging by the condition, it had been buried for quite some time. This corner must have worked its way up over time, but a larger section was buried deeper.