Shadow Bones

by Colleen Rhoads

  “Someone’s coming,” Jake’s voice whispered in her ear.

  “I didn’t hear a car.” She craned her neck to look.

  “Stay down. Whoever it is sneaked up on foot.” Jake pressed her back against the rock while he took a cautious peek.

  She heard a soft footfall along the path that led past their hideout. A sidling, secretive sound that raised the hair along her back. Whoever it was didn’t want to be seen or heard. The stealthy approach brought a sense of danger with it. For the first time, she questioned their sanity in trying to trap a killer.

  He—or she—had shot at them, attacked them both and killed Cameron. What made them think they were smarter and stronger than the person with the cunning and treachery evidenced by the deeds over the past few weeks?

  She couldn’t stand it any longer. Shaking off Jake’s restraint, she edged her head up to see who walked along the dark path. A hulking shadow loomed in the moonlight then passed them by. It was too dark to make out a face, but the figure moved like a man.

  “Stay here,” Jake whispered. “I can’t tell who it is. I need to get a better look.”

  They moved up the path. Skye winced as their feet rattled the stones in the same stealthy manner as the man’s had done. Surely he would hear them. Jake must have realized the same thing. He pointed at a widening in the path that held a boulder.

  “Let’s hide behind there and wait until he comes down.”

  She nodded and slipped behind the boulder with Jake. It seemed hours before they heard the faint movements again.

  “Here he comes,” Jake whispered.

  Skye ducked her head, sure the man would see them in the bright moonlight. The sounds he made moved by again, and she peeked over the edge of the boulder. “He’s got the eggs.”

  “We need to follow him.” Jake took her hand and led her down the path. They took care to stay back from the man’s tall form.

  “We’ll cut through the woods to the SUV.”

  Stumbling in the dark, they hurried to the SUV. Skye prayed the man wouldn’t get away before they could follow him. They jumped in the SUV and pulled out of the hiding spot.

  “Where would he have parked?”

  “I’ll show you.” Skye directed him down an overgrown lane. Jake had the headlamps off so it was slow-going in the dark, even with the moon shining.

  They rounded a curve and saw the glow of a car’s lights disappearing around the corner. “There he is!” Skye leaned forward.

  “I see him.” Jake sped up a little. “We have to make sure he doesn’t see us.”

  They kept the car in distant view.

  “Any idea where he’s going? This seems to be in the direction where we met up with Wilson.”

  “It is.” Skye frowned. What could be in that meadow that was so important?

  “Is there a shortcut where we could be waiting there for him when he arrives? That has to be where he’s making for.”

  Skye thought a moment. “Maybe. We haven’t had any rain lately so the creek might be dry enough to get across down another lane.” She directed him on where to turn. “Put your headlights on. It should be safe enough now. Besides, we’ll never stay on the path in the deep woods without some light.”

  Jake nodded and flipped on the lights. The beams pushed back the edge of darkness to a few feet, but the looming black of the deep woods seemed foreboding. Shrubs scraped along the side of the SUV like bony fingers.

  Skye wanted to be anywhere but here. She blinked and strained to see more than the few feet illuminated by the headlights.

  A pull-off suddenly looked familiar. “Here. Stop here!” She pointed and Jake steered the SUV into a small area barely large enough for the vehicle.

  He killed the engine. “We’d better hurry.”

  Skye nodded and swung open her door, wincing when brambles scratched along the paint. An owl hooted overhead, and she smelled the musty scent of wet leaves and mud from the nearly dry creek bed just off to her right.

  “Through here.” She took Jake’s hand, flipped on her flashlight, and led him over slippery stones that peeked up through the few inches of water still in the creek. He nearly lost his balance on one moss-covered rock but recovered before he landed in the water.

  Skye felt like a lumbering moose as they fought their way through the inky darkness to the clearing she knew was there somewhere. Something large thrashed in the brush to their left and her skin tightened. The last thing she would want to do is to run into a bear in the dark.

  “What’s that?” Jake whispered. His fingers tightened on hers.

  “Make some noise.” She raised her voice and began to sing “Amazing Grace.” Jake chimed in with her. The noise faded.

  “I hope we didn’t scare the guy off,” she said, tugging at Jake’s hand. “Hurry.”

  They broke through the final barrier of brush into the meadow. The moon made it seem as though they’d stepped from night into day. Skye looked around for a place to hide.

  Jake pointed to the lean-to. “Behind there?”

  She shook her head. “He might be heading for there.” She pulled him toward the mine tunnel.

  “Not in there!” He dug in his heels.

  “No, no. Not the tunnel. But this brush pile is thick to the side of it. And he can’t slip up behind us, either.”

  He nodded, his gaze wandering to the tunnel. She crouched behind the shrubs and tugged him down as they heard thrashing from the edge of the clearing.

  “Here he comes.” She ducked her head then peeked up high enough to see.

  Peter stepped into the meadow. His shoulders bowed with the weight of the rocks he carried. Skye sucked in her breath. What was he doing here?

  “He’s got the eggs,” Jake whispered. “You know, I thought it was going to be James.”

  “James?”

  “Well, you call him Pop.”

  Skye was barely listening. What would Peter be doing with the eggs? How could he be involved with this? Maybe Wilson had told him where the eggs were and he was moving them for safekeeping.

  They watched Peter stagger toward the lean-to.

  “Maybe the rest of the eggs are in the lean-to,” she mouthed to Jake. He nodded and started to stand, but she pulled him back. “Wait,” she whispered.

  Peter walked on by the lean-to toward where they crouched. He dropped the eggs onto the ground in front of the tunnel then reached forward and pulled the brambles from in front of the opening. They came easily, and Skye realized they’d been arranged there to hide the fact there had been recent activity in the tunnel.

  If he pulled many more, he might take some of the ones they hid behind. She prayed for him to stop. She buried her face in her hands so he wouldn’t see.

  When Peter was gone, she was going to investigate. She had her flashlight in her pocket. Skye squeezed her eyes shut. Surely Peter had a good reason for what he’d done.

  She opened her eyes and peeked up again. Jake’s fingers closed in a warning grip around her own. She gave a reassuring squeeze back.

  Peter picked up the eggs one by one and stuffed them into the mine opening, reaching in and sticking them off to one side. When he was done, he stood and dusted his hands then walked away toward the lean-to.

  They watched until Peter turned to exit the clearing. Skye listened until the rustling faded, then stood and rushed to the mine opening. She pulled back the brush and shined her light inside. “Here, you hold the light while I get the eggs.” She handed the flashlight to Jake, then crawled into the mine tunnel.

  Grunting with the weight, she passed the eggs out to Jake. “Hand me the light a minute. I want to make sure I got them all.”

  She took the light and focused the beam into the deeper recesses of the tunnel. A lurid figure leaped into view. A scarecrow figure with leering teeth. Though it had startled her, she quickly realized it was put there to frighten. This must be the Spider Woman Wilson saw. Cobwebs hung from the arms and head. It was so obviously fake, she wondered how W
ilson was taken in by it.

  She backed away and saw a recent break in a wall. It must have happened when the explosion happened. She poked around and shoved a few boulders out of the way, then moved deeper into the tunnel and shone her light around again.

  A heap of clothing back in a small niche caught her eye. “What is that?” she muttered.

  “What’s wrong?” Jake stooped and peered inside, though he didn’t follow her in.

  “Hang on a minute.” She crawled toward the clothing. As she got closer, she froze when her gaze lit on bones. Human bones still clothed with jeans and a flannel shirt. She swept the light over the figure.

  “No,” she whispered. Horror closed her throat, and she struggled to scream past the constriction. Her gaze took in the bloodstains on the shirt and the knife still sticking from the chest.

  Her father’s chest.

  Gasping and mewling, she backpedaled away from the sight.

  “Skye, what is it?” Jake was beside her in the mine.

  “There.” She pointed. Shudders wracked her.

  Jake took the flashlight and swept it over the figure. “Let’s get out of here.” His voice echoed off the walls of the tunnel.

  She let him pull her from the enclosure, her mind still not registering what she’d seen. She had to be wrong, but she knew she was right. It was her father’s remains.

  “You’re all right, I’ve got you.” Jake drew her to her feet in the sweet, clean air.

  She drew in a deep breath as he hugged her to his chest. She dropped the light on the ground.

  “Can you talk about it?”

  “It—it’s my dad. He’s in there.” She shuddered, still unable to believe her own eyes. “He’s dead.”

  “It’s not your dad. It can’t be. That poor soul has been dead a long time.”

  “No, you don’t understand. He’s wearing the clothes he wore the day he disappeared. He never deserted us. He was killed.”

  She clasped her arms around herself. “Peter killed my father.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “I’m sorry you had to see that. I thought I’d get here before you showed up.”

  Jake whirled at the voice. Peter stood right behind them, his right hand holding a pistol.

  Gone were the gentle tones Jake had heard the man use with Skye. She was staring at Peter as if she’d never seen him before.

  “Who are you?” she whispered. “The Peter I know wouldn’t do this.”

  Jake looked down the bore of the gun. His gaze traveled up Peter’s arm to his face and saw the flat stare of a man who had nothing to lose. Jake tensed and his thoughts whirled as he tried to figure out how to save Skye and himself from the man holding the gun.

  “You killed him, didn’t you? You killed my father.” She shuddered, and tears trickled from her eyes.

  “He’d always taken what I wanted. Always.” Peter’s eyes glittered in the moonlight. “Your mother was engaged to me first. You never knew that, did you?”

  “You were my dad’s best friend.” Skye shook her head, her eyes clouded.

  “I’d finally had enough. He taunted me one last time with what he had and I didn’t. When he found the diamonds, it was the final straw.”

  “He found the diamonds?” Her mouth dropped open. “In the Mitchell tube! You caused the explosion so I wouldn’t find them, didn’t you?”

  Peter shrugged. “The tunnel was unstable and our scuffle caused a cave-in. I couldn’t dig him out without causing more cave-ins.”

  “So you had to keep me from opening Mitchell tube.”

  “Your mother meant more to me than the diamonds. I had enough money for us.”

  “So you just didn’t want me to find my father’s body. That’s why you wouldn’t let me open the tube. If I’d gone far enough with the extraction, you would have been exposed.” She shook her head. “But why did you hire an assayer?” She put her hand over her mouth. “You hired him to tell me there weren’t any diamonds, right? So I’d give up the search.”

  Peter’s eyes hardened. “I’ve loved you like a daughter, Skye, but I can’t let you take everything from me. Both of you, move into the tunnel.”

  “So you shot at us, put the snake in my truck, all of it?” Skye’s voice was thick with tears.

  “Let’s say I commissioned a little help. It was easy to flame Tallulah’s hatred. And Cameron was too greedy.” He held out his hand. “I’ll take my key back.”

  “Your key?” Skye pulled it slowly from her pocket.

  “When you mentioned it at dinner, I knew I’d better get it back. Fingerprints and all that.” Peter snatched it from her hand, then smiled and motioned with the gun. “Now move into the tunnel.”

  Jake was shaking his head before Peter finished talking. No way was he going in that tight space. He’d shocked himself by going inside when Skye fell apart. He clenched his fists. Better to die out here under the open sky.

  His muscles coiled to spring forward, but before he could think, Peter stepped forward and thumped him across the forehead. He pitched forward, darkness descending too quickly to resist.

  Skye’s numbness broke as she saw Jake sag to the ground. “No!” She launched herself toward Peter, and they both tumbled to the ground. “Don’t hurt him.”

  Peter tossed her off like she weighed nothing, then was on his feet in an instant. The gun was pointed at Jake. “I’d love to drill loverboy,” he said. “Give me a reason and he’s dead.”

  She drew in a deep breath and sat up. “I’ll be good. Don’t hurt him.”

  “I loved you, Skye.” He looked genuinely remorseful. “I tried to scare you into shutting down the mine, and I tried to get rid of Baxter so it would never come to this. It’s going to kill your mother.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  He motioned with the gun. “Drag him into the shaft.”

  “No! He hates caves.”

  “What a shame,” he said, a sarcastic edge to his voice. “Loverboy has a flaw. Do what I say or I’ll put a bullet in his brain, and he’ll never be afraid again.”

  He would do it, too. She could see it in the flat stare he gave. No redeeming emotion lingered there. He was a man determined to do what had to be done.

  She got slowly to her feet and moved toward Jake. There had to be some way out of this.

  “Get a move on,” Peter said sharply.

  She grabbed Jake by the shoulders and began to drag him into the mine opening. He was a big man and hard to move. Rivulets of perspiration had ran down her face and her back by the time she’d managed to get him into the tunnel.

  It was pitch-black inside the mine. The flashlight was on Jake’s belt, but she didn’t dare turn it on. Peter might take it from her, and she didn’t think she could bear to be without light of any kind.

  She propped Jake against the wall and turned to plead with Peter again. Feeling her way, she moved toward the mouth of the tunnel when a great explosion knocked her to the ground.

  Jake swam slowly up from the dark. Where was he? Blinking his eyes, he smelled the dank odor of earth. Damp crept along his bones, and he felt a hard rock poking his ribs.

  “Jake, Jake, wake up.” Skye was shaking his shoulder, and he realized he’d been hearing her for some time.

  He moved his head and groaned as a shaft of pure agony shot along the right side of his face and centered in his ear. He rubbed his head and felt a sticky goose egg under his hair. “Where are we?”

  “Don’t freak, okay?” She helped him to sit up, and he leaned against what felt like rock to his back. Memory came flooding back. Peter. The gun. He groaned as another wave of pain and nausea swept over him.

  “Where’s Peter?”

  “He’s gone.” Skye rubbed his back. “I wish I had some feverfew for your head,” she fretted.

  Jake froze as he opened his eyes as wide as he could and still saw nothing but total darkness. “Am I blind?”

  “No, no.” She paused. “At least I don’t think so.”r />
  “Why is it so dark?” He put out a groping hand, wanting light with the desperation of a drowning man seeking a life jacket. His hand touched Skye’s arm, and he gripped it.

  “We—we’re in the mine shaft.” Skye put her arms around him.

  He clung to her as the words sank in. Panic began to play at the edges of his reason. “Let’s get out of here!” He felt along the rock wall, seeking an opening.

  “Peter caved in the opening. An explosion of some kind. It’s bad, Jake. I don’t see any way out.”

  He heard fear and panic in Skye’s voice, and it brought his mind into focus. He had to stay calm, had to save them both. Hugging her tightly to his chest, he patted her hair. “It’s okay, we’ll figure a way out.”

  She gave a shaky breath and nodded. “We have the flashlight. It was on your belt. I didn’t want to use it until you woke up.”

  “How long was I out?” His chest felt tight.

  “About an hour, I think.” Skye sounded a little calmer.

  The air smelled stale and dank, and Jake’s throat tightened even more as he tried to draw in his breath in lungs that felt too large for his chest. Help me, Lord. “What’s the verse you told me once—the one about not being afraid.”

  Skye was silent a moment then she recited in a voice that gained strength as she went along, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and a sound mind.”

  He fastened all his hope on that verse, and felt a lightness spread through him. In this dark place, God’s promises were the only illumination they had. And he was finding out more and more, that was all he needed.

  “Let’s pray for that sound mind right now. God knows we’re here. He’ll help us figure out what to do.” They held hands while Jake prayed for courage and strength. He asked God to take charge of their lives. As he prayed, he felt the panic receding and a calmness he didn’t know he possessed took charge of his limbs. Why had he been so afraid of this?