Read Online Bones on Ice: A Novella by Kathy Reichs - Free Book Online Page A

solution. If the tissue has to come off in sections, I can deal with that.”
    Hawkins tipped his chin in the direction of the sink. “The fingers are rehydrated?”
    “Ready and waiting.” I’d tested. The mummified flesh had puffed up nicely.
    “Priority?”
    “Skull, postcranial bones, cast, X-rays, then prints.”
    Ever taciturn, Hawkins just nodded.
    “See you later!” Big smile. Wasted. Hawkins was already on the move. I left him tohis grisly tasks.
    Changing to street clothes in the staff lounge, I was pumped. Progress! I balled my apron and shot a J into a biohazard bin, my shoulders doing a jazzy little dance. But at my office door, my exuberance fizzled a bit.
    Bones would be boiling. Prints would be taken. Samples would be submitted for DNA sequencing. What to do? My momentum stubbed its toe.
    As I stepped through the door, my eye fell on a magazine I’d been looking at for research lying open on my desk. On an ad for Millet Everest Summit GTX mountaineering boots that I’d been checking out. My gaze drifted to a local insert on the facing page.
    Try it!
a tiny voice urged from some corner of my mind.
    No way.
    Fieldwork
.
    Yeah. Right.
    Might help your analysis
.
    Valid point.
    Scared?
    What the hell. I’m the Queen of Ice and Snow. I had time to kill and yoga pants in my trunk. I tore out the flyer and headed for my car.
    Minutes later, at my destination, I wasn’t so sure. Was even less sure as I powered through double glass doors into an overly bright lobby with way too many posters.
    “Hello!” a perky broomstick with a bouncy bob and sun-leathered skin greeted me from behind a reception desk. The patchouli tsunamied strong as I crossed to her. “Welcome to Inner Peaks Climbing Center!”
    More and more, I was regretting my rash impulse.
    “Are you here to climb?” Overly cheery.
    No. I’m here to learn neurosurgery
. I nodded.
    “First-timer?” Wide, sincere eyes.
    “Yes.”
    “Great! Over eighteen?”
    “Yes.” Last time I was eighteen “Stayin’ Alive” was a new release. I didn’t add that.
    “Our first-timers package includes a day pass, harness, shoes, and gri-gri lesson.”
    “Gri-gri?”
    “An assisted braking belay device.”
    “I’ll take the package.”
    “Great! You’ll need a qualified belayer—that’s the person handling the ropes—tohelp you climb. Got a friend?”
    “Not today.”
    Earnest frown. “I’m not sure….”
    “I’ve got this, Amy.” The voice came from behind me. Familiar. I turned.
    Damon James, chest stretching a tee to its tensile limits, the Inner Peaks logo centered on front. Sleeves razored off at the shoulders.
    “Dr. Brennan, I presume.” Boyish laugh. Like he’d practiced in the mirror.
    “Moonlighting?” I stepped back. For some reason, the guy made me want to run for the showers.
    A shrug. “My former business pipeline’s a little frozen right now.”
    My breath caught. Was the asshole referring to Brighton Hallis?
    James drew an arm across his waist and tipped his head. “So you get Prince Charming.”
    “Great!” Chirped from Amy. “Please sign the waiver, we’ll swipe a credit card, and away you go!”
    “Great.” James raised his eyebrows at me.
    “Great.” I raised my eyebrows at James.
    After signing and paying, I trailed my belayer, whatever the hell that was, into the inner sanctum. In the gear room, James sorted through brightly colored straps and ropes, selecting and handing me some that, to my eye, were indistinguishable from others.
    “How’s it hanging with Brighton?” he asked, casual as hell, crouching by a bin overflowing with metal clasps.
    “I’m not at liberty to discuss an ongoing case.”
    “Fair enough.” He stood, holding the climbing equivalent of bowling shoes. “I watch TV. I’m hip to how cops roll.”
    I frowned. James couldn’t know Hallis had been murdered. Why mention cops?
    “All set.” Quick jerk of the head. “This way.”
    The main climbing gym looked like the love