Read Online Murder Bone by Bone by Lora Roberts - Free Book Online Page B

any vacation.
    Drake knew what I was thinking about. “It may not be done in a week. Depends on how fast these people move, and they don’t usually move very fast. Grolen said they’d skimp a bit on the preliminaries, seeing that the layers have already been disturbed.”
    We sat there until we were finished eating, watching the students impose a grid on the site, then take pictures, then finally begin to dig, or rather, to remove dirt with hand trowels and buckets. I checked occasionally on the kids. Moira ate quite a bit of potsticker and beef with broccoli; nobody admitted feeding Barker, but he had the look of a satisfied dog. Twilight came, and deepening dusk.
    Finally Richard Grolen came over to the steps to fill Drake in on the progress so far, leaving his crew to pack up the bones they’d unearthed. I could see that I wasn’t wanted in the official consultation, so I wandered down to the sidewalk. It occurred to me that no one had offered the students anything to drink. “Say, if you guys are thirsty—”
    “I wouldn’t say no to a Coke,” one of the men said. He was short, with a round face reddened by the work he’d been doing. His baseball cap was turned backwards, shading his neck, and his eyes were magnified by thick-lensed glasses.
    “Geez, Nelson,” said the female member of the crew, pushing her hat farther back on her head. “You brought a cooler full of drinks. You already empty that?”
    “I don’t have any Coke,” I said, hoping to cool the altercation. “But I could get you some ice water.”
    “That’s nice,” the girl said, wiping her grimy hand on her jeans and extending it to me. “I’m Kathy Swenson, by the way.” Despite the hat, her nose was going to peel. Her pale blue eyes were ringed by pale blond lashes. "This is Hobart Pena, and that bottomless pit over there is Nelson Drabble. We’ll be going soon anyway. Thanks for your offer, though.”
    Nelson looked like he wanted to argue with her, but Hobart gave me a languid nod and turned away. He was a handsome young fellow, with jet-black hair and bronzed skin. His brief T-shirt displayed muscles worth looking at.
    Certainly Kathy looked at them, although with what appeared to be abstract appreciation. She was tall, skinny to the point of boniness, and her pale skin wasn’t taking the sun well.
    “Well, let me know if you need a drink. And you’re welcome to take your breaks on the front porch where it’s shady, as long as you’re quiet at naptime.” I smiled at Kathy, sure that she at least would understand this.
    "That’s very nice. We don’t usually get any perks on the dig,” Kathy said frankly, glancing at the front porch where Drake and Richard Grolen still conferred. Grolen looked over at the same time, and she got back to work.
    I went back to the porch. Grolen gave me a smile, but without the extra charm he’d turned on for Melanie, and walked down the steps toward the crew. They heaved the last couple of tools into their van and drove away.
    “So far they’ve found just a few bones,” Drake said with gloomy satisfaction. “Our guys would have gotten all the bones by now.”
    “Did they find any bullets or anything?”
    He showed me the little cardboard box Richard had given him. In it were some rusty Matchbox cars and a few bits of broken glass. “That’s it,” he said. “Doesn’t look too lethal.” He carried the box down to his car anyway. “Is there any more of that mu shu?”
    After we cleared away the dinner, Drake read to the boys while I got Moira cleaned up. She asked for Mommy a couple of times, but at least she didn’t cry when I told her Mommy was visiting and would be home later. Despite her long nap, she was asleep soon after I started rocking her.
    Feeling like a manipulator, I told the boys we were going to call their parents. “It’s expensive,” I said. “We can't talk long. What should we tell them?”
    “About the Bobcat!” Corky was firm.
    “And the dump truck,”