sock and where the trouser rode up. Even at that point, it took a moment before I really understood what I was looking at: the laced black shoe, the sock, the skin of a man’s calf, the hem of a trouser leg.
“Emma? Where are you?”
—The leg of the man continued and I realized that someone was lying face down, a hand palm up, fingers slightly curled showed now. A sickly sweet smell hit me and then I realized that the sound of buzzing insects was not inside my head—
“Emma? Do you need help with the tools?”
And then I saw the darkened stains in the soil aroundJustin’s fair hair and was glad that I couldn’t see the rest of his face, concealed in the underbrush. I stepped back, swallowed, swallowed again, and thought about being sick—What should I do?
“Emma, cut the crap, where—?”
That woke me up when nothing else might have. “Bucky! Don’t come back here!”
“What?” I could tell that she’d stopped; it must have been something in my voice.
“I mean it! Don’t come back here!” I turned and stumbled back past the bushes, startling another flight of sparrows from their roosts with a rustling and low whistling. My legs felt rubbery, as if they hadn’t gotten the message that I wanted to be out of there and wanted above all else to keep my sister from seeing what was back there. A breeze picked up and I shivered, all of a sudden realizing that I’d broken into a sweat. I couldn’t feel my hands and my mouth felt as though it was stuffed with cotton. I swallowed again and picked my way across the spoils heap, catching my foot on a large cobble and almost tripping into Bucky. I saw my sister’s eyes go wide and wondered what I looked like.
It took me a moment to articulate anything of the horror I’d just seen. “Bucky, you…don’t go back there.”
“Emma, tell me what’s wrong!”
“There’s a body…a security guard…Justin. He’s back there.”
I couldn’t actually say the words out loud. Bucky looked at me, forehead wrinkled with concern, chin pulled back with reluctant realization, eyebrows arched, asking the question.
I nodded. “We have to call the cops. Right now. He’s been killed.”
Chapter 4
I ’ D SAID THAT I THOUGHT J USTIN HAD BEEN KILLED before I could figure out just how I might know that he wasn’t simply dead. I didn’t have time to go back over what it was that I’d seen that made me choose that word rather than another, because it was exactly at that moment that the graduate students arrived; I could hear them chattering and the sound of car doors slamming. Gathering myself, trying to keep a bad situation from getting worse, I turned to Bucky and held her by the shoulders.
“Stay here. Don’t let anyone else through, and for God’s sake, don’t go back there yourself. I’m going in the house to find a phone.”
Bucky was ashen. “Okay.”
I hustled around to the other side of the house, thinking how I hated seeing my sister look like she did, and almost ran into the four members of my crew. “Hey, Meg, you guys. Do me a favor. Could you wait out by the cars for a minute? There’s…there’s been an accident.” Even as I said theword, I knew it was an easy mistruth. “I think it would be a good idea if we didn’t start right in to work. It might be a lab day, today.”
“But the weather report didn’t say anything—” Meg began, frowning. “Emma, what is it?”
The smiles froze, then melted off the faces of the rest of the crew as they realized that something was really wrong.
“It looks like Justin. I’m pretty sure he’s dead. I’m going to call an ambulance and the police.”
“You’re joking,” Meg said, in a tone of voice that suggested she knew otherwise.
“Oh, man,” Rob said.
Joe didn’t say anything, but swallowed hard.
There was a short silence. “What do…what should we do?” Dian asked.
“Just don’t go back there. Wait for me by the cars. I’ll be with you just as soon as I know what’s
“Emma? Where are you?”
—The leg of the man continued and I realized that someone was lying face down, a hand palm up, fingers slightly curled showed now. A sickly sweet smell hit me and then I realized that the sound of buzzing insects was not inside my head—
“Emma? Do you need help with the tools?”
And then I saw the darkened stains in the soil aroundJustin’s fair hair and was glad that I couldn’t see the rest of his face, concealed in the underbrush. I stepped back, swallowed, swallowed again, and thought about being sick—What should I do?
“Emma, cut the crap, where—?”
That woke me up when nothing else might have. “Bucky! Don’t come back here!”
“What?” I could tell that she’d stopped; it must have been something in my voice.
“I mean it! Don’t come back here!” I turned and stumbled back past the bushes, startling another flight of sparrows from their roosts with a rustling and low whistling. My legs felt rubbery, as if they hadn’t gotten the message that I wanted to be out of there and wanted above all else to keep my sister from seeing what was back there. A breeze picked up and I shivered, all of a sudden realizing that I’d broken into a sweat. I couldn’t feel my hands and my mouth felt as though it was stuffed with cotton. I swallowed again and picked my way across the spoils heap, catching my foot on a large cobble and almost tripping into Bucky. I saw my sister’s eyes go wide and wondered what I looked like.
It took me a moment to articulate anything of the horror I’d just seen. “Bucky, you…don’t go back there.”
“Emma, tell me what’s wrong!”
“There’s a body…a security guard…Justin. He’s back there.”
I couldn’t actually say the words out loud. Bucky looked at me, forehead wrinkled with concern, chin pulled back with reluctant realization, eyebrows arched, asking the question.
I nodded. “We have to call the cops. Right now. He’s been killed.”
Chapter 4
I ’ D SAID THAT I THOUGHT J USTIN HAD BEEN KILLED before I could figure out just how I might know that he wasn’t simply dead. I didn’t have time to go back over what it was that I’d seen that made me choose that word rather than another, because it was exactly at that moment that the graduate students arrived; I could hear them chattering and the sound of car doors slamming. Gathering myself, trying to keep a bad situation from getting worse, I turned to Bucky and held her by the shoulders.
“Stay here. Don’t let anyone else through, and for God’s sake, don’t go back there yourself. I’m going in the house to find a phone.”
Bucky was ashen. “Okay.”
I hustled around to the other side of the house, thinking how I hated seeing my sister look like she did, and almost ran into the four members of my crew. “Hey, Meg, you guys. Do me a favor. Could you wait out by the cars for a minute? There’s…there’s been an accident.” Even as I said theword, I knew it was an easy mistruth. “I think it would be a good idea if we didn’t start right in to work. It might be a lab day, today.”
“But the weather report didn’t say anything—” Meg began, frowning. “Emma, what is it?”
The smiles froze, then melted off the faces of the rest of the crew as they realized that something was really wrong.
“It looks like Justin. I’m pretty sure he’s dead. I’m going to call an ambulance and the police.”
“You’re joking,” Meg said, in a tone of voice that suggested she knew otherwise.
“Oh, man,” Rob said.
Joe didn’t say anything, but swallowed hard.
There was a short silence. “What do…what should we do?” Dian asked.
“Just don’t go back there. Wait for me by the cars. I’ll be with you just as soon as I know what’s
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