Read Online Rock-a-Bye Bones by Carolyn Haines - Free Book Online

out of high school. Tall and thin, he looked to be more the artistic type than a jock. High school had probably been an unhappy experience for him.
    He stood at the cash register, reading a copy of Madame Bovary . Definitely a bookworm. When I put a soda on the counter, he looked up with a lazy smile. “Will that be all?”
    I paid for the drink and opened it, taking a sip. “I’ve been hired to find Pleasant Smith.”
    He went deathly pale, not exactly what I’d expected. “I haven’t seen her in a month,” he almost whispered.
    â€œWere you working here when she came in for some milk?”
    He nodded, his hands shaking a little as he put the novel down on the counter.
    â€œCan you tell me what happened while she was in the store? Maybe she said something that would indicate where she was headed.”
    â€œShe was going home. She’d come to buy milk for her cousin, the baby her mama keeps.”
    â€œSo she purchased the milk. Anything else?”
    He thought for a minute. “No, she didn’t buy anything else. She picked up some guitar strings I’d ordered for her.”
    â€œYou’d ordered?”
    He blushed a deep red. “She broke her D string, so I ordered a new set for her. As a present. She could really play that guitar. You should hear some of the songs she wrote. She’s gonna be a star.”
    He lost all self-consciousness when he spoke of Pleasant’s talent. The boy clearly cared for her, whether she knew it or not. “Did she get the strings?”
    â€œYeah.” Glumness settled over his features. “She didn’t get to use them, though. She disappeared. Her guitar is still at her mama’s trailer.”
    â€œWhere was her car found?”
    â€œAbandoned on Highway 12. I told her not to trust that old beater. She was a pretty good mechanic, when it came right down to it. She kept the piece of crap running, but it broke down all the time. She should’ve had a better car.”
    â€œHow far from here?”
    He pointed toward the farm road that disappeared into the distant vista of brown fields. “That’s Highway 12, the quickest way back to Fodder Gin Road, so that’s the way she went. Her cousin was hungry, and there wasn’t any milk in the house. She barely had enough change to pay for the milk.”
    A young pregnant girl who’d spent her last change on a gallon of milk didn’t register with me as a likely candidate to run away. “Tell me about Pleasant. You knew her.”
    â€œI did. She’s a good girl. Somebody took her and they’re still hanging on to her.” His face pinched up in frustration. “She’d never have taken off like that. Not expecting a baby and all. She’d talked all her plans out with her mama and they’d figured out how Pleasant could catch up on her studies next semester. She had a great chance at getting a scholarship from Delta State. She wanted to study the music business. She would never have run out on her dream of being a songwriter and performer.”
    â€œDid you go to high school with her?”
    He nodded slowly. “I did. She kept to herself. The other girls were jealous because she was so pretty and she had talent. She got the lead in the school plays when she tried out. The band director used some of her songs. She’d met this Nashville agent who was gonna make it happen for her.” When he looked up at me, he was angry. “She wouldn’t run out on all of that. She wouldn’t run out on—” He broke it off and didn’t continue.
    â€œWhat’s your name?” I asked.
    â€œFrankie Graham.”
    I made a note and then asked. “The store here. It’s called the Three Bs. Why?”
    â€œBooze, bacon, and barbecue. The owners think those are the three necessities of life.”
    â€œFrankie, were you more than friends with Pleasant?” I’d be willing to bet he was