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

to question them. You know, as in really question them.”
    Neither Coleman nor DeWayne would slap a prisoner around, but if given the chance, I’d do it to those two.
    â€œI’ll be on the lookout, and I’ll call Hoss.”
    â€œGood luck with that,” I said. Hoss had not impressed me as a man of action.
    â€œColeman asked me to deliver a message, Sarah Booth.”
    â€œWhat’s shakin’?”
    â€œThere was a triple homicide at Gokee Plantation.”
    That news was like a gut kick. “Not Hector and MaryBeth?” The Gokees had been friends of my parents. They were salt of the earth.
    â€œNo, no, the Gokees are just fine. Three unidentified males. They were shot execution-style in one of the farm sheds.”
    This wasn’t good news. I’d only recently learned that the private airstrips found on a lot of plantations had become part of drug and gun trafficking. The landowners were often ignorant of any activity. Isolated equipment and farm sheds tucked away in agricultural land that seldom saw traffic had become the perfect place for thugs to hide drugs and guns as they made their way to various distribution points.
    â€œThose people are very dangerous. Is Coleman okay?”
    â€œHe’s working with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the feds, and Memphis officers who have a lead on Tennessee gang involvement. He’s okay, Sarah Booth, just buried in work. We need more officers.”
    DeWayne wasn’t kidding. Crime was hopping in Sunflower County, and Coleman was short staffed in the best of times. “I’ll call him later.”
    â€œI’m headed your way. If I see those two clowns, I’ll bring them in and soften them up for you.”
    â€œThanks, DeWayne.” He made me smile.
    When I hung up, I found Frankie staring out the window at the empty landscape. “I keep believing her old junker of a car will pull up and she’ll get out. I’ll bet she’s had the baby by now.”
    â€œWhat happened to her car?” I asked.
    â€œI found it on the side of the road, fixed it, and drove it to her trailer. I’m sure it’s still there. Charity can’t make it run, and no one has the money to really get it fixed.”
    â€œWas there anything in the car that might indicate what happened to Pleasant?”
    He shook his head. “The milk was still in the front seat. That’s what was so strange. Like she got out of the car and started walking, leaving behind the very thing she’d come to buy.”
    â€œShe wasn’t walking.” I had a clear picture of what happened. “Someone picked her up. Someone who meant to keep her.”
    But who would abduct an eight-month pregnant teenager? And what had they done with her if they’d left the baby at Dahlia House?
    â€œFrankie, do you know a man named Luther? He was asking about Pleasant yesterday.”
    â€œPleasant knew a lot of guys. She was so pretty, and boys were always tagging along behind her. I don’t recall that name.”
    â€œHe gave Pleasant a ride to Delta State.”
    His eyebrows rose. “She wouldn’t tell me who she was riding with. She let on like it was another girl.”
    â€œIf you hear from Pleasant, call me.” I gave Frankie a card. “Or if you think of anything else.”
    â€œI will.” He didn’t look hopeful. “You know, I should have closed the store and followed her home. I had a bad feeling. I did.”
    â€œHindsight’s twenty-twenty, Frankie. You can’t think like that. If someone meant to grab her up, they would have gotten her on the way to school or somewhere else. Do you happen to know the name of her agent in the music business?”
    â€œShe told me, but it didn’t register. I should have paid more attention.” He began to tidy the counter in an effort to keep his hands busy.
    â€œWho’s the father of the baby? That could save me a