It hadn’t been a typical evening for medical examiner, Lia McReedy. When she received a call about possible bones being discovered in the woods of Rhinebeck, she’d chalked it up to nothing more than a couple of police officers who couldn’t tell the difference between an animal bone and a human bone. After several years on the job, a dead body had never been dug up before, not in her county, and she had no reason to believe that would all change today.
McReedy arrived at the scene of the so-called crime with every intention of getting in and out within the first fifteen minutes. She had cats to feed, red and black plaid flannel pajamas to don, and a Criminal Minds marathon, which had been recording all day. Even now, she could practically taste the saltiness of the pork chops she’d thrown into the crockpot before dashing off to work. Time was of the essence.
As she hiked through the masses of thick, towering trees, she became aware of something: a shadowy presence following close behind. The shadow remained about fifteen feet back and went to great lengths to remain unheard, until the shadow stumbled, nose diving to the ground. She turned, looking the stone-faced girl in the eye. “Are you all right?”
The girl nodded.
“Good. Why are you following me?”
Apprehension cloaked the girl’s face like a deer searching for a way out of a blazing forest fire. She stopped. “I…was…ahh…”
McReedy rested both hands on her hips. “You were what?”
“Curious about who you are.”
“Why?”
The girl turned and pointed. “I own the house over there. I’m the one who found the ahh…bone.”
McReedy glanced at her watch and sighed. “What’s your name?”
“Addison Lockhart.”
“Well, Addison Lockhart, I need you to return to your house and let me do my job. You can’t be back here until we clear out. Got it?”
McReedy waited for Addison to nod and turn before proceeding forward. She wasn’t the type of person to have a guilty conscience, but somewhere inside of her she felt the slightest bit guilty about the way she’d treated the girl, who looked to be around her own age. The feeling subsided when she approached the hole.
“What have we got?” she asked.
Officer Waters swiveled around, using her pointer finger as a guide. “See for yourself.”
McReedy tipped her head forward expecting to find nothing more than a miniscule pile of weathered bones. The grisly, skeletal remains fused into the dirt proved her wrong. Criminal Minds would have to wait.
“What do you make of it?” Officer Waters asked.
“How were these found?”
“We received a call from a woman named Addison Lockhart. She lives in the area. Apparently, the guy who’s been doing some work on her home discovered something back here earlier today, and when he brought a shovel out to investigate, someone hit him over the head with it. The girl found him here in this pit and dialed 9-1-1.”
“Where is he now?”
“At the hospital, I suppose. We’ve got a couple officers there waiting to talk to him when he wakes up.”
“And the girl?”
Officer Waters shook her head. “Strangest thing. She claims she didn’t know a body was back here, but right in front of Jackson and me, she stuck her hand through the dirt and pulled out a bone. Just like that. It was like she knew it would be there.”
“And you’re not holding her?”
“We’ve got eyes on her. Nothing’s been proven yet. She wants to go to the hospital and visit her handyman. We’ll let her. Escorted, of course.”
“I wouldn’t let her out of your sight. She’s a curious one. She knows something. I can tell.”
“You do your job and let us do ours,” Officer Jackson called from behind.
“Jackass,” McReedy mumbled to herself.
“What was that?” Officer Jackson asked.
It had been over seven months since their break-up and Jackson continued to berate her like he still held a place of authority in her life. Never before had any man been so domineering, making her feel like a puppet dangling from a string. Whenever they found themselves together he followed her every movement, his eyes sharp like a hawk, never missing even the minutest details. Back when they lived together she’d plotted her escape, knowing every moment needed to be planned just right. It took months of preparation, and in the end, she didn’t just cut away the string, she ripped through it, vowing she’d never allow herself to be under any man’s thumb again. She overpowered the hawk by becoming an eagle, an eagle that was flying free.
“At least our cause of death is an easy one,” McReedy said, looking at Waters who tried her best to conceal a smile.
“With a big, round hole in the head, I should say not,” Waters replied. “The question is, given we don’t know how much time these bones have been in the ground, how do you tell whether it’s a male or female?”
“Easy,” McReedy said. “From the pelvis. There are obvious differences.”
“Such as?”
“A male’s is narrower, more heart-shaped. A female’s is open and circular.”
Officer Waters scanned the bones more closely. “So, what I’m looking at is—”
“A probable homicide. The question is—why? And how long have these bones been here?”