Boneyard Read Online Free Page A

usually called in when a day-hiker doesn’t show up for dinner. This is pretty much the most exciting thing we’ve ever done, at least since I’ve been around.”
    Kelly half smiled at his enthusiasm. “And you’ve been out here for about a week?”
    “Six days. The first few days we were working the quadrant closest to the campground—that’s where we found most of the bones. Now we’re working known animal trails. They have standard routes to and from the lake to their dens. No luck today, though. If you’d like, I could show you on the topo map—”
    “We got another one!” a voice called out excitedly.
    Kelly glanced at the men. “Shall we?”
    She led the way off the trail in the direction of the voice. The ground was slightly marshy underfoot, her hiking boots sinking into the lush carpet of needles blanketing the forest floor. The farther from the trail she got, the more the trees thickened until she was dodging branches. Not the easiest place to dump a body, Kelly thought to herself. Factoring in the hike from the parking lot and the terrain, it would have to be done at night, by someone who knew the woods fairly well.
    The line of searchers had stopped a hundred yards off the path. A few of them stood silently to the side. They looked exhausted, Kelly thought sympathetically. Most were middle-aged men in sweat-soaked shorts and T-shirts. They probably never imagined when they signed up for the SAR unit that they’d be spending days searching for scattered human remains.
    She squatted down and peered at the spot they were staring at. A small finger bone protruded from the moss; brownish-white, it pointed accusingly toward the sky. “All right. Let’s mark this one and get a few shots of it. You’re recording these on a central map?”
    “Not my first dump site, miss,” Doyle mumbled at her shoulder.
    “No, I’m sure it’s not. Just double-checking. When you’re finished, I’ll send my guy in for collection.” Kelly straightened up.
    “Uh-uh.” Doyle shook his head vigorously from side to side. “We’re still on our side of the state line. Anything found in Massachusetts, stays in Massachusetts. I’m under orders to send all we get to the state lab.”
    Despite the fact that he was right, she found his condescending tone grating. Unfortunately, she had no authority to order the remains sent anywhere until there was proof that something other than a bear had dragged the victim across the border. “I see. And where’s that?”
    A smile played about his lips. “Sudbury.”
    “Sudbury? Outside Boston?”
    “That’s the only Sudbury I know of, miss.” Doyle rocked back on his heels, clearly enjoying himself.
    “You swinging that dick around again, Bill?” asked a female voice.
    The lieutenant’s smile instantly faded. “Thought we’d agreed to stick to our respective borders.”
    A petite woman with blond hair cut in a bob had emerged from the woods and was standing behind them. Also in her mid-forties, her green eyes matched her uniform and shone through a healthy tan. She grinned at Kelly while waving a hand dismissively at Doyle. “Borders, schmorders. Don’t worry, honey, we saved some bones for you. Ignore Doyle, just this morning I caught him pissing on some bushes to mark his territory.”
    “Bullshit.” A red flush rose up Doyle’s neck. “You know damn well…”
    “Yeah, yeah.” She rolled her eyes and her grin widened. “Morning, Sam. Sam’s one of the good ones, aren’t you, Sam?”
    Sam Morgan was hanging back, watching the exchange. “Awfully nice of you to say so, Monica.”
    “Shame he lives on this side of the state line, that’s all I can say.” Monica turned to Kelly and explained, “Sam and I took a spelunking class together a while back and, let me tell you, this guy put the rest of us to shame. Sam, you belong in Vermont, you and that nice family of yours should look into property there. The schools are a damn sight better, not to mention the