Boneyard Read Online Free Page B

people.”
    “Please, Monica, you were the star of that class,” Sam replied, grinning. “There was this one tunnel, it was just a foot high and went back a hundred yards before opening into a chamber. She was the only one of us to make it through.”
    “Too bad she didn’t stay there,” Doyle grumbled under his breath.
    Monica glared at him before shifting her attention back to Kelly. “Welcome to the party, honey, and about time you got here. Doyle has nearly driven me to my last nerve.”
    Monica gripped Kelly’s hand firmly, almost crushing it. Kelly winced slightly.
    “Oops, sorry about that, just so happy to see you. Lieutenant Monica Lauer, Vermont State Police, Bureau of Criminal Investigation. So, we found another one?”
    “Looks like a finger bone,” Kelly said.
    “Like a jigsaw puzzle, isn’t it? We got parts of one body in our lab, which—” she raised an eyebrow pointedly in Doyle’s direction “—is in Bennington, just a hop, skip and jump away. Ours is missing an arm, so we figure it might be the rest of the John Doe that hiker stumbled across. Massachusetts is sitting on four or five more, near as I can figure, but it’s hard to know what we’ve got when everything is scattered to the four corners.”
    “Massachusetts has one of the top forensics facilities in the country,” Doyle snorted.
    “Yeah? ’Cause last I heard your lab screwed the pooch on a whole bunch of DNA samples,” Monica retorted.
    Noting the flare of Doyle’s nostrils, Kelly interceded. “I’d like to get a better sense of what we’re dealing with before we discuss the jurisdictional issues.” She was suddenly aware of the weight of dozens of eyes. The entire SAR team had stopped and was watching the discussion with interest. “Mr. Morgan, perhaps…”
    “Call me Sam, please.” He raised his voice and clapped his hands together. “All right, everyone, why don’t we take a break for lunch, start up again in a half hour?” He led the team back toward the trail, leaving the three of them standing alone. Kelly looked from one to the other. Monica stood with her hands on her hips, while Doyle had locked his jaw in a grimace.
    “So it looks like we have a lot to talk about,” Kelly said, leading them away as a forensics technician materialized and began taking photographs of the bone in situ. “Things here seem pretty much under control. Lieutenant, I’m guessing you can suggest a place in town for us to have lunch?”
    They piled into Doyle’s squad car and slowly edged out of the lot. Monica Lauer was simmering in the back seat. Kelly could sense the waves of dislike emanating from her. She repressed the urge to gnaw her lip, which was already starting to feel raw. Obviously these two were clashing, and so far she hadn’t been impressed with the level of professionalism demonstrated by either of them. None of which boded well for the investigation.
    A uniform up ahead eased a sawhorse to the side of the road and waved them through. Instantly, they were swarmed by a herd of reporters; four television station vans were parked along the road. Doyle brushed them off like gnats, but slowed as they approached a blond reporter at the far edge of the scrum.
    “What are you doing?” Kelly asked, puzzled.
    Doyle rolled down his window and smiled at the blonde, who leaned forward just enough to reveal a hint of cleavage. “Afternoon, Jan,” he said, grin widening.
    “Lieutenant Doyle, good to see you!” Jan responded in a honeyed voice. “Anything new?”
    In the back seat Monica muttered, “For Pete’s sake.”
    “Lieutenant Doyle…” Kelly said warningly.
    He ignored her. “Same as I told you earlier, we’re thinking maybe an Indian burial ground, or a couple of lost hikers.”
    “Really?” Jan glanced at the other reporters, who had surged forward with their mikes and were pressing in on her. She shoved back at them with her hip and leaned in closer. “Because there are rumors that a serial