Skeletons in the Mist (The McCall Twins) Read Online Free

fourteen-year-old brother is behind bars right now, moments away from being charged with murder. I don’t think I need to tell you the seriousness of thesecharges.”
    God.
Devon
. Little Devon, with big blue eyes, round and innocent and carefree. At least they had been the last time she’d seen him. He’d been four at the time. And then she’d walked out of his life—walked out of Dylan’s life too. He’d barely been two. Pain squeezed her heart. She’d always felt selfish for leaving her brothers behind when she’d run away. She’d thought of them often, though she’d never contacted them. She’d always figured they were better off without her around. Maybe she had been wrong.
    “Ms. Tavish, are you still there?”
    “I can’t just get up and leave,” she finally said quietly. “I have a job, a home. I have a life.”
    “Your brothers don’t have any of those things right now. I wouldn’t be calling you if I had any alternative.”
    Still reeling from the news she’d received, she grimaced as Litowski’s red face poked around the opening of her cubicle. “Pack your bags. You’re through. Your last check will be mailed. And don’t expect a full one. I’ll be docking your timeaccordingly.” He was gone as quickly as he had appeared, taking with him, her only means of paying her bills.
    Defeat sank in and she felt the moisture in her eyes before she could stop it. She now had no car and no job. And apparently, no once beloved aunt.
    “Ms. Tavish?” the detective prodded again, interrupting her self-pity.
    Instead of answering him, she let the telephone drop into its cradle, laid her head down on her desk, and gave into the urge she’d had since eleven that morning, to cry.

THREE
    Roxy had made several spur of the moment decisions in her life, none of which had worked out to her advantage. One had been the decision to leave Cavern Creek to begin with, at the tender age of sixteen, with not a penny to her name or a plan for her future. She’d wondered more than once over the years, if leaving the small town had been a mistake. After all, again and again, she found herself starting over—looking for work, trying to find a place to live, trying to survive.
    No longer a sixteen-year-old, running from her past, she wanted to believe she knew what was best for herself—for her situation.
    Fortunately, she’d never had to factor anyone else into her unlucky equation—until now.
    So here she was—likely making another bad choice for herself—back in Cavern Creek, whereher nightmares had all started.
    She heaved her large duffel bag from the bus terminal’s baggage claim, frustrated.
    Three days before, she’d had a job, an apartment and a car. Not only that, she’d had an aunt, even though she hadn’t talked to the woman in a year. She’d also had the illusion that her younger brothers, who she’d figured out were now on the verge of being thirteen and fifteen, had grown up to be smart and respectable young men. That illusion was gone. One of them was being charged with murder. The murder of their aunt, no less. It was unreal.
    After emptying her desk and packing her things, Roxy had walked out of the Chronicle offices with as much dignity as she could muster. She’d gone home, only to find a message on her machine saying her VW was totaled. Nothing short of a new engine was going to make it run again. Her car’s fate was abruptly decided.
    At that moment, she’d realized how little meaning she had to her life. She’d sucked down several beers and come to the conclusion that theonly real purpose she could cling to anymore was tied to her brothers, Dylan and Devon—even if she had walked out on them ten years earlier.
    Now, as Roxy stepped out onto the pavement in Spokane, she grimaced. It was June and the air was hot and dry. Usually the seasons changed rather abruptly around these parts. Summer to fall, and then a ravaging winter of snow and ice.
    Setting her bag down, Roxy reached for