Game of Bones Read online

  I scaled the mound, moving steadily to the offside in the hope I could come up behind the shooter. It was a stupid plan. I knew it, but there wasn’t a better option. In that strange and eerie calm that comes when a body is flooded with adrenaline, I was up the mound like some kind of supersonic spider. I’d edged to the north side, and I gained the plateau and began moving toward the last place I’d seen Coleman.

  At times, the moon slipped free of clouds and gave good light. That was when I froze and hugged the grass. I could see, but so could the shooter. I waited for those moments of darkness when moving was difficult, but less dangerous.

  Creeping forward in one of the dark pauses, my foot struck something solid and I went down hard. Right on top of a human body. One that moaned pitifully. “Help me,” a male voice said. It wasn’t Coleman, but it was someone hurt.

  “Peter?” I asked.

  “It’s Elton. I’ve been injured.”

  “Were you shot?” In the darkness it was impossible to see how badly he was wounded. My hands searched his body, and I found sticky blood at his head and all down his neck and shoulder.

  “No, someone hit me with something hard. I lost consciousness.”

  “Stay still, help is on the way. Just don’t move.” I didn’t want to leave Elton, but I had to find Coleman. “Have you seen the sheriff?” I asked.

  “No, I didn’t see much of anything.”

  “What happened?”

  “Someone called me and told me Peter was here and in danger. I saw his vehicle. When I called out to him, he didn’t answer, so I climbed the mound. I was walking across it to look for Peter when I was struck from behind. I don’t even know where my attacker came from.” The clouds shifted, revealing a large rock covered in what looked like blood.

  “Coleman’s been hit.” I started to edge away from him but he grabbed my jacket.

  “I want to help. What can I do?”

  I appreciated his offer, but he could have a concussion or worse. “Just stay put. I’ll be back.”

  Elton clutched my jacket again. “Stay here, Sarah Booth. It’s dangerous. Give me a minute and I’ll get on my feet.”

  “The best thing you can do is stay here. I’ll be okay.” It wasn’t lost on me that I was giving the very advice I wouldn’t take. I slipped out of his grasp. The moon came on bright and so close to being full, I couldn’t be certain that it wasn’t. The Crow Moon. An orb of loss and separation. About a hundred yards to my left, I saw a figure on the ground. The silvery light glinted on pale hair. It was Coleman. He’d been hit and he was down. In all of the years I’d known Coleman Peters, I’d never seen him out of control of his physical body. Terror touched me and I ran toward him, heedless of danger or anything except Coleman’s prostrate body.

  I skidded to a stop and knelt beside him, feeling for a pulse, for reassurance that he was not dead.

  “Where are you hit?”

  “Shoulder. It’s a flesh wound. Get out of here.”

  I had a reputation for being hardheaded, and now I would employ it. “I’ll leave—but only with you. Can you walk? Elton is up here, too. He was struck in the head with something.”

  Coleman took my offered hand and it took everything I had to get him to his feet. Once upright, though, he seemed able to walk. “Who the hell was shooting?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I didn’t see anyone, except Elton.”

  “Get me to the lip of the mound and then get Elton. We’ll all go together.”

  Even injured, Coleman wasn’t about to shirk his duties. He wouldn’t rest until Elton Cade was safe. “I’ll get him. He can walk. Did you find Cece?” I held back that I’d found her phone.

  “No. I didn’t see anyone. I never saw the shooter, either. I can’t figure what he was hiding behind. You’d think he was a ghost or something.”

  My body shivered as if a cold wind had blown over me. I told him about Cece’s phone as I helped him walk back the way I’d come. I wanted him to focus on something other than the effort it took to walk. If he collapsed, I might not be able to get him to his feet again.

  Someone approached, and I felt Coleman reach for his pistol. When Elton Cade stumbled out of the darkness, almost ramming into Coleman, I let my breath out. “Help me with Coleman, please.”

  Cade obliged and put Coleman’s uninjured arm around his shoulders. “It’s going to be tricky going down, but you can do it. Did either of you see Peter? He asked me to meet him here. I’m concerned.”

  “We have reason to believe he’s with Cece Falcon,” I told him. “Did you see her?”

  “No one. Like I told you, I’d just arrived when I was struck from behind. I think I’ve been unconscious for a while.”

  We were almost to the lip when I realized Coleman was getting weaker and weaker. He had a wound and was likely losing blood. The best thing we could do was get him still and put a pressure bandage on the wound. If we stopped, though, we wouldn’t get Coleman back on his feet.

  “If we can just start down, you can lay me on the side of the incline. I’ll be fine until my deputies get here.”

  “And Doc. I couldn’t help myself. I called him when I heard you get hit. They can use whatever coroner they want to use, but I have to have the best doctor for you.”

  “Let’s get this over with,” Elton said. “One, two, three…” and we set about inching our way down the steep slope. There were no more shots, though I couldn’t stop expecting to hear one. Where had the shooter gone? He had to still be in the area unless he’d parked some distance away, on the other side of the mound. That would have been the smart thing to do.

  Coleman was panting and sweating in the cold night. “Let’s put him down.” I had to check his wound and see how badly he was bleeding. Elton and I eased him to a sitting position and he leaned back in the grass. “I’ll live, Sarah Booth.”

  “You’d better.” I found my phone and turned on the flashlight mode. Coleman’s thick dark jacket hid the blood, but the moment I opened it up, I saw his shirt was soaked and blood saturated his pants and jacket. He needed medical attention. I took off my jacket and pressed it against the wound in his shoulder. I ignored his groan as I put my weight into it, forcing the blood to stay in him. Willing it to do so. It wasn’t a life-threatening wound and, by damn, he wasn’t going to die of blood loss.

  Elton touched Coleman’s face. “Sarah Booth, he’s clammy.”

  “Listen.” I heard the sirens. Help was coming at last. “Go down and see if you can’t get the paramedics up here fast. And Doc.” I wasn’t about to leave Coleman and there was no time to waste for them to stumble around looking for us.

  “Will do.” Elton was gone, and I was left with the man I loved growing weaker and weaker. I put more of my weight on his shoulder and he moaned.

  “It’s okay, Coleman. Doc is coming. You’ll be fine.”

  “I’ll be flatter than a pancake if you don’t quit crushing me.”

  I gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Love your wit. I’m going to jam a pencil in that bullet hole first chance I get just to show you how much I love hearing you holler.”

  But I was cheered by his attempt at humor. I couldn’t see the patrol cars and EMTs but I heard the ambulances then saw the pulses of red and blue lights when they arrived. At last I heard DeWayne and Budgie.

  “Here!” I called them over, waving my phone light to guide them. I was very happy they had arrived.

  The moon broke free and I saw the rescue party. DeWayne and Budgie were plowing up the incline and right behind them was Doc and paramedics with a stretcher. Coleman would soon be in good hands.

  My legs suddenly gave way and I sat down with a huff right beside Coleman.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “I am.” But I wasn’t. I had no power to stand or walk. “Once Doc is here, I’m going up to look for Cece and Peter.”

  “Let DeWayne and Budgie do that,” Coleman said. “I need you to go with me.”

  “You’re sure?” Cole
man’s request for me to accompany him was either a ploy to keep me safely with him or he actually needed me. I couldn’t risk it. I had to do what he asked.

  “I’m with you,” I said and grasped his hand. I managed to hold on to it as the paramedics and Doc maneuvered Coleman down the incline on a stretcher. Doc finally moved me aside so he could pack the wound for transport. I darted away from the ambulance to the area where I’d seen Cece’s phone. In a moment I had it in my pocket. When I returned to Coleman, they were loading him into the back of the ambulance and he was grousing and insisting that he would sit up. I used two fingers to press him back onto the gurney. “Behave,” I whispered.

  “Only because you asked so nicely.” He wrapped his fingers around mine and held on until the ambulance was headed to Zinnia.

  20

  Budgie and DeWayne found no trace of Cece and Peter, but they did find a fine hunting rifle with a nightscope on it. The Washington County deputies took it back for processing, which caused DeWayne great consternation. He wanted to analyze the evidence and draw his own conclusions, but we weren’t in his jurisdiction. Washington County was calling the shots and there was nothing he could do to change the situation.

  Tinkie and Oscar met us at the hospital, and Tinkie lit into Coleman with all of the things he said to us when we’d found danger and injuries. She was also angry with me.

  “How does it feel to have the shoe on the other foot?” Doc asked me. “Normally you’re the one who needs medical attention and we all have to hold our breath and pray you pull through.”

  “It’s not much fun to be the one worrying,” I admitted. “But Coleman is going to be okay, and that’s what matters. Right?” I just needed that one little assurance.

  “He is.” Doc smiled, and years fell away, giving me a glimpse of the man he’d been when he was in his prime. He patted my shoulder. “Stay in the ER waiting room with Tinkie. Soon as he’s stitched up you can be with him.”

  They rolled Coleman into a treatment room and Tinkie came over and sat facing me so that our knees bumped. “What in the hell were you two up to? They just took Elton back to check his skull. What happened?”

  I told her what I knew. “I don’t think Cece and Peter were there. I don’t know where they are. Peter’s car is at the mound. There wasn’t a trace of either.”

  “Jaytee is worried sick. I’ve talked to him twice.” Tinkie sighed. “I feel like we let Cece down. She’s so competent, and I just figured she was on a hot lead and that it might be slightly outside the law. We should have been looking harder for her.”

  “My thoughts, too.” I took a deep breath. “We have to figure out who was shooting at us and why. And how do Cece and Peter figure into this? Why in the hell would she take off with Peter Deerstalker?” I put my hand in my pocket and felt the extra telephone. Cece’s phone. If I could open it, I’d be able to track who she’d talked to, which might give me a lead to where she was.

  “We need to find someone who can hack a telephone.” I pulled it from my pocket to show Tinkie. “It’s Cece’s. I recognized the ringtone.”

  “Hand it over.” Tinkie held out her palm. “Now.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re going to do the right thing and stay with Coleman, and I’m going to get that phone hacked to the point at least we can find out who Cece was talking to and who’s been calling her. Looks like someone hit it with something. That could be why she didn’t call us.”

  She was right. I burned to go with her, but Coleman was where I needed to be. “Call me, please.”

  “Will do. You let me know if Doc releases Coleman. I did ask Oscar to send someone to pick up Coleman’s truck. It’s parked in the lot here.” She tossed me the key.

  “You think of everything.” I blew her a kiss and pocketed the key. With any luck, I’d soon be driving Coleman to Dahlia House.

  Tinkie hadn’t been gone three minutes when the ER door burst open and Lolly Cade rushed in, her face drawn in worry. “Where is Elton?” she asked.

  “They’re checking his head. He’s okay, Lolly. This is just a precaution.” I felt the need to reassure her.

  “What happened?”

  I filled her in on what I knew—just the basic facts without any backstory. That was up to Elton.

  “Ever since that horrid Wells woman came to Zinnia, there’s been nothing but trouble.” She sat down in the seat Tinkie had just vacated. “I wish that dig had never come here. Elton was so determined. He’d done so much research and he said—” She looked up, and I thought she was frightened, but when I looked more closely I saw only exhaustion. “I’m sorry. I know there are more important aspects to this than my personal comfort, but it’s just been a difficult time.”

  Knowing Elton had slept with Sandra Wells, I could see how Lolly wasn’t the biggest fan of archeological digs. “I wonder if these murders will shut the dig down.” It wasn’t unheard-of that a sponsor would pull funding if a dig became too controversial or dangerous.

  “Maybe they will.” She slumped back into the chair. “I just feel so alone.”

  Tinkie, not me, was the giver of solace and comfort, and she did it with skill and ease. I leaned forward and awkwardly patted her arm. “I understand. Elton really is fine. He’ll be out here any minute.”

  She sighed, but it seemed her burden had only grown heavier. I didn’t know what else to say. I changed the subject. “You haven’t heard from Peter Deerstalker, have you?”

  “I just spoke with him. He said he was on the way here.”

  “Peter said that?”

  My reaction took her aback. “Yes, what’s wrong?”

  “He’s on his way here?” I had to be certain.

  “That’s what he said. What’s wrong?”

  I shook my head. “I’ve been looking for him.” No point going into why. “Did he say if he was with someone?”

  “No.” She stood up. “What’s going on here?”

  “Talk with Elton. I have to check on my friend.” It was an abrupt leave-taking, but I couldn’t help it. I hurried down the hall toward the treatment room where Coleman waited. Doc had to be in there. I didn’t bother tapping, just went straight in. Right in time to hear Doc’s lecture.

  “You need to stay here for the night to be sure you don’t start bleeding again. We’ll give you some blood for a quick replenish. That’ll spur your recovery. Then you can go home tomorrow under the care of Sarah Booth.” Doc grinned wickedly. “She’s in charge of you. If you don’t agree to that, you can stay here in the hospital.”

  “Doc—” Coleman started to protest.

  “Push me on this and I’ll call an emergency meeting of the board of supervisors. You’re the elected sheriff, but they manage your budget. And the county has a certain liability and concern for your health. You need to heal.” Doc winked at me. “And here’s Zinnia’s own Nurse Nightingale. Sarah Booth, you’re going to have your hands full.”

  “Coleman, Doc is right. You won’t be any good to anyone if you bleed to death.” I did take a tiny bit of satisfaction in saying the same thing to him that everyone said to me when I was injured.

  “We’ll move him to a private room in about an hour,” Doc said. “Sarah Booth, why don’t you run home and grab some personal items. I’m sure you’ll want to stay with him tonight.”

  “You bet!” I walked over and leaned down to kiss Coleman on the cheek. “You are in my power. Doc said so,” I whispered before I made a swift exit and headed straight to the parking lot to await the arrival of Peter Deerstalker. If he did show up.

  * * *

  Peter arrived by Uber, and I was standing in the dark night against a pine-tree trunk when he got out of the car. I waited for the Uber to leave and watched Peter square his shoulders before I slipped up on him and tapped his arm. He came around with his fists up. He’d been expecting the worst.

  “Where’s Cece?” I demanded.

  He blew out a breath. “I’d like to know the same thing. What happened?
I heard Elton and Coleman were injured.”

  “At Winterville Mound. Where your vehicle is parked.”

  Peter motioned me into the shadows of the hospital building. He acted as if someone was after him, and I thought that was a good possibility. He was going to tell me why, because somehow my friends and my lover had been caught up in his mess.

  “The last time I saw Cece, we were both at the Winterville Mound. I got a tip that there was information there that would lead to the person who killed Sandra Wells. The caller warned me to come alone and not to tell anyone.” He glanced around as if he expected a mugger to jump out at us. “As you know, I was supposed to meet Cece at Millie’s Café. I got a call from her that she was giving Cooley Marsh a ride to the Budget Inn and to pick her up in the parking lot, which I did. I didn’t want her to come with me to Winterville Mound. I didn’t really have a choice. Your friend is pretty persuasive when she threatens a person.”

  That sounded exactly like something Cece would do. “So where is she?”

  “I left her in my car talking on the phone to someone. I darted up the incline, thinking maybe I could find the information about the killer. You know, the clues the caller said I would find to prove I was innocent.” He stopped. “You won’t believe this, but I was also afraid it might be a trap. Think what you want, but I didn’t want Cece to get hurt so I hurried up the mound while she was busy talking.”

  He sounded sincere, but then again, he hadn’t proven to be reliable. “So where is she?” I said it this time a lot louder and with more emphasis.

  “I don’t know. I searched the top of the mound. I didn’t find anyone or anything. No clues. Nothing. When I got back down to the car where I’d left her, Cece was gone. Like vanished. There was no sign of her.”

  Fear made me more aggressive than normal. “What do you mean? She didn’t have a vehicle. Where could she go?”

  “She’d vanished into thin air. There wasn’t another person around. Elton’s SUV was there, but there was no trace of him. I did search everywhere. No vehicle, nothing. Cece had been sitting in the passenger seat of my vehicle, talking on the phone, and the next thing I knew, she was just gone.”