River of Bones

rolled across the lot toward her feet. She bent to retrieve the belongings as he sobbed.
“It’s okay. I’ll help you load your groceries.”
“They should reinforce the bottoms of these bags,” he muttered.
The lights caught his profile from the side. For a moment, she was certain she knew him from somewhere, though the fog played tricks on her eyes and distorted his face. With the cans clutched between her arms, she shuffled to the van.
“You’re too kind,” he kept saying.
“Where do you want me to set these?”
“Anywhere inside is fine. Just push them in a bit so they don’t roll out the door after I get home.”
“Sure.”
She wondered how he’d get the wheelchair into the van and lift himself into the seat. A crutch lay in the back, and candy bar wrappers and food particles littered the floor. As she stacked the cans away, crumbs soiled her hands. She wiped off her palms, gritting her teeth as she eyed the filth staining her hands.
“Could you be a doll and grab the crutch for me?”
“I’d be happy to. Are you all right to fold the chair yourself and lift it into the van?”
“Yes, ma’am. Just need that crutch, if you would be so kind.”
The crutch lay beyond her reach. She couldn’t grab it without crawling inside the van, something she wasn’t comfortable doing. His gaze burned into her back.
“Can’t you reach it?”
“I’m trying,” she winced, stretching her arms out.
Justine had no choice. She placed one knee on the floor. Knew the grit would ruin her slacks. As her hand closed over the crutch, she heard the metallic shriek of the man lifting himself out of the chair.
Something thundered down and struck her head. At first, she thought she’d whacked her skull on the sliding door. Reaching behind, she touched her head as her eyes wobbled. Blood covered her palm. More blows rained down, each more frenzied than the last. His spittle wet her neck as he breathed against her flesh.
The inside of the van spun and undulated before her vision failed.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Friday, August 13th
10:00 a.m.
 
Raven’s shoulders slumped after lying to Chelsey. She’d told her boss she was driving to the state park to speak with Paul Phipps about the missing money, and that much was true. But Raven hadn’t told Chelsey about stopping at Thomas Shepherd’s guest house to meet with Scout, LeVar, and Darren. Today was their first day working on the state park skeleton case. Technically, she was doing investigative work, though she hadn’t started a case file at Wolf Lake Consulting to make it official.
She parked on the shoulder. The sheriff was at work this morning, and she didn’t feel right blocking his driveway. Swishing through the soft grass, the sun warm on her face, Raven wished every work day was like this. Pulling open the door, she heard their voices from the front of the guest house. LeVar had set up a card table beside the window. Scout sat at one end in her wheelchair, the morning light painting soft highlights through her hair. Darren conferred with LeVar and Scout, the ranger’s arms propped on the windowsill.
That’s when she realized this wasn’t a game for them. They were serious about this investigation—Darren wanted answers so he could keep the park safe, while LeVar and Scout determined to catch a killer and take him off the street. Whatever guilt Raven harbored vanished in that moment. This was vital work, far more important than catching the campgrounds thief, or nailing a disgruntled spouse in an infidelity case.
“I hope you didn’t start without me,” she said, tossing a pen and pad on the card table.
“We already figured it out, Sis,” LeVar said, grinning. “You snooze, you lose.”
Darren squeezed her hand and kissed her cheek. She met his eyes and felt her heart melt.
“Since you already solved a six-year-old mystery, brief me while I stare at the lake.” She pulled out a chair and motioned for LeVar and Darren to take their places around the table. “I take it this will be our official headquarters?”
“Why not?” LeVar rocked back in his chair. “I’ve got the space, Scout lives next door, and Darren is a short walk from the cabin.”
Darren nodded and said, “It’s discreet and perfect. But we don’t want Thomas catching us before we’re ready to share our findings.”
“We’ll store our data and notes on my computer,” Scout said, gesturing at the PC in the corner. “LeVar carried it from my room.”
“That’s generous,” Raven said. “You don’t mind living without your computer for a few weeks?”
“It’s not optimal. But Mom watches me like a hawk and doesn’t want me on the Virtual Searchers site without her supervision. So I’m not missing out on much.” Scout held up her phone. “Plus, I can research anything on my phone. I store all my links in the cloud.”
“Speaking of Scout’s mother,” Darren said, clasping his hands on the table. “Naomi needs to be in the loop. Regardless of Scout’s value to this investigation, we can’t hide anything from Naomi. She deserves to know what her fourteen-year-old daughter is up to.”
They all turned to Scout, who pouted her lips. The girl threw up her hands.
“She won’t be happy. But if that’s what the group wants, I guess I don’t have a choice.”
“All right,” Raven said. “We’ll use Scout’s PC until I locate an alternate option. Chelsey stores old, unused computers in a closet at the firm. I’ll sweet talk her into donating a PC…once I break it to her that we’re investigating the state park case.” Raven clicked her pen. “What’s first on the agenda?”
“We need security cameras on the guest house.”
“Isn’t that overkill?”
“Someone broke inside three days ago.”
“Oh?” Raven turned to LeVar. “I wasn’t aware of this?”
LeVar shrugged.
“Nothin’ stolen. Shep Dawg found a shoe print near the window.”
“What happened to Deputy Dog?”
“He ain’t a deputy anymore. But he’s still a dawg.”
Raven scrunched her brow. Her brother owned little, but the intruder must have seen something worth stealing.
“Hey, Darren. I wonder if this