Forbidden Ground (Cold Creek #2)(39)

During that gush of information, Grant’s eyes went wide, and his lower lip dropped. “Crushed skulls? But—those grave sites—sound amazing,” he stammered, then took a big swallow of his iced tea.

“That last one I mentioned is near the little town of New Benton, between Youngstown and Akron. That Ohio mound was owned by a private family, but thank heavens, they let it be studied.”

He put his glass down on the table with a thud. “I hear you, Dr. Lockwood.”

“I didn’t go near your mound. I’d like you to be with me when I do—with your permission.”

“Was that Ohio site a small mound you just described?”

“No, it was quite large, but it had a single entrance, and I think Mason Mound does, too.”

“You surely don’t think you’d find something spectacular like that here? Eagles, skeletons, skulls?”

“I’d like you to talk to Carson Cantrell about the importance of the possibilities. But, not to ruin your lunch, there’s something else while you’re sitting down. Maybe you know this already. Brad’s evidently been telling people, including Lacey, that I moved in with you. I might as well tell you—I saw Brad when I was in the woods. Lacey picked him up on the back road and they drove off toward the hills. He was with her last night, I think, and when he got in the van with her, they looked...cozy.”

A frown creased his forehead, but he surprised her by keeping calm. “Putting on a show for you maybe, so you’d tell me.”

“I was hidden. He’d just been in the forest, and we’d talked briefly. He was visiting that pile of stones where he buried his boyhood pet collie, Max.”

Grant’s eyes widened. She could almost hear his mind working but didn’t know what he was thinking. He cleared his throat and took a sip of his iced tea. “He was drunk at work midmorning,” he told her, glaring down into his glass as if there were tea leaves to read. “We had words, especially when I took his car keys and had someone drive him home.”

“I’m sorry. Yes, he did seem...unsteady.” But, she thought, that was definitely not the first time he’d been with Lacey lately; it wasn’t some retaliation for a scolding at work.

“Him and Lacey, huh? Can’t say I like the sounds of that and not for the reason you’re thinking.”

“You think she’s out to turn him against you?”

“It wouldn’t take much. So—big news day, and on top of your fixing this great lunch for me. I’d better eat fast and get back to work in case the two of them are planning something there. As for Carson Cantrell, I’d rather deal with you, because I’m hoping you’ll understand. And I wish I could go with you and Jace to talk to Bright Star this afternoon, so you don’t get all the blame. Maybe we should just let Jace go question him alone.”

“I want to be there, see if I can read him. I’m the one who found those stars.”

“And you want to find much more than that or eagles or where Brad put his dead dog. So, that pile of stones must have been off the beaten path, right? Just like him to hide it from me.”

“Yeah, it was,” she said, surprised to realize he didn’t know where that old dog was buried. Had the two brothers not gotten along as kids, either? “The pile of stones was kind of west of the main path about a quarter mile in from the back curved road, behind some kind of bramble thicket.”

He nodded. “Kate, I just don’t know about a dig in the mound, and I’m hoping you won’t try to go around me on this. I need you—I want you—on my side.”

She nodded, too, before she realized he might think she was giving in to him. Nadine had said much the same about Grant needing her. She loved the sound of that, but hated it, too. If anyone could seduce her out of what she wanted most in life right now, unfortunately, it was Grant Mason.

*

Kate was much more nervous than she’d thought she would be when she and Deputy Miller were finally escorted in to speak with Bright Star Monson in a room their guide had called “the retreat.” To her amazement, both her cousin Lee Lockwood and his wife, Grace, were in the room. Monson himself sat behind a large glass table that must serve as his desk, although it didn’t have a book or paper on it. The entire room was white with only glass objects, maybe to give the appearance of light, even of weightlessness. Some sort of lighting system through the thick glass walls made the room seem to glow. Well, she thought, this phony hadn’t chosen the name Bright Star for nothing.

Even Lee and Grace were dressed in white instead of the down-home, prairie look. Lee stood like a sentinel in one corner, and Grace, a marble statue, in the corner near the door. Kate, not caring if she was defying some rule, went over to hug Grace, who hugged her lightly. “How are the children?” she asked.

“Oh, fine. Thriving. Thanks.”

“I’d love to see them, and I know Tess would, too. Perhaps when Tess returns from her honeymoon.”

Grace looked immediately at Bright Star, as if for permission to answer. “Please sit down and explain this visit” was all their leader said.

Kate could see Jace was nervous, too. She could feel the hostile vibes in here. Maybe insisting on direct confrontation wasn’t the way to go, but it was the way she’d lived her life. She hated secrets, things half said or hidden.