Alone (Bone Secrets, #4)(11)

The anticipation of working on the old puzzle gave her brain an electrical surge. Her fingers ached to examine their bones and uncover their stories. And then find out the relationship to the crime of last night. Who would duplicate the old crime?

The first step was to find out what had been done with the remains of the women. Last night Lacey mentioned three had never been identified or claimed, so that implied the remains could be in a few places. They could be skeletal and in storage, cremated and in storage, or buried. As long ago as this event had occurred, Victoria suspected they’d been buried. She crossed her fingers against cremation.

She sent a message to the office manager asking for help to find the remains. If anyone could hunt down the records, Anita could.

She turned away from her computer with a sigh and shuffled through the files on her desk. She had five new requests to examine bones found by the public. Usually these were bones found in people’s backyards or while out on hikes. Ninety-nine percent of the time the bones were from animals. There were eight requests from police departments around the state asking for help with bone identification. Two were highlighted as urgent in relation to missing persons cases. She glanced at the attached photos on one, shaking her head at the close-ups. Cow? she scribbled in the margin, eyeing the bulky proximal end of the humerus. Definitely nonhuman, although she could imagine the stocky bone in a hefty troll leg.

Three interoffice cases requested a consultation on open investigations. She scanned through Dr. Campbell’s neat notes and, for the hundredth time, regretted his upcoming retirement. Please let the next ME be as thorough and organized. Would that person be Seth Rutledge?

She closed the files and massaged her temples. Every thought had flown from her brain last night at the sight of the tall man. She’d instantly transformed into a nervous college freshman staring at the good-looking teaching assistant. Speechless. It’d taken her a good sixty seconds to recover from the shock of Seth’s appearance at the crime scene.

Could she work with the man on a daily basis?

Where was his wife? Victoria had confirmed Lacey’s observation that Seth didn’t wear a ring. But that meant nothing. Many men didn’t wear wedding rings, especially if they worked with their hands in the way Seth did.

Had he left Jennifer? What about their daughter, Eden?

Or was the whole family moving north to Portland?

Victoria felt a sharp pain in her left temple. Could she spend each day working with Seth and then watch him go home to his family in the evening? She rubbed at her forehead. Stupid. Getting worked up over a situation that might never happen. She exhaled several times, trying to clear her mind of the thought.

Another male face intruded in her mind’s eye. Rory had called her twice this morning. She’d let the calls go to voice mail, but he hadn’t left a message, so she didn’t call back. She wasn’t up to speaking with her ex-husband at the moment, and he could always text if it was important. Issues Rory found important were rarely important to Victoria. And vice versa. Hence the term “ex-husband.”

She resolutely pushed back her chair, stood, and pulled on a lab coat. She was wasting brainpower. Bones were waiting for her analysis, and she wasn’t going to let an old crush or ex-husband disturb her day. She strode out of her office and nearly ran over Seth Rutledge in the hallway.


Victoria barreled out of her office. If Seth hadn’t put out his hands to stop her, she would have plowed into him. Surprised brown eyes met his, and he stood frozen with his hands on her shoulders.

“Hi,” he said as his mind short-circuited. Hi? That’s all I can say?

She licked her lips, and he dropped his grip.

“Sorry about that. I thought you were going to knock me down,” Seth said.

“I’m on my way to the lab,” she answered.

He watched her throat as she swallowed hard, but she kept her gaze steady with his.

Silence stretched between them.

“You look great, Tori.” His tongue finally working, Seth saw that soft lines and angles of her youth had become polished edges. Not hard edges, but mature edges honed by life events. How much of her life had he missed? For all the instant recognition he’d felt when he saw her last night, he was painfully aware that he knew nothing of her current life. The only sign that he’d just surprised her was a brief flutter of her eyelashes behind her librarian glasses. Her chin lifted a fraction and he saw shutters close in her eyes.

They’d once meant something to each other.

But he’d f*cked things up.

Had time helped her forgive him?

“Good luck with your job interview,” she said and moved to pass him.

“Wait!” He touched her arm and she halted, a quizzical look in her eyes. “Can we have lunch together today? Or at least grab coffee later?” The cold shadow in her gaze sank his hopeful heart. His answer regarding her forgiveness shone in her eyes. It wasn’t what he’d hoped.

“How is Jennifer?” she asked.

He deserved that. “Fine. We’re getting a divorce.”

“Divorce?”

“We’re getting a divorce,” he repeated. The words were still foreign to his tongue.

Brown eyes studied him, and he felt them judge the weight of his statement. “I’m sorry. I hope Eden is doing well.”

“She’s doing great. She’s in her first year at the University of Washington.”