Buried (Bone Secrets, #3)(39)

The women exchanged a glance, and Dr. Campbell picked up the closest skull. “Common to African Americans is the wide nasal opening and the rectangular eye orbits.”

“Rectangular? Seriously?” Mason asked.

Dr. Peres picked up a different skull. “See? This one is Caucasian.”

Sure enough, the other skull had eye openings that looked more angular.

“There are many things to take into account when determining race,” said Dr. Campbell. “But the nose is one of the most useful.”

In Mason’s opinion, the noses were f*cking gone. All that was left were holes. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

“Damn it.” He dug the phone out. It was the same unknown phone number from before. The senator.

“Callahan,” he answered, avoiding eye contact with Dr. Peres. No doubt he was getting the evil eye for answering his phone in the middle of her lecture.

“Detective, I thought I’d save you some time. I made some calls and tracked down the arrest record of the man I told you about earlier.”

Already? Mason couldn’t get results that fast.

“I’m having a copy e-mailed to you. The man’s name was Jules Thomas.”

“Thank you, Senator. I’ll look it over.”

“Glad to be of help.” The senator signed off.

Mason slipped his phone back in his pocket, shaking his head. The man knew how to get things done. Fast.

“Senator?” asked Dr. Campbell. “Senator Brody?”

“Yes, your ex-boyfriend’s father. He dug up some information for me.” He didn’t volunteer more information. Dr. Campbell personally knew the senator and his son. If she had questions, she could ask them.

“I’ve enjoyed the anthropology lesson, but I need to head back to the office.” Mason touched the brim of his hat. “I look forward to your reports, Dr. Peres. As soon as we can figure out who these skeletons are and match them to missing persons’ records, we’ll figure out who did this to them. And who did it to that bus full of kids, too. Goodbye, Dr. Campbell.”

He kept his walk to a steady pace as he exited the operatory. Pushing open the door to the outside heat, he inhaled deeply three times.

Fresh, clean air.



Michael did a double tap on the desk bell for the second time. Jamie glanced around the small room. The little town’s only hotel turned out to be a bed-and-breakfast two buildings down from the restaurant. The house was charming, but it had that old lived-in smell to it. The one where you figure the carpets have been vacuumed twice a day but not cleaned in several years.

Michael looked ready to jump the counter and check them in himself. Jamie put a hand on his arm. “The woman at the sheriff’s office said to keep hitting the bell because the guy’s a little hard of hearing.”

Michael’s answer was to whack the bell again. Finally, a muffled voice came from upstairs.

“What’d he say?” Michael asked.

Jamie shrugged. “Beats me. But at least he heard us.”

Someone came slowly thumping down the stairwell. The cadence of the steps was odd, unrhythmic. A gray-haired man smiled at them as he rounded the corner. One of his legs was slightly shorter than the other and didn’t bend. Jamie responded to his contagious grin as he limped behind the counter.

“Well, you must be the two Sara called me about. She said you’d be checking in. You from Portland?”

The power of small towns.

“Yes. That’s us,” she replied. “Are you Chuck?”

His brown eyes beamed. And Jamie fell in love. If she could remember her grandfather, this is who she’d want him to be like. Smiley and kind. “I am. And I’ve got your room all ready for you.”

“That’s great,” said Michael, bending to grab his bag. “We’re bushed.”

Jamie froze. “Wait—”

Green eyes and brown eyes looked quizzically at her. The green ones twinkling innocently.

“We need two rooms,” she pleaded.

Chuck’s face fell. “Oh…well. Then we’ve got a problem. I’m full up.”

“Full? The whole place is full? I thought this town rarely got any visitors,” grinned Michael.

“Now, that’s true. But I’ve only got five rooms. And four are full. It’s kind of a busy week for me. The Hensens have relatives in town but no room to put them, so they take up two of my rooms. Jordeen Gold’s mother-in-law is here, but she won’t sleep at Jordeen’s because Jordeen is her son’s second wife, and she’s still rather partial to the first.” Chuck ticked off the rooms on his fingers. “And Bill Norman has been staying for the last two nights since his wife kicked him out. I figure he’ll be here another two nights. That’s usually about her limit.” He looked up with a grin. “That leaves one for you.”

“Perfect,” said Michael. He leaned a little closer to Chuck. “Jamie just didn’t want the town getting the wrong idea…seeing as we’re not married and all. But you seem like an understanding kind of guy.”

Jamie wanted to elbow him. “We don’t want to put you out. Is there somewhere else where one of us can stay?”

“You ain’t putting me out.” Chuck patted her arm. “That’s my job. And I’m the only place to stay for thirty miles. Unless you feel like camping.”