The Bones She Buried: A completely gripping, heart-stopping crime thriller(63)

A stab of pain pierced her chest. Maybe it shouldn’t have, but it felt like rejection.

“Laura and Grady will take good care of me,” he said.

Josie swallowed over the lump in her throat. “I have no doubt.”

He closed his eyes. Josie waited but he didn’t open them again. Instead, he started to snore. She was dismissed.

On her way home, she stopped at the liquor store and bought the Wild Turkey. She curled up with it on her living room couch but before she could even open it, she was fast asleep.





Brody Wolicki was someone who still had a landline instead of a cell phone. Although from what Josie knew about Sullivan County, the cell service wasn’t great so a landline was your best bet if you ever needed to reach the outside world. Josie tried Wolicki’s number a half dozen times before she drove to Sullivan County. There was no answer, which made her stomach turn almost the entire drive though she tried to reason with the panicked voice in the back of her mind: he could be on vacation or in the hospital, or he could have been out to breakfast when she called. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling of dread building in her stomach as she got off Route 80 at the Buckhorn exit and took Route 42 into the mountains. As she passed the county line, the roads got narrower and more winding. She tried punching Wolicki’s rural address into her GPS, but it didn’t recognize it. She stopped at a general store in Laporte to see if she could secure an actual map, but they didn’t have any. The cashier knew the Wolicki place, though, and gave her some vague directions.

She went north past the fringes of World’s End State Park, then into Dushore and through the only traffic light in the entire county. She took the unmarked road the general store clerk had told her to turn onto, following it up into the mountains where the homes were spread several miles apart. Taking three turns that failed to bring her to the Wolicki property, she found herself back out on one of the main routes. After an hour of aimless driving, reluctantly, Josie turned toward Carrieann Creighton’s farm. It was the only place she really knew how to find in Sullivan County. Things with Luke hadn’t worked out, but there had never been any hard feelings between Josie and his sister. Carrieann had put herself in jeopardy to help Josie during the missing girls case. Josie was sure she would help her now, especially since all she needed was directions. She hoped Carrieann could help her find Brody Wolicki’s home.

The two-story stone house hadn’t changed much since Josie had been there last, several years earlier. As she drove up the bumpy gravel driveway that stretched over a quarter mile from the road to the front porch, she saw the shutters had been recently painted. They gleamed white in the sunlight. A bloodhound with a droopy face and long ears lay on the front porch, its head resting on its paws. It didn’t even look up when Josie parked and got out of her car, but its tail wagged slightly as she climbed the steps. “Hey, boy,” Josie whispered. She squatted down and offered the dog her knuckles which he sniffed disinterestedly.

A male voice from the front door said, “That’s Blue. As you can see, he’s quite the guard dog.”

The storm door creaked open and Luke stepped out. Josie’s heart caught in her throat. He was over six foot tall and had always dwarfed her. In the years since she had last seen him, he had gained weight, but in muscle, not fat. Gone was the high and tight haircut he had been required to keep while with the state police. Now his dark brown hair was long and a thick beard covered his face. He was dressed in torn, dirty jeans and a thermal undershirt, white turned gray with wear. Heavy boots covered his feet. He smiled at her. “Never thought I’d see you again.”

Josie licked her dry lips and stood. “I was looking for Carrieann.”

He took a step toward her. “She had to do some deliveries. She’ll be back tonight or tomorrow.”

A long moment stretched out between them. Finally, Josie could stand the silence no longer. “Do you… do you live here now?”

“Yeah. It’s not so bad. I did six months in prison. I’m on probation. I had a really good lawyer. I help Carrieann out with the farm, and I get to live here rent-free.”

“That’s great,” Josie said. “I mean that you’ve…”

She broke off. What could she say? It was great that he hadn’t gone to prison for many years? It was great that he wasn’t homeless? It was great that he could no longer pursue the career he had loved so much?

“Josie,” Luke said, his voice firm. “I’m fine. Really. Things have worked out.”

“I’m glad,” she said.

He took another step so they were only two feet apart. “They worked out for you, too, huh? I saw the Dateline about you and Trinity.”

Josie couldn’t suppress her smile. “Instant family, yes. It’s… good.”

“What did you need Carrieann for? Maybe I can help.”

She felt her heartbeat settle into a normal rhythm. Work was solid ground. She told him she needed to talk to Brody Wolicki about a case she was working on.

Luke scratched his head and for the first time, Josie noticed the scarring on his hand. During the case that had destroyed his career, ended their relationship and sent him to prison, he’d been tortured. Both hands had been crushed, and it had required multiple surgeries to repair them. Silvered scars ran along the back of his hand and the lengths of his fingers. His index and middle fingers still looked flattened and deformed. Josie swallowed, trying to focus on his words.