The Bones She Buried: A completely gripping, heart-stopping crime thriller(81)

She heard Laura’s voice in her head: She said, ‘I know where the bodies are. All the bodies.’

“Oh my God,” Josie said.

“What is it?” Gretchen said.

“I think I know what happened,” Josie said, darting out of her seat. “Let’s go back in.”





Fifty-Seven





Ivan looked up when Josie and Gretchen came back in. Josie remained standing and leaned over the table, locking eyes with him. “Let’s cut the bullshit, now, Ivan. I know about the mass grave.”

His face went very still as the color drained from it. His mouth worked, but no words came out. Josie, encouraged, pressed on. “In 1974 there was an accident at an employee encampment at the quarry. The newspapers reported that four people died. Their families were compensated. But it wasn’t just four people, was it? It was more than four. Many more. Craig Bridges knew how many people died that night. He witnessed it. That’s why he had nightmares about it for the rest of his life. Nightmares that were worse than what he saw in Vietnam.”

Ivan looked at his lap.

Josie spoke louder. “Colette Fraley found evidence of what really happened the night of the crane accident. She found internal documentation of the cover-up. She knew where the bodies were—all of them—and Colette couldn’t let it go. She had to do something because that’s the kind of person she was. Am I wrong?”

Ivan said nothing.

Josie slapped the table and he jumped. “Colette Fraley saved you from a pedophile priest. She risked both your mothers’ jobs, risked being excommunicated from her beloved church. So when she found out that there was a mass grave on Sutton Stone Enterprises’ property that the Suttons had covered up, she had to act. Am. I. Wrong?”

The air around her seemed charged, and the temperature in the room had gone up at least ten degrees since Josie stormed in. A fine sheen of sweat covered Ivan’s shiny skull. Slowly, his head turned from side to side.

“Say it,” Josie told him.

His words were barely audible. “You’re not wrong.”

“She contacted Craig Bridges. He was the only survivor of that night. I don’t know why he was allowed to live, but the Suttons paid him off, and he went on his way. Until Colette found the documents. Someone found out. Sutton found out. He ordered you to take care of it, so you did. Am I wrong?”

He shook his head again, more quickly this time.

“What did you do?”

He didn’t speak.

“Ivan,” Josie said. “If you ever cared about Colette in your life—if you ever really and truly loved her—you’ll tell the truth. You know that’s what she would want. It was the only thing she wanted. For the truth to be told. You know the truth. I need you to say it. What did you do?”

“I did love her,” he mumbled.

“Then tell the truth. As things stand, Colette looks like some kind of serial killer. She had personal effects of three men who are either missing or dead hidden in her home. We know that she met with Samuel Pratt at least twice, and we know she met with Drew Pratt on the day he went missing. Is this what you want? For Colette to be remembered as a killer? Do you want her memory tarnished like this?”

“No,” Ivan said firmly.

“Then tell me,” Josie urged him. “How did Sutton find out that Colette was in touch with Bridges, and what did he order you to do?”

“She was careless,” Ivan said quietly. “She had Bridges’ name and phone number written on a scrap of paper in her purse. She was looking for something in her purse one day at work and it fell out. Sutton found it. When he asked her about it, she lied to him and said it was someone from her church she was supposed to deliver meals to, but Sutton wasn’t buying it. He had me check out the number. Then he told me I needed to make Bridges disappear.”

“He told you to kill him?” Josie asked.

Ivan said, “He never said the word kill. But it was clear. He said that Bridges knew something that could endanger the whole company, and I needed to make him go away permanently.”

“So you did?”

“No, I didn’t want to. I didn’t—that wasn’t the arrangement we had. He had me intimidate people sometimes, but nothing more than that. Most of the stuff he asked me to do was spying on competitors or people he was trying to make deals with. I was there to find dirt on people. So I said I wouldn’t make Bridges disappear. I didn’t see why I needed to—Bridges obviously hadn’t talked.”

“But Colette knew. That changed everything.”

“He wanted me to make Colette disappear, too. He said he could find someone else to do the job if I refused.”

Gretchen stepped up to the table, staring hard at Ivan. “You made a deal with Sutton.”

He looked over at her, as if realizing for the first time she was in the room. “Yes,” he said. “I promised him that I could make sure Colette was no longer a threat. I convinced him it would be too suspicious to have a former employee and a current employee go missing or turn up dead so close together, even though Bridges no longer lived in Pennsylvania. I told him Colette was a young mother and a dedicated employee. She was active in her church and well-known in her community. Her disappearance would bring a lot of scrutiny to the company. Scrutiny he might not want. So he said if I made Bridges go away, he’d let me keep my job and he wouldn’t harm Colette.”