The Bones She Buried: A completely gripping, heart-stopping crime thriller(91)

Laura looked earnestly into the camera. “The terrible tragedy that took place at our main quarry back in 1974 was the sole act and responsibility of Mr. Sutton. His father and his father’s head of security conspired to cover it up. They both passed on decades ago. No one presently employed at this company was aware of what took place, except for my mother, and she did not make me aware of anything she had found out. We employ hundreds of decent, hard-working people at Sutton Stone, and I do not believe that they should be held accountable for something Mr. Sutton did. Our employees come to work every day and give us their very best. They’re caring people who routinely volunteer for the community outreach programs which I have put into place in the last ten years. I think that by being transparent with the public right now, helping authorities in any way that we can, and making sure that we develop internal policies to ensure that something this heinous and tragic never happens again, Sutton Stone will begin to atone for the sins of its former boss.”

They went on to discuss the case—all of which was fair game since Ivan Ulrich, Zachary Sutton and Grady had all agreed to plea deals. Ivan and Sutton would spend their lives in prison—avoiding the death penalty by cooperating. Grady agreed to a lesser charge of third degree murder and took forty years. There would be no trials. The Alcott County District Attorney was working with the sheriff’s office to make plans to excavate the workers that Sutton had buried outside the encampment at the original quarry site. Unfortunately, the bodies of Craig Bridges and Drew Pratt would likely never be found since so many years had passed and neither had washed up on the banks of the rivers where they’d drowned. But at least their loved ones knew what happened to them.

“You think she’ll turn Sutton Stone around?” Josie asked.

Noah stretched his arms over his head. “Yeah, she’s a master at spinning things. If Trinity hadn’t asked for this interview, she probably would have been after you to set it up.”

“We have to pick up the pieces however we can, I suppose,” Josie remarked.

She felt Noah’s hand slide into hers. “Yes,” he said. “We do.”

She turned to him. “You’re going to be messed up for a long time, you know that, right? Grief is a funny thing.”

He smiled. “I know. You have any tips?”

She laughed. “I’m good at being messed up, but not that good.”

He squeezed her hand. “Are we okay? You and me?”

Immediately she thought of her night with Luke, the exact details forever out of reach. Had she and Noah even been together at that moment? Was it worth telling him? What would she even say? Did she want to get into all of that again? She thought of something her mother, Shannon, had said to her when she was first reunited with her family, when they were all so overwhelmed with the task of filling the gap of the past thirty years. She had said, “Sometimes, you have to start from where you are.” So they did.

Josie squeezed back. “We’ll try, okay?”

He raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “We’ll try,” he repeated.