Midnight Exposure (Midnight #1)(78)

Handy.

“Doug Lang.” Doug didn’t notice he was working in an auditory fishbowl. His voice rang through the Sheetrock clear as music from Evan’s iPod through a set of Bose speakers. “A head? At Aaron McCree’s old place? Are you sure it’s human?”

Nathan concentrated harder on Doug’s voice as the cop promised to check out the find and call for state police support. Merry f*cking Christmas. What was he going to do now? He’d made a promise to do everything in his power to help his uncle.

But this did complicate things.

“You’re not going to believe this.” Doug poked his head around Nathan’s doorway and repeated the news.

Nathan feigned shock, complete with a slack jaw and an open mouth. His acting skills were getting quite the workout this week. “Oh my God! No. Are you sure?”

“I’m only relaying what Reed Kimball said.” Doug’s chest expanded. “I’m going out there now to investigate before I call anyone else. Wouldn’t want to bother the state police if it’s just a deer or something. Kimball’s a city boy. Probably wouldn’t recognize an animal skull.”

“Good thinking.” Nathan pushed to his feet. Reed Kimball was no fool. He knew exactly what he’d found. And Jed certainly knew an animal head when he saw one, but Doug needed his ego stroked. “Hugh’s death was such a loss to the community, but it comforts me to know you’re in charge. The rest of the town council feels the same way.” Actually, most of the members thought Doug was an incompetent moron, but Nathan liked having a cop in his pocket, so to speak.

Doug gave him a serious nod. “You need to come out and have a look at your uncle’s place. I’ll need you to go through the place and see if anything’s missing. If Reed’s right, somebody must’ve broke in and used Aaron’s house. Transient or squatter or something.”

“I was at Uncle Aaron’s just the other day. I didn’t see anything unusual, but then I was mostly concerned with plowing the road and making sure the house was still standing. I was in a rush to get back here. Didn’t even go inside.” Nathan reached for his coat. “I just never imagined anyone would be interested in the place. Nothing worth stealing. The place is a mess. Uncle Aaron really let it go over the past couple of years. I should’ve known something was wrong with him.”

“Give yourself a break. You couldn’t have known.”

“Thanks, Doug. I’ll meet you out there. God, I’m so sorry I didn’t properly inspect the property. There’s no excuse, really. I hate to think a killer was using the house to hurt people.”

“You have an awful lot on your plate right now with taking care of Aaron and all.” Doug waved off Nathan’s apology. “I’m sure this is just an animal or something.”

“You go on ahead. I’ll be right behind you.” Nathan shrugged into his coat. “I want to call home real quick and see if Uncle Aaron is OK.”

Doug turned. “See you out there.”



“How many more bags of stuff?” Scott snagged another slice of pizza from the box and tilted the box toward Brandon. “Another?”

“Thanks.” Brandon grabbed a cheesy wedge, folded it lengthwise, and took a huge bite. Half the slice disappeared. “Not too many. We may finish up earlier than we thought.”

“Cool.” Scott chewed through his crust and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He reached behind him for another black trash bag, dumping the contents on the buffet table. An assortment of gloves, hats, and coats hit the table with a rustle of nylon. “I gotta finish that history paper for Miss Seacrest. It’s due tomorrow.”

“You’re still workin’ on that?” Brandon grinned at him. “Dude, she assigned that weeks ago. No wonder you drive your old man nuts.”

“I’ll get it done.” Scott laughed. “Always do. Have to mail my college apps this week, too.”

“Christ, nothing like sliding them in under the wire.” Brandon shook his head. “Mine went in a month ago. Not that it’ll matter.”

“Hey, man. Don’t say that.”

Brandon tossed a pair of faded pink mittens into a plastic bin marked Girls’ Gloves & Mittens. “No scholarships for me. I’m not a straight-A student or a great athlete.”

Hard to be either with two jobs, Scott thought. Brandon had been filling the shoes of his worthless old man since he was in grade school. “What about financial aid?”

“Even with, the only school I can possible afford is community college.”

“Nothing wrong with community college.”

Brandon snorted. “Sure, says you. Where’d your old man go?”

“Georgetown. Man, he’s gonna be pissed if I don’t get in.” Scott threw a pair of rubber boots into the appropriate plastic tub. “And he’s gonna be even more pissed if I do and back out.”

“Why don’t you just tell him you don’t want to go there?”

“My dad has wanted me to go to Georgetown since I was born.”

“He’ll deal.” Brandon dumped another garbage bag of clothing on the table, pulled out a ripped jacket, and tossed it into the discard pile. “Just tell him you want to go somewhere else.”

“That’s the thing. I don’t know where I want to go.” Scott sighed. “What I really want is to take a year off and travel. Take my time and figure out where my head’s at. But I’d have to get the old man to approve a withdrawal from my trust. I doubt he’ll agree.”