The Wrong Bones (Widow's Island #10)(29)

Holding the sobbing teen, Tessa had no excuses to offer for his mother’s behavior. She’d risked her own son’s life. Whether or not she’d intended to hurt him, she’d acted with cruel and callous disregard. Tessa held him while he cried and murmured the only words of comfort that applied. “It’s over. You’re safe.”





12


Several hours later, Logan filled out what felt like his thousandth report. “If I have to fill out another report, I’m going to lose it.”

“Same,” Tessa said from the next desk. “But I’m happy not to be at either crime scene. I’ve had enough blood and death.”

The sheriff and deputies from the mainland had taken over. CSI teams had been brought over as well.

The door opened, and the sheriff entered the tiny station. “First of all, Kurt is out of surgery and stable.”

Logan and Tessa both audibly exhaled in relief.

The sheriff continued. “Next, we found Shannon’s Honda Accord. There was a very unhappy man inside the trunk.”

“Long dark hair?” Tessa asked.

The sheriff nodded. “Name is Webb Dwyer. He’s on the way to the mainland hospital to be treated for heat exhaustion and dehydration before he goes to the county jail. The car was parked in full sun. It was damned hot in that trunk.”

Tessa pushed away from her keyboard. “What did he know?”

“He filled in a few details,” said the sheriff. “Says Simon pulled him out of the patrol vehicle and forced Dwyer to go with him. But when they went back to Simon’s place, Shannon took one look at the wooden box of bones, freaked out, and shot Simon. She forced Dwyer into the trunk of her car at gunpoint. When she carjacked Mona, she left him in there.”

“Why would Simon take him?” Tessa wondered aloud.

The sheriff shrugged. “Who knows? Distraction, maybe. Taking Dwyer definitely made the whole situation more confusing. Plus, Dwyer saw Simon shoot Kurt. Can’t leave a witness behind.” He took off his hat and wiped his brow on his sleeve. “Do you want to hear about Shannon’s unhinged rant now or tomorrow?”

Logan stood and stretched. “I have to know now.”

The sheriff nodded. “The whole time she and Simon were separated, she stalked him. They shared a cell service account. She monitored his calls and texts. She went to Bainbridge, followed him. She caught him having sex with Alyssa in a motel. She strangled the girl and made Simon help her dismember the body in the bathtub and sneak it out in pieces.”

“She admitted all of this?” Logan couldn’t believe it. “Why would she do that?”

“She seemed almost proud.” The sheriff sighed hard. “They buried the pieces in the woods. She says Simon was still obsessed with the girl. He dug up her bones and brought them with him when he came back to Widow’s. Had them on a high shelf in the garage, and Shannon found them. She was enraged. Even as she told the story, she was spitting mad when she got to that point. Seems she was as obsessed with him as he’d been with the girl.” The sheriff paused for a breath. “They were planning on running because they thought you’d figured out that they killed Alyssa. Simon wanted to take the bones along. Him stealing the bones back was the final straw for Shannon. She was jealous of the dead girl and furious that Simon couldn’t let go of her.”

“That is the most fucked-up thing I’ve ever heard.” Logan rolled his head on his shoulders. The emanating cracks sounded like Bubble Wrap popping.

The sheriff shook his head. “She’s the scariest woman I’ve ever encountered.”

Tessa yawned. “The fingerprint examiner called. The prints on the shovel belong to Chandler.”

“He was the one who tried to bury the bones,” Logan said.

The sheriff nodded. “He told us. Simon and Shannon were arguing over the bones the night he left. He knew. So when he left, he took the box with him. He couldn’t stand the thought of human remains being kept like that. He also thought removing the bones might make his parents stop fighting.”

“Did he know Shannon killed Alyssa?”

“He thought Simon had killed her.” The sheriff shook his head. “But he overheard them talk about the way they’d disposed of the body. It scared the hell out of him. They’d always been abusive, but this was the first time Chandler thought maybe they’d kill him at some point.”

Tessa grimaced. “That’s why he was so petrified at the thought of going home.”

“Poor kid,” Logan said. “Where is he?”

“His brother has already applied for guardianship. While he completes the paperwork, inspections, et cetera, we have a temporary foster family lined up.” The sheriff settled his hat back on his head. “They’ve dealt with traumatized kids before. He’ll get counseling.”

“I hope it works,” Tessa said.

But will it be enough?

How did a teenager recover from that much emotional damage?

After the sheriff left, Tessa took Logan’s hand. “Let’s go home. We did all we could. We can’t fix everything for everyone. This is the kind of case that leaves everyone involved with lasting damage.”

“I know.” Logan followed her to the door. Chandler wasn’t the only person traumatized by his parents’ crimes. Alyssa’s family, law enforcement, and the social worker would all struggle—including Logan and Tessa. He took her hand, not caring if anyone saw their PDA. “At least we have each other.”