“I don’t know. I wish I did.” Franklin sounded as frustrated as I felt.
“Regardless, I don’t think he’s going to grace us with his presence right this second.”
“Agreed.” Franklin let loose a weighty sigh. “I—”
“Detective O’Hare. There’s something you should probably see over here.” Officer Johns gave me an apologetic glance. “Sorry to take your man away, Boone.”
“It’s okay. I know you guys are busy.” I waved Officer Johns off. His answering grin soothed some of my ruffled feathers from my earlier altercation with Officer Grayson.
“You wanna stay here or go back home?” Franklin asked, his head turned away from me as he concentrated on something Officer Johns was doing.
I blew out a breath. “I’ll probably stick around for a little while, but given all the bodies, I doubt you’re getting home until after dawn.”
Franklin nodded. “Yeah, it’s just skeletal remains and—” Franklin’s head whipped around, gaze intense. “Wait.Bodies?As in plural?”
Confused, I nodded. “Yes,” I drawled out.
Franklin scrubbed his face with his hands, his stubble sounding rough. “Just how many bodies are here, Boone?”
Slipping my eyes closed, I tapped into my necromancer side again, double-checking my earlier count. “Six.”
“Christ.” Head tilted back, Franklin stared into the sky. “Six.”
“They’re spread out some, but all of them are within a few feet of each other.” I winced. “I don’t think they passed peacefully.” Rubbing my forehead, the thrumming anger of the deceased filtered in. I’d been too distracted earlier to pay them much mind. Now that I was more focused, their cries were becoming deafening.
Pulling out his phone, Franklin hit a couple of buttons. It wasn’t long before Franklin said, “We’ve got a situation, Captain.” Franklin’s gaze shifted to me. “Boone’s here.” His eyes slipped closed. “Six.” Franklin pulled the phone away from his ear and even I could hear Captain Cicely cursing on the other end. “I’ll ask.” Pulling the receiver away from his mouth, Franklin asked, “Care to show us where they are?”
“Of course.” Franklin had to know my answer and most likely only asked out of politeness. His answering, gentle smile warmed my core.
“Boone’s on board. I’ll call you when I know more.” Franklin ended the call and said, “Lead on.”
Chapter
Four
Franklin
Six victims. How in the hell had we missed this? Then again, finding the first one had been mere happenstance. Would we have even looked for more? I wasn’t certain. So far, the graves Boone led us too varied in depth. We’d only dug up three more, bringing our current total to four. Two were deeper, and Dr. Stowe advised she thought they were older. I wasn’t a serial killer expert, but I knew enough to understand that the longer they got away with it, the more untouchable they perceived themselves to be. It was likely our killer had become increasingly complacent as they continued killing without consequence. Taking care to bury the bodies deep most likely became too taxing. Or maybe our perp became physically disabled, not allowing them to dig for as long or as deep.
Whatever the reason, two of the graves we’d discovered were far shallower than the other two. I had no doubt we’d find two more, exactly where Boone pointed. My necromancer was far better than any trained cadaver dog.
As darkness descended, we pulled out the overhead flood lights. The sun had taken its warm rays with it, and the air temperature cooled into the low fifties. I’d gotten Boone myofficial police jacket. The coat swamped him and hung down to his thighs. He didn’t seem to care, and I liked seeing Boone in my coat. Still, I needed to ask Captain Cicely if we could get Boone his own official police-issued jacket and vest. Boone worked enough crimes scenes that they were needed. Especially after what happened with Grayson earlier.
Just thinking of that arrogant prick nearly sent me spiraling. Prejudice came in many shapes, sizes, and colors. All of it was beyond pointless. More than that, it was damaging. I’d be happy to teach Grayson that lesson personally. Hell, I would have punched him in the face if I thought that would knock some sense into him. It wouldn’t. Meeting violent thoughts with true violence only led to more lashing out. Reacting like I wanted would only make someone like Grayson dig his heels in further, tenaciously clinging to his hate.
“I need to head back, unload our current bodies, and come back for the others.” Dr. Stowe had somehow invaded my personal space while I’d been silently brooding. “It’s never a good thing when the ME van is too full to spare room for another passenger.”
I appreciated Dr. Stowe’s attempt at levity. “I don’t suppose it is.”
Dr. Stowe sighed. “Not gonna lie, this is a mess.” Head tilted down, Dr. Stowe’s shoulders curled in, the weight of the day taking its toll. “So far, they’re all women of similar age. I’ll know more when I get the autopsies finished, but it might be limited considering most of the remains are little more than skeletal.”
“You think this happened a long time ago?”
“Not necessarily. Given the climate, ground conditions, and microorganisms in the area, the flesh doesn’t last long. Soon enough, all that’s left is their clothing and bones. I may not be a detective like you, but judging by the clothing that’s left—”
“They’ve been murdered within the last year, two tops.”
“Exactly,” Dr. Stowe agreed.
