Her fingernails scraped something hard. She wiggled it loose. Grabbed the flashlight and directed its beam there.
She sucked in a ragged breath before the tranquility she counted on so very much cloaked her. “Pepper,” she whispered wistfully as she tilted the skull so that she could trace the fracture line with the light. “Poor thing.” He’d simply been too large for a family pet. He’d always made such a mess. A German shepherd could be such a nuisance. Her mother had suffered tremendously attempting to endure the big, sloppy animal.
Elizabeth tossed the damaged skull aside and kept digging with one hand, holding the light with the other. The bones glistened in the light, gleamed so white. Each one told a story from Elizabeth’s childhood.
“Digger.” She cradled the much smaller skull in her free hand. Such a sweetheart. A dachshund. Far smaller than the German shepherd but so pesky. The animal had dug holes all in the yard. Dane had loved this one so much. Too bad. Mother’s flowers were too delicate for the little beast. Elizabeth lobbed the skull aside.
Bones, bones, bones.
She dropped the flashlight, dug faster.
Where was the little tin box?
She smiled as her fingers curled around the cool metal. There it was. Not bothering with the light, she opened the little box and fingered the interior.
Empty.
Her smiled faded and her heart pounded.He wouldn’t have done this!
Surely not.
She sat back on her haunches and directed the light into the box. Nothing. She surveyed the mess she had made.
They were missing.
Fury welled up inside her so fast she could hardly sit still.
She had to find Dane.
If he ruined everything ... he would be so, so, so sorry.
39
7:00 p.m.
31st Street, Birmingham
Fleming Estate
Annette waited in the observatory.
Her hands were still shaking.
Inside, she trembled like a newly hatched bird who couldn’t see or stand, much less fly.
How had this happened?
She had set out to solicit Carson Tanner as an ally. She had been in charge. She had made the rules, set the pace.
Her eyes closed as she relived that moment when he’d made her reach a physical climax. No one had ever been able to do that. Not even once.
She had gone months, sometimes more than a year without sex, and even then her chosen victim had not given her an orgasm.
What made Carson Tanner so damned special?
Yes, she was between a rock and a hard place. Yes, she was admittedly feeling vulnerable. But those conditions had never induced such a physical bonding before.
She couldn’t possibly be in lust with him, much less love. She wasn’t capable of either emotion. The only other human she had ever lovedwas Paula. Her sister by choice. Annette supposed that she had loved her mother, but her betrayal had left the memory foggy.
