AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Like Ray.
“Determining how long bones have been buried or half buried is not a simple thing.” McDonald’s tone remained patient. It probably wasn’t the first time she’d dealt with officers who wanted to try to erase the pain of seeing a child’s body by bringing justice to her killer. “We’ll do a chemical analysis, but it’ll take time and it’s not an exact science.”
“Then how about her age? How old was she?” Alex turned back to the bones, trying to keep the futile anger at bay. “Can you tell?”
“We have a loss of the central incisors, but only two permanent teeth had come in. In addition, the femur bones hadn’t reached full length.”
“What does that mean?” Cooper sounded so much more patient that Alex felt.
“Somewhere between six and ten.” McDonald touched the skull with one gloved finger. “I’d say caucasoid.”
“Female, Anglo or Hispanic, six to ten. Are you going to call in Richardson?” Dan Richardson was a board-certified forensic odontologist, meaning he was one of a handful of people in the country who could identify skeletal remains using dental records. He worked in a lab two floors above the Bexar County autopsy room. “I imagine he’s got some cases he can try to match to this find.”
“Well, I don’t know if he’ll be able to help. I don’t see any fillings. I’m not sure she had any dental work done.”
Cooper shook his head, his face etched with exhaustion. “Well, we’ve got a child who isn’t dead—yet—to find. You have my cell phone number. I’m sure you’ve both got family waiting for you at home. This will wait until Monday.”
McDonald looked at the bones on the table in front of her. “She’s waited a long time to be found. Long enough.”
Alex followed Cooper to the parking lot. He let the cool evening breeze wash over him. After the stale, refrigerated air of the morgue, it was a welcome relief. “We have to find Benny.” He slammed his fists on the hood of the truck that separated him from Cooper. “We can’t let him end up a pile of bones on a table.”
“Hey, easy on the truck, partner.” Cooper opened the his door, but he didn’t get in. “That’s the plan. We also want to know who killed that little girl. If we can’t show that those bones were on the property when Ray bought it, he could end up at the top of the suspect list.”
“Coop.” Luna adopted Ray’s nickname for the detective. “No one will believe that. Ray has upheld the law for his entire career. I bet he’s never even had a speeding ticket in the last twenty years. He just got married. He wants to be a minister.”
“I’ve known Ray a few years myself.” Cooper stared at a starless sky. “We’ve done a half dozen Habitat projects together. We fish all the time. You’re not telling me anything I don’t know. I’m just saying we need to find the real killer. Fast.”
Alex thumped the dashboard with his hand. “Let’s go, then.” Something had happened at the ranch to set these two crimes—separated by time and method—in motion. The trail started at the ranch. He glanced at his watch. Almost nine o’clock and no end in sight. They still had to go over McDonald’s findings with Ray and Daniel, as well as the CPS worker interview and whatever Ray had come up with on the previous owners of the property. Time to get his second wind. “I hope they have coffee made—”
His cell phone rang.
“Alex, I need a big favor.” Daniel spoke softly.
“Sure, anything.” Surprised, Alex waited.
“Deborah took off a couple hours ago. She was upset, and now I can’t get her on her cell or at home. Could you track her down for me?”
Alex sat up straight. A chance to connect with Deborah. Then Daniel’s words sunk in. “Upset about what?”
The pause stretched. Finally, Daniel spoke again. “It was just a misunderstanding, something personal. I’m worried she might relapse.”
“You’re afraid she’s out there drinking somewhere? That’s some misunderstanding.” Alex bit back the cusswords. A relapse. Only something major would cause that. And that something major involved Daniel somehow.
“Yeah. You’re familiar with the bar circuit she used to run on, so I thought maybe it wouldn’t be too hard for you to figure out where she’d go.”
Endless nights filled with loud music, thick smoke, and alcohol-induced rambling conversations only vaguely remembered the next day didn’t interest him anymore, but Alex let the assumption ride. “I’ll see what I can do. From what I’ve heard, Ray’s brought her in a few times himself. Why don’t you ask him to let me know where to start looking?”
“He and Susana are leaving in a few minutes. I don’t want him worrying about Deborah—not tonight. Just try some of the usual spots.”
“No problem.” With everything Daniel had on his plate right now, how could he be worrying about Deborah? And how could she do this now, with Benny missing? It had to have been a major blowout of some kind. “You’re sure there isn’t anything else I need to know?”
Again the long pause. “Just make sure she gets home safe, all right?”
Alex disconnected. If Deborah wasn’t at home, there weren’t a lot of other possibilities. She tended to be a loner. He intended to change that. She couldn’t keep turning him down forever.
Of course, he had to find her first.
Chapter Nine
