snake-catching equipment.
Nell dutifully wrote down his answers and promised that she would be outside the courthouse, with camera, at precisely noon.
Then she decided that this shouldnât be a one-sided visit. âAny thoughts about the bones found in the woods?â
He paused for a moment, then answered. âDamn fool hunter.â
âTwo damn fools?â Nell asked. âOne with chains on the wrists?â
The sheriff gave her a sharp look. âWhereâd you get that?â
âFrom the ground. I went out with Kate Ryan the day she found the bones.â
âDonât put nothinâ like that in the paper,â he lectured her.
âWhy not?â Nell guessed it was the usual police thingâkeep details out only the killer knewâbut she still wanted to hear it from Sheriff Hickson.
âYou want to panic the town? All we need is rumors of chained killinâ in the woods.â
âDo you really think Pelican Bay will fall into a frenzy at the idea of two murders that happened decades ago?â Nell shot back at him.
âYou still donât need to go puttinâ it in the paper,â he insisted.
âFor how long?â
âHow long what?â
âHow long do I keep it out of the paper?â Nell repeated. âDo you really think that no one else is going to pick up this story?â
âLook, I know itâs sad and too bad âbout whatever happened to them, but those people are history. Weâll dig âem up only to then bury them again.â
âEven if they were murdered?â Nell answered.
âMiz McGraw, be real. They been in that ground long enough for a big tree to grow over âem. What evidence we gonna find? And even if we find something, what are the chances whoever did it isnât also already in the ground?â
âIf thatâs the case, then whatâs the harm with telling the story?â
The sheriff let out a long sigh. Nell gathered he didnât appreciate logical women. He sighed again before answering. âOkay, Miz McGraw, you can write your story, but you might just give us enough time to make sure nothing comes out of the ground thatâs gonna bite us in the butt.â
Nell didnât let on that she was still debating whether to hold the story for next weekâs paper. It might depend on what else was discovered. And if the sheriff thought that she was genteel enough to be thrown off by the word âbutt,â he was much mistaken. Nell had learned to curse at a Catholic girlsâ school and there was nothing like a plaid polyester skirt and a nun with a ruler to expand the vocabulary. âIâll think about it. I plan to be there when the forensic anthropologist continues the dig. With camera ready, just in case there is any butt-biting .â
The sheriff didnât see any humor in her comment. He shook his head and said, âJust donât forget the story about my long-lost cousin.â With that he turned to go.
Nell decided he wasnât going to get off so easily. âOh, Sheriff? Tanya Jones called Mrs. Thomas, Sr. and âsuggestedâ the Jones boys arenât happy about their brother being in jail. And if that didnât change, they might do something about it.â
The sheriff turned back to face her. âThey threatened Mrs. Thomas?â
âUsed her as a messenger. The threat was aimed at me.â
He seemed to be mulling this over, as if a threat to Mrs. Thomas was serious but Nell had fallen into the âlooking to be bitten in the buttâ category. âTanya say just what they planned?â he finally asked.
âNo, the opposite, she didnât know what they might do. And she wouldnât want to be me.â
The sheriff mulled this additional information for a moment, then said, âYou gonna go after Junior, arenât you?â
âAre you saying that I should capitulate to his brothersâ
James Kakalios
Tara Fox Hall
K. Sterling
Jonathan Maberry
Mary Balogh
Elizabeth Moynihan
Jane Hunt
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley
Jacquie Rogers
Shiloh Walker