River of Bones by Dan Padavona (books you need to read TXT) 📕

the sill. She looked at him over her sunglasses.

“Mr. Reid, I’m warning you to step away from my car.”

“Or what?”

Good question. She knew how to handle a gun, and she wasn’t afraid to take down a female suspect. But she wasn’t a rugged fighter like Raven. Reid would squash Chelsey like a grape if she challenged him.

“Or I’ll press charges. You’re harassing me.”

He leaned his head back and laughed.

“That’s a good one. You follow me around town, taking your little pictures, and I’m harassing you?” He pointed at the DSLR camera on the passenger seat. “Give me the camera.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Lady, if you don’t give me the camera, I’ll take it and smash it against the blacktop.

“I’d like to see you try.”

Mistake. Never test a man with nothing to lose.

Reid reached inside the car. She clutched his forearm and prevented him from snatching the camera. The man was even stronger than he looked. It was all she could do to keep hold of his arm as he tugged and shoved, squashing her between the seat and the steering wheel.

“You bitch. I want the pictures, and I want them now.”

As she wrestled him, her head struck the steering wheel. The car interior spun, and her vision blurred. She felt her heart spin out of control, and suddenly she couldn’t catch her breath. The car seemed to fill with water, Chelsey drowning beneath the current as they fought. She grabbed her chest and peered in the mirror. Her face turned purple, and her heart smashed against her chest at an alarming rate.

He backed away and glared.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

She opened her mouth. The words refused to come. Panicked, she pointed at her chest and glanced at him with imploring eyes. This was it. She was going to die in a sunbaked car, surveilling a fraudulent loser. Reid swung his head left and right.

“I didn’t do shit to you,” he said. “You can’t blame me if you have a heart attack.”

Was she having a heart attack? He searched for witnesses. Seeing none, he sprinted for his truck, gunned the motor, and squealed out of the parking lot.

Chelsey opened the door and stumbled out of the car. Her hands and knees landed upon the scalding blacktop as she sucked air into her lungs. Chelsey’s chest heaved, and the soda and potato chips spewed from her mouth. She collapsed and curled into a ball, the unforgiving sun torching her. Footsteps approached as a woman yelled for help.

Chelsey wiped her lips and cried.

CHAPTER FOUR

Monday, August 9th

1:35 p.m.

Raven Hopkins tied her braids into a ponytail and adjusted the cap atop her head. She’d spent too much time in the gym working her upper body and ignoring her legs, and now her hamstrings protested as she climbed the Wolf Lake State Park ridge trail. Darren glanced over his shoulder and grinned, clearly enjoying that she was out of breath and struggling to keep pace. Usually, it was the other way around. If he accompanied Raven to the gym or ran beside her, he was the one out of breath. But she didn’t care. She was happy to spend the day with the ranger and relieved to see him smile. He’d been a fitful mess since the hiker discovered human bones hidden in his park.

“Can’t keep up, hotshot?”

“Don’t slow down and let me catch you,” she said, glaring at him in warning.

She thanked the gods when he paused atop a steep hill and lifted himself onto a boulder. He scooted over to give her room and helped her climb up. Their legs dangled over the side, the cooling breeze replenishing her energy reserves. Tall pines loomed over the trail while dappled sunlight poured through the needles and painted textured patterns over the earth. Everything here smelled green and perfect, like Christmas with humidity.

“Happy you took the day off?”

“I am,” she said, propping an elbow on her knee.

Raven had three weeks of vacation time to burn before winter and didn’t want to waste it. More so, she needed time away from Chelsey. She loved her boss and friend. But Chelsey was impossible to be around and had been since last month. Surly and forever glowering, Chelsey made work miserable.

Habit tempted Raven to call work and check into the Herb Reid investigation. She forced herself not to. Today was Raven’s day with Darren, and she didn’t wish to be anywhere else. Though she’d known the ranger in passing since last year, they’d only started dating recently. Now she couldn’t imagine life without Darren. He made her laugh, and the only time she felt safe and content was when she was around him. Ever since Mark Benson and Damian Ramos kidnapped Raven, she’d become anxious whenever she was alone, always sensing someone watching from the shadows. The worst times were when she was at the office, a converted two-bedroom, single-story house that creaked and groaned whenever the wind blew.

“I still can’t believe it,” Darren said, peering west through the trees. He was talking about the skeleton. She’d hoped to keep him distracted with exercise and small talk. “How do I reconcile this in my head? It’s my responsibility to keep people safe once they set foot in my park.”

“This isn’t on you. That body predated your arrival by several years.”

“God, I hope a kid didn’t see those bones.”

“Did they identify the victim?”

“Last I heard, the forensic anthropologist brought the remains to the medical examiner’s office. They’re reconstructing the skull first, then the rest of the skeleton. Even then, I can’t imagine how they’ll identify the victim.” A shiver rolled through his shoulders. “All this time, I walked these trails and lived on state park grounds, and a dead person lay beneath the mud beside Lucifer Falls. The falls get thousands of visitors every year.”

“Kids party in the gorge.”

“I’m aware. I’ve cleaned up after them.”

“Perhaps some kid got drunk and fell in.”

Darren scrunched his face up.

“That’s a comforting thought.”

“I’m just saying we can’t jump to