The Hunted Girls by Jenna Kernan (best book club books for discussion txt) 📕

much as it always had, a large near-perfect ring of sparkling white sand, the center of which was all scrub grass.

Leaving the climate-controlled air-conditioning and stepping out into the blazing sun gave Nadine an instant headache. They were met by a forest ranger and second sheriff’s deputy. They followed the deputy along a narrow gash, recently cut through the undergrowth in the palmetto fronds. Nadine knew that the stem of each leaf held a saw blade of jagged barbs capable of slicing skin and snagging clothing. No one would travel far in this dense foliage without both a machete and a very good reason.

Had Arlo walked this way just recently? Had her mother? She looked in the sand for Arlo’s footprints but saw just a jumble of many.

She noted the new cuts on the palmettos and also the old ones, higher up, the branches that were missing from a long-ago traveler. Arlo had taught her how to find the animal trails, to make passing through simpler. She paused to finger a gash in the trunk of a palm at eye level. No animal made this, at least, not a four-legged one. Air currents rippled across her neck and she could sense her mother.

Nadine continued after Demko and Juliette.

They did not have far to travel. She came up short, nearly bumping into Demko’s back.

Three men stood in an excavated pit some three feet deep.

Was this her father’s grave?

“Why dig here?” she asked Demko.

He had his hands on his hips. “Dunno.”

Juliette left them, speaking to a woman who was kneeling on a blue tarp and placing a long bone with others.

Nadine gravitated toward the tarp upon which two skeletons were taking shape. One was completely bone. The other had some sort of desiccated flesh and tendon still connected on several joints. One of the hands seemed to be wearing a shriveled skin glove and there were patches of hair on the skull.

Her nose wrinkled at the grisly sight. She wondered what her mother would think, seeing her work. But she knew. This aberration would delight her. She’d be thrilled to see even a photo of this carnage.

Juliette returned to them.

“They’ve got most of the pieces already.”

“How did they know where to dig?” Nadine asked.

The woman on the tarp peeked up from beneath a large canvas hat.

“A tip from a convicted felon gave us this animal trail. From there we searched for changes in vegetation. The foliage over this spot was obviously different. Then we found the depression.”

“You use probes to detect gases?” asked Juliette.

“Didn’t need to. We have ground-penetrating radar. Got it from a grant to study Native American shell mounds,” said the scientist.

Juliette gave a low whistle. “Nice.”

“The soil is clearly discolored, so after we got down a foot or so, we knew we had something.” She beamed up at them, like a dog presenting a dead possum to its owner.

Nadine’s instinct was to back away. Instead she looked beyond the woman to the bodies.

“Dr. Burton,” said Juliette. “These are members of my team. Detective Clint Demko, and this is our team leader, Dr. Nadine Finch.” She turned to them. “Dr. Burton is an anthropologist from the Florida Museum of Natural History.”

The scientist scrambled to her feet and wiped her hands on her thighs, removing much of the soil and sand before extending her hand to Nadine.

“Oh, gosh. Dr. Finch, it’s an honor. Call me Claire. Do these two have some connection with the missing women?”

Nadine clasped her hand, which was damp with sweat, before releasing it to find her palm coated with sand.

“Not at all. This one is personal. The convict that gave you that tip was my brother. One of these remains could be among my mother’s victims. The male, if you find one, might also be my father.”

The woman’s brows lifted in shock. She opened her mouth as if to ask a follow-up, glanced at Juliette’s face and then reconsidered. Juliette would answer the inevitable questions. Nadine was grateful.

Right now the heat and the heavy air made breathing difficult.

Dr. Burton left them for the pit and Nadine tried not to notice her relaying the arrival of a celebrity.

Demko leaned in, nudging her. “Think they’ll ask you to sign one of their trowels?”

She tried and failed to hold a smile.

“You all right?”

In answer she shook her head. Demko stepped nearer. The three of them stared down at the human remains spread out on the tarp like some dreadful picnic.

Juliette leaned in. “You see, that one was buried in the soil. This one might have been wrapped in something like a canvas tarp. It affects the decomposition.” She pointed, her voice animated with excitement. “Oh look! A belt buckle.”

Nadine stared at the larger skeleton that peered out at her through empty eye sockets.

“I’m just going to go have a chat with the anthropologists,” said Juliette, sensing Nadine’s mood, and hurried off.

“How can anyone enjoy this sort of work?” asked Nadine.

Demko snorted. “One might say the same thing about your job.”

“That’s true.”

“Hell of a way to spend a weekend.”

They stood for a long while watching the anthropologists carefully excavating the grave site.

“You think it’s him?” Demko asked.

“Location seems right. Age of the skeleton, too, maybe, though I’m no expert.” The heat and humidity drained Nadine. Sweat soaked her clothing and ran between her breasts. She attributed the nausea flipping her stomach to the heat and not to images of her mother dragging these two bodies into the woods.

How many times had Nadine and her family visited the River Forest camp area? The real reason for her mother’s fondness for this site sickened her. Her stomach rolled, sloshing the coffee, churning it to acid.

She stared at the larger skull, noting a missing tooth and several fillings in the lower jaw. She turned her head, twisting for a better look without having to step closer.

“Is there something wrong with the eye socket?” she asked.

“You mean besides the crushed skull?” he asked. “Looks like someone hit him with an ax.”

“Shovel,” she said. “That’s what