The Bone Field by Debra Bokur (top e book reader txt) 📕

driver’s door of the truck opened slightly, and Abigail leaned out. She was alone. “I wasn’t sure what you would be driving,” she said. “Do you want to sit in here with me?”

The rain was growing more intense. Kali shook her head, pointing to the Jeep. “In here,” she said. “The passenger door’s unlocked.”

She turned around, walking behind the Jeep toward her door on the driver’s side, picking her way across the slick footing. She was looking down, reaching for the handle of the driver’s door, when there was a sudden movement from beneath the trees. Kali was aware of a figure rushing out toward her. She spun to defend herself, slipping in the mud as the figure raised an arm. She was vaguely aware that it was a man, and that he was holding something. As her mind made this connection, he brought the object down with force, striking her on the side of her head.

Kali felt herself fall, and fall again, walled in by blackness and silence. She rolled, aware that there was no sense of the usual, nebulous boundaries of space and time. The silence was complete—there was no sound at all, not even the beating of her own heart. There was nothing but the dark, opening into a vast and shapeless void, wrapping around her. She moved into it, grateful to be free.

* * *

Walter paced back and forth across the station room. He glanced at the wall clock, and then back down at his phone screen, his trepidation growing steadily. Hara watched him, his own alarm evident.

“It’s been four hours since I got this message, and she’s still not answering,” said Walter. “Text, phone, nothing. I’m going to call her neighbor, that knife guy, and see if he noticed her leaving and what direction she went in.”

“Her message didn’t say where she was going to meet Abigail Waters?” asked Hara.

“Just that she’d see her in about an hour. So she didn’t drive all the way out to the farm or commune or church or whatever the hell that Eden’s River place is. That would’ve taken longer.” He turned to Hara. “What’s that guy’s name? The Icelandic guy that lives next door to her?”

“Elvar Ellinsson. There was an article in the newspaper about him.”

“Yeah, I saw that. Can you find his number?”

“Got it,” said Hara, typing rapidly on his keyboard. He read out the digits and Walter made the call.

Elvar answered on the fourth ring, and Walter let out his breath, running his hand across his brow. He had begun to ask Elvar to go next door, but Elvar interrupted him.

“I was just on my way there,” he said. “Hilo’s outside, barking like crazy. He’s all worked up about something. I’m heading over to make sure everything’s okay.”

Walter felt his heart begin to pound. He gave Elvar instructions to call him back as soon as he got to Kali’s. Less than a minute later, Elvar phoned, out of breath.

“She’s not here, and the Jeep is gone.” He hesitated, his tone unsure. “The thing is, there’s a screen knocked out of a window in the living room where Hilo got out. She must have left it open, even though it’s raining. And her front door is unlocked.”

That news troubled Walter. It meant that wherever she’d gone, she’d done so in a hurry, and hadn’t planned to be away this long. “You have no idea which way she may have gone?”

“I didn’t see her,” said Elvar. “With all the rain pounding on our roof, I didn’t hear her Jeep start up or see the lights. What can I do to help?”

“We’ve got limited manpower available right now. Do you have a car handy?”

“Sure. I can borrow Birta’s Volkswagen. Where should I go?”

Walter thought it over. “Keep your phone at the ready, and head south from your driveway. Keep your eyes peeled for the Jeep parked anywhere along that stretch for about a forty-minute drive. I’m heading out with Officer Hara. If you spot the Jeep, pull over and call. I’ll do the same.”

He hung up and radioed the main station, requesting that helicopter backup be readied in case a wider search proved necessary, cursing the remoteness of the Hana station and the lack of available assistance at short notice. “Tell them to make sure there’s a medic onboard,” he said, his apprehension steadily increasing.

Hara drove while Walter scanned the sides of the road. Neither of them said what each of them was thinking—they needed to find Kali as quickly as they possibly could.

* * *

His tall frame crammed into the driver’s space of his sister’s small car, Elvar drove along the Hana Highway, looking left and right in hope of spotting the Jeep. The road was fairly empty, as were the occasional shops and businesses he passed. He was growing discouraged when he spotted the Jeep pulling onto the road from the shave-ice stand. He instantly recognized it as Kali’s vehicle. There was a truck following it closely.

Elvar pulled off the road into the parking area and rolled down his window, knowing that Kali would recognize Birta’s car and stop. Instead, the Jeep crept toward the main road, bucking slightly as though the person driving it was unfamiliar with driving a standard transmission or how to operate a clutch without stalling. As it drew abreast of his car, he saw an unfamiliar woman at the wheel. She was young, and looking intently at the road, ignoring him. She made her way onto the main road, and the truck pulled out behind her. Another young woman was driving, and she paid no attention to the Volkswagen.

Elvar didn’t recognize either driver. He watched as the taillights of the truck pulled away behind the Jeep. He dialed Walter, who answered immediately, and explained where he was and what he had just seen.

“Follow them,” said Walter, “but try not to let them know you’re behind them. Anytime they turn off somewhere, let me know right away. We’re headed your way, and the