Page 49 of The Lost Bones
“There have been leaks. I’m concerned that whoever is talking might speak to the media next. I suggest we crack down on the source and suspend them.” Fire raged in his eyes. “Send a real message as opposed to empty warnings.”
“Okay, I don’t want anyone losing their job over this.” Mackenzie placed a hand on his shoulder.
“He’s right, Detective Price.” Rivera raised an eyebrow. “Nobody will lose their job. But there will be consequences. Everything will plunge into chaos if we just sit around.”
The car weaved along the winding shingly road up the hill. The afternoon sun was invisible behind swollen clouds ready to burst. Whooshing breezes blew leaves and sticks onto the windshield. Tall trees swayed, bending at angles, as if the wind was trying to uproot them from the ground. The higher Mackenzie got, the more isolated she felt.
“Can’t complain about Austin’s transgression if it leads us somewhere,” Nick said with an unlit cigarette hanging from his lips. “By the way, what do you think of Jane Doe?”
“I feel sorry for her, I suppose.” She sighed. “We circulated her information all around Washington, but no one recognizes her. She has refused to let her picture be printed in the papers for any family or friends to reach out.”
“She’s probably scared out of her mind that whoever hurt her will find her again if she agrees to that. Such a backward world we live in.”
A few houses came into view. But they were rickety, nothing as posh as the one Austin had seen Tag walk into. “Who even lives here?”
“They look abandoned.”
The houses appeared to be decades old, with wear and tear that had never been repaired. Over the years, storms had caused a lot of damage, but no one had bothered to fix anything. Some of the doors and windows were open, almost as if the residents had left suddenly.
The house finally came into view.
“There it is.” Mackenzie pointed ahead.
Nick slowed the car and whistled. “That’s fancy. Wonder who it belongs to.”
The spacious house had been maintained well. It looked like extravagant Southern architecture.
When they climbed out of the car, Mackenzie gasped. There was a sharp chill in the air. Currents danced on her skin.
“Maybe there is some truth to this place being haunted,” she whispered.
“Don’t tell me now that you believe in ghosts.”
“So you don’t feel anything?”
He looked uncomfortable. “That doesn’t mean anything.”
“I don’t know, Nick. Some places have weird energies.” Mackenzie had never been the superstitious type. But she couldn’t deny how starkly different this place was.
They walked up the empty driveway and rang the bell. No answer.
Nick drew a frustrated breath and pounded his fist on the door. The sound was carried by the wind. But there was still no response. Curtains were drawn in all the windows, blocking the view inside.
“Looks like no one’s home.” Mackenzie shoved her hands in her pockets.
“Well now at least we know the exact address.” Nick took out his phone. “I’ll ask Clint to find out who this house is registered to. As soon as I get some signal in this goddam place.”
While Nick wandered about trying to catch some bars on his phone, Mackenzie circled the house, hoping to find a window that would give her a peek at what was inside. But the building was just as opaque as the woods surrounding it. There was no backyard either. Why anyone would actually live here was beyond her. She was walking back to the front when she saw someone from the corner of her eye and jolted.
“Oh my God!” she gasped, her heart jackknifing in her chest.
An old woman wearing a long, tattered black coat stood a few feet away from her. Her skin was wrinkled and sagging. She had thin lips and a bulbous nose with black spots. Her gray hair was in dreadlocks around her face, and her back was slightly bowed. She looked like she had crawled out of a hole in the ground. The only striking thing about her were her dark blue eyes, which were wide and blazing.
“Hello, ma’am.” Mackenzie stepped closer, then stopped. The woman smelled like death. “I’m Detective Price from the Lakemore PD. Do you know who lives in this house?”
“Nobody.” Her voice sounded like she was being strangled.
Mackenzie’s eyes drifted to her neck. Strange marks, X-shaped grooves, were branded on her skin. A group of ravens flew across behind her, making a deep croaking sound.
