Page 119 of Evil Bones
Why?
Over and over, my brain kept circling to one central question.
How had the video file ended up on a flash drive inside the rectumof a homeless man? A homeless man found dead of gunshot wounds in a county nature preserve?
Nguyen’s voice sliced into my consciousness.
“Detective Slidell is working this case, correct?”
“He is.”
“I must contact him.”
“Yes,” I agreed.
My ears registered the rhythmic swish of Nguyen’s retreating shoe covers. The rattle of a gurney. Thewhooshof a cooler door.
Easy, Brennan.
I forced myself to draw a series of deep, calming breaths.
Ryan and I often discussed our cases. I debated. Should I share this bizarre story with him?
Except for knowing Slidell and a few others, Ryan was unfamiliar with the Charlotte scene. Looping him in would require reams of backstory. Given that our time together was so limited, I hated to waste any of it on tales of corpses with missing hands and oddly placed storage devices.
Still. If the device was meant as a threat, he had a right to know.
I was formulating a condensed version of events for Ryan’s consumption when the issue of the thumb drive yielded to a new concern.
A much more terrifying one.
CHAPTER 27
“Ruthie’s missing.”
A simple declarative sentence. Two words.
But something in Katy’s delivery chilled me.
“What do you mean?”
“Jesus Christ, Mom.”
“Calm down.”
“I am calm. Where are you?”
“I’m at work.”
“Of course you are.”
I didn’t touch that.
“When did you last see Ruthie?” I asked.
“She went out around four yesterday afternoon and never came home.” Katy’s voice sounded unnaturally tight, her vowels too clipped, her consonants too hard.
“I thought you didn’t worr—”
