Skye Cree 02: The Bones Will Tell
| Skye Cree 02: The Bones Will Tell | |
| Number II of Skye Cree | |
| Vickie McKeehan | |
| Beachdevils Press (2013) | |
| Rating: | **** |
| Tags: | Romance |
A serial killer has the city of Seattle gripped in fear. As his bloody total continues to mount, Skye Cree gets dragged into the mix by her longtime friend, homicide detective Harry Drummond. Desperate for leads Harry hopes Skye’s special gift for locating missing children might be the answer. When Skye brings in Josh Ander, together they’ll face the most cunning adversary they have yet to hunt. As weeks turn into months, as the number of victims continues to climb, Josh’s vivid dreams of the crime scenes are the only key to unlocking the mind of a killer. But can Skye and Josh turn the tables fast enough when the unstoppable killer decides to come after them? Especially when the best clue they have is the revelation that—the bones will tell.
Praise for Vickie McKeehan’s Novels
“Strong, distinctive characters. I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book.”
Just Evil
-
Coffee Time Romance and More
-
“Queen of suspense…”
Just Evil
-
Jill D. Hidy
, author
of The Old World Series
-
“…an excellent storyteller…”
Deeper Evil
- Toye Lawson Brown,
author
of When the Music Stops -
“A must read trilogy.”
Ending Evil
-
Rosalie A. Pope,
author
of Puppies For Sale $25.00
-
“A brilliant and rewarding read.”
Promise Cove
-
Bestchicklit.com
-
“For an entertaining adventure and love story,
I highly recommend.”
Hidden Moon Bay
-
Marilyn Holdsworth,
author
of Pegasus
-
“You feel Keegan and Cord’s sorrows, pain, and love…”
Dancing Tides
-
John Chavez
, reader -
also by Vickie McKeehan
The Evil Secrets Trilogy
JUST EVIL - Book One
DEEPER EVIL - Book Two
ENDING EVIL - Book Three
The Pelican Pointe Series
PROMISE COVE
HIDDEN MOON BAY
DANCING TIDES
LIGHTHOUSE REEF
STARLIGHT DUNES
LAST CHANCE HARBOR (Coming)
Skye Cree Novels
THE BONES OF OTHERS
THE BONES WILL TELL
THE BOX OF BONES
Exclusively at Amazon in print and Kindle format
The Bones Will Tell
A Skye Cree Novel
VICKIE McKEEHAN
The Bones Will Tell
A Skye Cree Novel
Copyright © 2013 Vickie McKeehan
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher.
Excerpt from
The Box of Bones
copyright 2013 by Vickie McKeehan. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Published by
ISBN-10: 0615862934
ISBN-13:
978-0615862934
Printed in the USA
Cover design by David C. Cassidy
Used by permission.
Wolf designed by Jess Johnson
Visit the author at:
www.facebook.com/VickieMcKeehan
www.twitter.com/VickieMcKeehan
For Gene, who knows
all
my faults,
but
chooses to love me anyway.
“
If the blue meanies are going to get me they’d
better
get off their asses and do something.”
The Zodiac
The Bones Will Tell
A Skye Cree Novel
VICKIE McKEEHAN
Six months earlier
Seattle, Washington
H
is first taste for killing happened when he was eight. On a visit to his grandparents’ farm, he’d snared a rabbit in a trap he’d built himself. He’d taken out his trusty Swiss Army knife then and there and slit its throat right before he’d skinned it.
But that had been twenty years ago. Since then he’d graduated to bigger and better rabbits. He chuckled at his own joke as he made another pass on foot, past the house where the blonde lived who he’d been spying on for the better part of a week.
He’d already been inside her townhouse. He knew her name was Carrie Bennington and that she lived alone, except for the occasional men she brought home for pleasure and companionship, always on the weekends. He smiled. Carrie didn’t have to worry too much longer about whether she would be alone or not, or how she spent her time, or how dedicated she was at her job as an administrative assistant.
Because the clock ticked and the Grim Reaper waited for Carrie like a long lost friend, or maybe it was a nice friendly
labradoodle. Either way, he’d picked Carrie after she’d caught his eye at the marketplace and he’d followed her home. That had been a week ago last Saturday. He’d waited until that Monday morning after she’d left for work before he’d picked the lock on her sliding glass door and slipped inside. That had been the first time, the neighbors none the wiser. So much for the neighborhood watch program.
Because he was good at climbing, athletic and lean, he didn’t let things like a two-story apartment building dissuade him from getting at his quarry, not if he really wanted to get inside. He’d been a long distance runner in high school and still kept in shape. But even so, he liked to keep it simple. He preferred it when his victims had the good sense to own their own homes. Like Carrie who lived in a stylish two-story townhouse with an undersized courtyard.
He’d spent hours there going through her closets, her dresser drawers, even her refrigerator. He’d used her bathroom. After all, when the urge to take a dump hit a guy, he had to go.
Every day this week he’d spent some time in Carrie’s home. He’d watched. He’d waited. That’s how he knew what time she left for work each morning, what time she unlocked her front door every evening, and where she picked up men during happy hour on Friday and Saturday nights.
He knew she kept a vibrator in her nightstand, the one on the left hand side of the bed. He knew which store she’d purchased her last pair of underwear from.
It excited him that he could come and go as he liked. He touched the ring he carried inside the pocket of his hoodie, the ring he’d taken from her jewelry box, some dime-store trinket he’d known when he took it that she’d never miss. The ring kept him focused, had for a week. Not that he needed incentive or purpose to think of what he wanted to do to Carrie. But the ring was a reminder that he could come and go in her things, get inside the place where she should’ve been the safest whenever
he
needed or wanted.
Standing under the light from a street lamp, he watched as Carrie’s bedroom light went out right on schedule.
Ten-thirty. He shook his head. One thing about Carrie, she was dependable. He walked to the end of the block, sliding into the shadows of the alley behind her co-op. When he reached the six-foot fence, he took the time to stretch on a pair of gloves. He had help vaulting over the barrier by using crates he’d had the forethought to stack along the alleyway beforehand.
In the backyard, he took out his penlight. He went over to the little outdoor shed Carrie used as a greenhouse, found the metal pipe he’d spotted there a week earlier. He hefted the weight onto his shoulder and stepped to the sliding glass door. He didn’t need the tool to break the glass. Only amateurs made too much noise. And he was no novice at B & E or killing. No, he had another use in mind for the heavy rod. From the inside of his pocket, he took out his mask, pulled it down over his head. He pulled out his picklock and went to work on the door he’d already breached once before.
Inside the living room, he scanned the area using the beam of light. Even though he had familiarized himself with the location of the sofa, the coffee table, the bookcase—which wall held the flat-screen television, which side of the room had the fireplace—he still took his time until his eyes adjusted. But knowing the layout made it easier for him to make his way to the staircase in short order. He managed to avoid the steps that creaked along the way up and kept to the path that allowed him the art of surprise.
When he stepped into Carrie Bennington’s bedroom and stood over her sleeping form, he paused long enough to appreciate her golden hair, her soft skin, her long neck. By the time he placed his hand over her mouth it was too late. He thrilled at the terror he saw reflected in her green eyes. Not only that, but it excited him to know his face would be the last one she’d ever see.