The Lost Bones by Kendra Elliot

2

Cate’s mind had been a whirlwind ever since she had seen the small mandible, details of the old case flooding her thoughts. She’d gone to work at the bakery, only to have her grandmother, Jane, kick her out after she messed up an order of brownies.

“Your mind is somewhere else. Shoo,” Jane had said, flicking her hands at Cate. “I don’t need you here making more work for me.”

Everyone did what Jane ordered.

Her grandmother had that way about her. A natural manager. She knew how to get shit done and make the workers happy while doing it. She’d been a force on the island for decades.

So Cate had retreated to the bookstore and unpacked new inventory, offering the boxes with crinkly packing paper to Ghost, the bookstore cat. The cat alternated between leaping into boxes and thrashing around as noisily as possible to abruptly going motionless under the brown paper, hiding and waiting for prey—which was Cate’s wiggling hand. She received a few scratches, but Ghost’s enjoyment and the sight of his huge hunter-mode pupils made them worth it.

Cate’s phone rang, and the cat lived up to his name, vanishing like a ghost under a shelf. The name of Cate’s ex-boss, Phillip, appeared on her screen.

Finally.

“Phillip?”

“Good to hear your voice, Cate. I knew you wouldn’t stay away from the FBI for long. I’m starting to think you have something internal that attracts our cases. They can’t resist the pull. And you can’t either.”

“I admit this case has stirred up some old feelings. It was always personal to me,” Cate said.

“That’s what made you a good agent,” Phillip said. “You had the right amount of heart. And this case definitely made a lasting impression on everyone who worked it.”

Images of Jade had been running through Cate’s mind. The three-year-old had wispy pale-red hair and startling blue eyes. Most of the case photos had shown her in perky high pigtails, flashing the widest grin that showed the tiny silver crowns. Cate had wanted more than anything to bring the child home to her mother.

Would Jade’s father have simply let her die?

“What’s the latest activity on her case?” Cate asked.

“There’s been one review since you left,” said Phillip. “During the review, several database searches were updated, looking for any sign of Rich Causey. A half dozen phone calls were made to people involved in the case to see if any new evidence had turned up or if there had been sightings of Rich or Jade Causey. A phone call was also made to Kori Causey, who refused to speak to the agent. There’s a notation here that she was upset that you weren’t the one calling.”

“Did a male agent call her?”

“Yes.”

“Kori doesn’t trust men and especially those in law enforcement. Please make a note that she needs to be contacted by a woman in the future. She was very angry that the county deputies didn’t take her seriously about Jade’s disappearance. And remember how controlling Rich Causey was? Even years after he vanished, she struggled to believe that not all men were like that.”

“I remember now,” said Phillip. “Didn’t he keep Kori from getting a driver’s license?”

“Yes, and wouldn’t let her have anything else in her name. He made her completely reliant on him. At the time, she didn’t understand that it wasn’t right. It took a few months after Jade’s disappearance before it sank in that she could go anywhere and do what she wanted.”

“I remember being stunned that it was that bad,” said Phillip. “I didn’t understand how someone could be so out of touch with how the world works. TV and the internet bring the world into the home—most people have that window, but I guess Rich controlled those too. He essentially kept Kori and Jade in a bubble.”

“Exactly.”

Phillip paused for a long moment. “I had an agent contact Kori an hour ago, and she told him she’d only speak to you. I don’t think it mattered who called this time. She’s stubbornly set on only talking to you.”

Cate didn’t know what to say.

“I personally called her parents after that, and her mother also insisted that Kori and the two of them would only talk to you.”

“I can try to convince them otherwise,” Cate told him. “I had a good rapport with her parents, even though I only met them in person once. I assume you didn’t tell them specifically about the mandible?”

“No. Only that we might have a new lead. Neither Kori or her parents expressed optimism.”

“They’ve had too many calls over the years about possible leads and sightings that went nowhere. They know not to get excited until something pans out.”

“I learned one odd thing on the call with her mother,” said Phillip.

Cate struggled to picture Kori’s parents. Ellen and George Aston. They had been a reclusive older couple, but she remembered the mother’s lovely smile and that the father had deep sad eyes. “What’s that?”

“They moved to Widow’s Island about a year ago.”

Cate sat up straight. “How come I didn’t know that? I was still with the bureau and would have updated Jade’s file.” She thought hard. “I haven’t come across them since I’ve been here . . . I would have recognized their names.” Or at the very least heard Jane’s opinion. Her grandmother met everyone new on the island.

“Dunno,” said Phillip. “They don’t strike me as social people, but Ellen knew that you owned the bakery. She told me she’s seen you there.”

“She hasn’t said a word to me.” Cate focused, trying to picture the couple in her store. “Phillip . . . I hate to use the word ‘coincidence’—”

“But Kori’s parents living on Widow’s and someone hand delivering possible evidence from their granddaughter’s kidnapping to you is too big to ignore.”

“Exactly.” Cate’s brain shot into overdrive, weighing possibilities of how Ellen and George Aston could be involved in this new lead on Jade’s disappearance.

Have they always known what happened to Jade?

Or do they have absolutely nothing to do with that bone?

“I don’t like it,” Cate told him. “I know they used to live on Orcas Island. Did they say why they moved?”

“I didn’t ask. But Kori still lives on the mainland. Just outside of Bellingham. I’ll send an agent—a female—to talk to her in person, but I’d like you to meet and talk to the Astons. I can’t get anyone to your island for a day or two, and even then, there’s no guarantee they’d talk with someone they don’t know. Ellen Aston was very adamant about dealing with you, even though I told her you’d left the FBI. I talked to the county sheriff, who offered to have a deputy accompany you, and I’ve arranged for you to be classified as a consultant—”

“Phillip! I can’t do this.” Cate squeezed her eyes shut and pressed a palm against her forehead. “I don’t work for the FBI anymore.” She was torn. The case was deeply personal to her. Kori Causey had been a naive woman who’d needed Cate’s protection and guidance seven years ago. The sweet young mom and her missing daughter had wiggled into a little place in Cate’s heart. Cate had searched for Jade as if she were her own daughter.

I want to help.

But I’m done with that life.

Cutting ties with her job at the FBI had been hard. A painful breakup. And now the ex was knocking on her door, asking for help. Again.

“I know how you feel,” Phillip told her. “I didn’t want to ask you, but I don’t see any other way, and I’m sure it will just be for a day or two. All I need is for you to interview the Astons. It’ll take a couple hours of your time.”

It’s never that easy.

“I’ll do it.”

Did I just say that?

Her mouth hadn’t listened to her brain.

“Great! I appreciate it. I’m texting you their phone number and address now.” He spoke quickly, as if he expected Cate to change her mind.

A ping sounded in her ear, and she looked at his text. She was familiar with the name of the Astons’ street, which would take her to a small cluster of little old houses outside Bishopton.

“Do you want a county officer to go along?” he asked.

Cate thought about it. She could have Tessa request the assignment, but she had a strong feeling Ellen and George would open up more if only Cate was present.

“No. I’ll be fine.”

Ice touched her spine as the words hung in the air, and she remembered knocking on a door in the past. She hadn’t been fine after that; she still wasn’t. Cate shoved the violent memory away.

I know these people. I have nothing to fear.

She ended the call with Phillip and dialed the Astons’ phone number before she could think about it.

Kori’s father answered and didn’t sound surprised when Cate identified herself.

Phillip told the Astons they’d hear from me before he even asked me.

Her ex-boss knew her too well.

George Aston was quite gruff but told Cate she could come tomorrow morning at ten. Cate agreed, and he said goodbye.

Not one for small talk.

She remembered Ellen as being the talker of the two and then wondered if her grandmother had met Ellen.

Of course she has.

She glanced at the time, and her stomach growled. She and Henry had plans in ten minutes for dinner on the Harbor View Inn’s deck.

She rattled the paper one last time for Ghost, enjoying the sight of the black cat’s happy thrashing, and then left, ready to tell Henry of the latest development.

This case will haunt me until I find out what happened to Jade.