Boneyard Read Free

to take vacation time?”
    Kelly nodded. “Yes, I’m all set to leave tomorrow.”
    His gaze dropped to the floor, and a pit formed in Kelly’s stomach. “What’s going on, Gerry?” she asked, already dreading the answer.
    “We might need you. Just for a few weeks…” he continued hurriedly when he caught the expression on her face. “Thing is, I’d send Manolo, but he and Jennifer are stuck doing the antiterrorism-training thing, and everyone else is on active assignment. You’re the only one in the unit that’s qualified and free right now.”
    Kelly bit her lower lip. She should have known. The first vacation she’d planned in five years and work got in the way once again. Her longest break since joining the FBI had been the week she took off to settle her mother’s affairs after her death. How typical that a case would come along just as she was getting ready to board a plane. For a moment she questioned again her decision to remain at the Bureau. Instead of transferring, maybe she should have left altogether.
    Gerry caught the look in her eyes and shook his head. “Jones, I feel terrible about this. How about I tack on a few extra vacation days when you get back? After all your hard work, you deserve it.”
    Kelly wanted to point out that she already had months’ worth of vacation time accrued, but asked instead, “What’s the case?”
    “Ever been to the Berkshires?” When she shook her head, he continued, “On the bright side it’ll be kind of a mini-vacation for you anyway, it’s gorgeous there this time of year. Lot of New Yorkers keep a second home there. In the summers they’ve got the Boston Symphony, theater, you name it. The wife even dragged me to a dance festival there once, didn’t take to the people rolling around in tights but the spot was pretty…” His voice trailed off at her raised eyebrows. “Anyway, they’ve found a boneyard there.”
    “What, like the ones Bundy left?” Kelly asked. Any agent who’d dealt with serial crime knew the stories of how Bundy had used a few different dump sites in Washington State for his victims, places he came back to time and again with fresh bodies.
    McLarty shrugged. “Maybe. It’s not clear yet, all they’ve found is skeletal remains. Five bodies confirmed so far, possibly six, and they’re still looking.”
    Inwardly Kelly groaned. “Skeletal? How old are they?”
    McLarty shook his head. “Don’t know that yet either, but I’m sending along a forensic anthropologist, he should be able to help. You’ll be leading a task force of officers from Massachusetts and Vermont. And Jones, tread carefully. Unless you can find any evidence of a federal statute being broken, you’re there in a strictly advisory capacity.”
    “So the bodies are spread across two states? Sounds like a jurisdictional nightmare,” Kelly said, not even bothering to keep the despondency from her voice. For this she had to miss her vacation.
    “I know,” McLarty answered sympathetically. “So far the search area spans a couple of miles on either side of the state line, which is why we’re being called in. Apparently animal trails might open it up even further.”
    “Five bodies is a lot to stumble across all at once,” Kelly noted. “Were they buried?”
    McLarty shook his head. “Apparently not.”
    “Strange that no one smelled them decomposing,” Kelly said, intrigued in spite of herself.
    “See? It could prove interesting.” McLarty settled onto the edge of the desk, facing her. “And honestly, Jones, you get in there and nothing seems to be happening, after a few weeks with no leads I’ll pull you in. We’ll tell them you’ll go back if new evidence materializes. I just need you to run interference until then.” He hesitated briefly before continuing. “From what I understand, so far the task force members haven’t exactly been getting along.”
    “Fantastic,” Kelly muttered. “When do I leave?”
    “Tomorrow morning. As a