The Summer Bones Read Free Page A

father-in-law, John, who was a partner in the firm.
    â€œI’d like to take a leave of absence.” Victoria Paulsen made the announcement quietly, crossing one slim leg carefully over the other and unobtrusively tugging at her short navy skirt. “Mrs. Byrnes is my supervisor. She said I had to clear it through you or one of the other partners.”
    Mitchell did admire the way Mrs. Byrnes did her job. The Paulsen girl was a part-time secretary, but Byrnes made no exception to the rules, not even for a student who barely worked fifteen hours a week. Not even for someone who might someday be married to the son of a partner. Good for her. Byrnes was quite a stickler.
    Again, the question, why not go to Michael or John?
    Mitchell nodded, narrowing his eyes against the smoke. “That’s our policy, certainly. Is there some sort of problem?”
    â€œFamily problem.”
    Her eyes, an unusual shade somewhere between blue and green, gazed past him toward the window.
Lovely eyes
, Mitchell thought absently, drawing smoke into his lungs with an almost sexual enjoyment,
and the rest of her not bad either. Not bad at all. Michael is a bright young man.
    â€œI see. How many hours a week do you work?”
    â€œFifteen—sometimes only ten. I go to Northwestern. Journalism.”
    â€œHmmm. I’m sure we can work something out. When will you be back?”
    The beautiful eyes swiveled back toward his face, then her gaze dropped. “I don’t know. I can’t actually say how long I’ll need.” A small swallow twitched the muscles of her throat. “I was hoping to leave immediately.”
    Thirty-plus years of practicing law gave Mitchell Williams the ability to recognize true distress, to sort it from the playacting and the hype. “Does this have anything to do with Michael?” he asked bluntly, not wanting to mince words. Lord, that was all they needed, some sort of argument between a part-time secretary and one of their top lawyers. A sexual harassment suit would be a financial nightmare for the firm. The cigarette made an automatic arc to his mouth.
    Surprise made her face blank for the split second before she grasped his inference. “No, sir.” Color began a slow climb upward from her neck, staining her cheekbones with reddish blotches. “This has nothing to do with Michael. In fact, I came to you in order to keep him and his father out of this. I’d like to think that no one here could say I was shown any specific preference.”
    That was a distinct relief, but he didn’t show it. “I’m sure,” he said, his smile condescending, “that no one thinks you get special treatment. I hope nothing is seriously wrong?”
    There was a palpable hesitation before she answered. “My sister has disappeared.”
    â€œReally?”
    She gave another self-conscious tug on her skirt. “Her husband called me three days ago. At first we thought maybe she’d left him, but it’s been nearly a week now and no word. My family is beginning to get frantic.”
    â€œI imagine.”
    A brief smile, one that seemed tinged liberally with irony, touched her mouth. “I have no idea why they think I need to be there, but they have asked me to come home.”
    Mitchell’s chair creaked. “Never underestimate the value of moral support, Miss Paulsen.”
    â€œNo, sir.”
    His cigarette was finished, the stump going to its death in the ashtray on the desk. Regretfully, he exhaled the last of the smoke.
    â€œTake the time you need,” he offered.

Chapter 2
    The road brought back feelings of almost painful nostalgia.
    It was narrow, rutted after a rough winter of drifts and destructive ice, hedged by serious growths of tumbled camphorweed, panicled asters, and dry waving stands of wild grasses. Shimmering in the sultry heat, it wound through the spreading fields in sinewy journey, finding a way between rows of rustling