Bone Secrets 03 - Buried

steps, wrapped an arm around the boy’s ribcage, and lifted him up. The boy screamed and kicked as they moved away from the house.
    “We’re the police, kid. We’re here to help, and I can’t let you back in where there’re gunshots.” Over the alarm, Ray spoke calmly in the boy’s ear and carried him back to the vehicle. The kid ignored him and proceeded to pound away. On one hand, Mason admired the kid’s smarts for fighting back against strangers; on the other hand, he wanted the kid to shut up and hold still.
    “Look in the car,” Ray said to the boy as they neared the car door. “You see all that equipment? We’re police.”
    The kid stilled. Ray set him on his feet but kept a firm grip on him.
    “That’s better,” Mason said. He squatted down to get on eye level with the boy. Near the car, the alarm sounds were a bit more bearable. “Now, where are the people in the house?”
    Dark brown eyes studied Mason. The child was way too serious. “They’re in a dining room. Uncle Michael got shot. He’sbleeding. And my dad was fighting with the ghost. The ghost pushed his gun in my neck.” The boy touched his neck, and Mason saw the red circle. Anger burned in his gut.
    “You’re Brian Jacobs,” Mason stated.
Ghost? The albino guy? Mr. Tattoo is here?
    The boy’s eyes widened, and he nodded. New sirens sounded in the distance. The cavalry was coming. “I want you to stay outside with the other police officers. Ray and I are gonna go get your dad.”
    “And Aunt Jamie is hurt. She’s bleeding, too.”
    Mason felt a wave of relief that the woman was still alive. But what hell were he and Ray about to walk into?
    Two local police units pulled in, lights flashing, sirens adding to the din. Mason took Brian’s hand and led him to the officer stepping out of the car.
    “I want two of you with me and—”
    “Someone’s coming out!” an officer at the second car yelled.
    All the men turned to the house, weapons ready, eyes sharp. Mason pushed Brian behind him and squinted at the figure at the door. It was female.
    “We need an ambulance!” Jamie shouted. “At least three!”

Two Months Later.
    Jamie followed the two men single file through the woods. The air was warm, but she could smell fall creeping into the air. A few more weeks and a definite chill would permeate the forest. She concentrated on placing her feet as she walked. If this was a trail, it didn’t get much use. Chris had been the only one to track it a few times. Maybe some deer.
    Chris and Michael moved silently ahead of her, glancing back occasionally to see if she was keeping up. Or to make certain she didn’t vanish. The three of them had a hard time being out of each other’s sight for very long. There were daily phone calls ortexts, simple check-ins for no reason, other than the mental well-being that their loved ones were still safe.
    The Ghostman was dead.
    The police had linked several cold cases to Gary Hinkes, aka Gerald Prentice, with the governor’s help. The crimes ranged from murder to rape. Katy Darby and the others in the pit from the forest had been just a few of the bodies he’d left in his invisible wake. The local and national media had gone on about the Ghostman for weeks, hounding Chris and Jamie. They’d refused all comments and tried to live normal lives. Michael and the senator had made statements to the media requesting privacy for a family who’d been to hell and back.
    The governor sat in the county jail. He’d confessed to the death of the woman in his office twenty years before, and his lawyers were arguing over what to do next. His confession had solved a cold case involving a woman’s body who’d been dumped near the capitol building. The senator had spent a week in the hospital after surgery to repair his femoral artery. Luckily, the artery was only nicked, and the governor’s fast action with his belt as a tourniquet on his brother’s thigh had probably saved his life.
    Michael’s family struggled to comprehend that a beloved relative had their son murdered and then had callously let them wallow in depression and grief for two decades. Helping to save his brother hadn’t redeemed Phillip in his family’s eyes, especially since he’d nearly killed him first. Armchair psychiatrists claimed Phillip suffered from a God complex, believing he was privileged and his actions unquestionably correct. His family abandoned all contact with the governor.
    Jamie glanced ahead at her