Bones of the Lost

daughter, conceived when he was just sixteen. And I’d learned that I had a grandniece. Father and daughter now lived together in Charleston, South Carolina. Harry hadn’t taken the news of grand-parenthood well.
    “Harry?”
    “Remember what an assclown Kit was in high school? How the hell’s he going to parent a fourteen-year-old girl?”
    “I’m sure he’s matured. And Tory’s a bright kid.”
    “You’ve said that.”
    “You’re her grandmother.”
    “You’ve said that, too.”

    At the MCME, my phone was flashing like a strobe on speed.
    I punched the code for my mailbox, thinking Slidell.
    I got Capote.
    Dr. Brennan. Could we please speak at your earliest convenience?
    I’d felt upbeat following my conversation with Harry. Calm.
    That tranquillity popped like a bubble in sunlight.
    Why this negative reaction to Dew? Federal agents are renowned for their disdain of local law enforcement. But he’d exhibited no condescension toward me.
    Yes, Dew had withheld information. Yes, he’d refused to help with my Jane Doe. But I believed he truly felt he was doing his job.
    So why did I distrust the guy?
    Did I suspect he was playing me?
    Because I’d tried to play him?
    I dialed the ICE office, asked for Dew, was placed on hold by a weary-sounding receptionist.
    A full minute later, Dew answered.
    “I’m very sorry to keep you waiting, Doctor Brennan.”
    “No problem. What’s up?”
    “S&S Enterprises.”
    “The privately held company.”
    “I hate a closed door.”
    “Don’t we all.”
    “This one wasn’t locked as tightly as the partners might have wished.”
    I waited.
    “The entity is a holding company for a number of properties and other holding companies. Fast-food restaurants. Convenience stores. A bar called John-Henry’s Tavern.”
    I heard paper rustle, then Dew continued in his prissy, high voice.
    “S&S is owned in large part by John-Henry Story and his younger brother, Archer Story. Lesser partners include Harold Millkin, Grover Pharr, and Dominick Rockett.”
    “So Rockett was one of a handful of players holding pretty big cards.”
    “Apparently. Whether he bought or earned his way into the partnership remains unclear. What is clear is that, at the time of his death, John-Henry Story was suffering some serious financial reversals.”
    Wasn’t everyone these days? I thought. “Was S&S in trouble?” I asked.
    “No. But Story wanted to infuse more capital for expansion, and he himself had no available cash. In addition to S&S, Story owned a pizza chain and four auto dealerships which were costing him a lot of money.”
    “In the Carolinas?”
    “The pizza parlors are here. The dealerships were located in Texas and Arizona.”
    “Were?”
    “Are you familiar with Saturn?”
    “A different kind of car.” I still remembered the early ads.
    “Pontiac launched the brand in the mid-eighties in response to the success of Japanese imports in the U.S. At first, sales were good.”
    “As I understand it, Saturn never really kept up with R and D.”
    “So I’ve read. In any event, sales declined. In 2010, General Motors discontinued the brand. Many dealers suffered significant financial losses.”
    “John-Henry Story was one of them.”
    “Yes. And the pizza franchise is bleeding money.”
    I leaned back in my chair and considered Dew’s update.
    “Which way do you think it went? Story knew Rockett had money, so he brought him in to shore up the S&S capital reserves? Or Rockett got word S&S wanted cash and seized the opportunity to buy in cheap?”
    “With either scenario, the question remains the source of Mr. Rockett’s cash.”
    “Maybe Rockett worked for Story or for one of the other partners and was paid with a piece of the action.”
    “Maybe.”
    “Does Rockett admit to knowing Story?”
    “I’ve yet to pursue that line of questioning.” Starchy stiff.
    “Have you asked him about his interest in S&S?”
    “I wish to avoid goading Mr. Rockett into seeking legal counsel. At present he thinks his only issue will be a fine for failure to report proper value and provenience of an import entering the country.”
    “Smart. Don’t hit him until you have all the facts.”
    I heard a hitch in Dew’s breathing. “Here’s an interesting fact. The further I delve into the Rockett investigation, the more your name comes up.”
    “My involvement with Rockett’s mummified dogs, with John-Henry Story’s remains, and with the hit-and-run vic who had Story’s