As he turned off the faucet and wiped his wet hands on his jeans, he gazed out the back window again.
Ellis Harper hadnt let anyone near the house in years. That meant no one else would have had a chance to dig up the body and hide it, right? Hed come as soon as hed learned of Harpers death. But had he come too late?
Bare-chested, he went back out and began to dig again in a different spot, the heat growing more intense. He dug down deep enough, turning over a final shovelful of dirt, and looked down into the hole seeing nothing but more earth.
This was the area where hed thought theyd buried the body. Hed stake his life on it. Hell, he was staking his life on it.
There was just one problem.
The body was gone. If it had ever been here.
CRICKETS CHIRPED IN the tall grass as McKenna dismounted, loosely tied her horse and slipped between the logs of the jack fence.
The grass brushed her jeans, making a swishing sound as she moved through it toward the house. She listened for the sound of a rattlesnake, telling herself not only was she trespassing but her father could have been right about the dangersincluding snakes.
A stiff breeze at the edge of the house banged a loose shutter and whipped her hair into her face. She stopped to look around for a moment, feeling
a résumé for when youre released.
The imbecile. She wasnt going to need a job when she got out. That is so kind of you, she said. How can I ever thank you? She could think of several ways shed like to thank him, all of them involving his pain.
You being well and getting on with your life will be thanks enough, he said as he removed his hand from hers and rose to leave. I want you to be a survivor, Violet.
She nodded and smiled. I intend to be. She couldnt say the same for her mother and the others who had made her life a living hell.
She tried not to shudder at the thought of the mediocre life she would have on the outside if it was up to these doctors. Some dismal job, a cramped apartment, several cats and nothing to look forward to at night but television and a frozen cheesecake.
A woman as smart as she was? Not a chance. Shed been foolish in the past. Shed let them catch her. She wouldnt make that mistake again..
She thought about her mothers face when she saw her oldest daughter again. Payback was a bitch, she thought with a secret smile as she looked out the window.
Thirty days. And counting.
Chapter Four
As McKenna mounted the steps to the open front door, she saw that the footprints shed seen yesterday evening in the thick layer of dust had been trampled by the half dozen people whod traipsed through the house this morning.
April had been right. The house needed work. But that wasnt what surprised McKenna. Shed always been enthralled by the house. Shed just assumed she would feel the same once inside. The interior had a dark, cold feel even with the warm sun shining through the dirty windows, and she found herself shivering as she walked through the rooms.
She noticed the shovel and shirt shed seen by the back door yesterday were gone. On the third floor, when she looked out a small back window, she couldnt see the places where the man had dug. Theyd apparently been covered with cut weeds. Had she not caught the man in the act yesterday, she would never have guessed anyone had been digging on the hillside.
It still made her wonder what he might have been looking for, but she turned her attention to the house as she wandered from room to room, trying to imagine herself living here. It was hard given the condition of the house. It would take days just to clean, let alone paint. She knew exactly what her sister Eve would say.
Raze the house and start over.
McKenna had heard several such comments from the other people who had gathered for the auction.
Theres a nice building spot upon the hill once the house is gone, shed heard one man say.
But the rooms were spacious, and she told herself once the house was cleaned up, painted and furnished she could be happy here. Anyway, the house was the reason shed always wanted the place, wasnt it?
At one fifty-five she gathered with the others in the front yard as the auctioneer climbed the porch steps and cleared his throat to quiet the small crowd.
McKenna glanced at the group around her, surprised that some of the people whod toured the house earlier had left. Just curiosity seekers. She recognized only one elderly man and his wife, Edgar and Ethel Winthrop. The couple lived about two miles to the north. McKenna was surprised theyd stayed, since she doubted they would be bidding on the place.
She didnt recognize any of the others waiting. Three of the men appeared to be in their early thirties; the fourth man, in his forties, was on a cell phone. She figured he was here bidding for an investor and turned her attention to the other three men.
One, clearly a local rancher, wore a Mint Bar cap, a worn canvas coat and work boots and had a toothpick sticking out the side of his mouth. The second was dressed in a dinosaur T-shirt, jeans and athletic shoes. The third man wore jeans, cowboy boots, a Western shirt and a gray Stetson.