Disturbing the Dead by Sandra Parshall Read Free Book Online Page B

laughing and barking.
    By the time Tom walked into the house and Darla could close the door against the cold, her stern expression had deteriorated into peevishness. “You’re early,” she said. “Supper won’t be ready for a while and Grady’s not home yet.”
    Her husband, Grady Duncan, was a deputy and had been a friend to Tom’s father. Tom tried to see his nephew at least briefly every day, but he usually came when Grady was around to act as a buffer between him and Darla.
    “I can’t stay for supper, I’m afraid.” Tom wiped his boots thoroughly on the mud rug. God forbid he should leave tracks on Darla’s shining floors.
    Simon grabbed Tom’s hand and wailed, “But you promised!”
    “Yeah, I know.” Tom stooped so they were face to face. “But I have to do something important at work. Hey, don’t you see enough of me? You ought to be sick and tired of me hanging around so much.”
    “No!” Simon locked his arms around Tom’s neck and clung to him. “I wish you and Billy Bob could come live with us.”
    Tom caught Darla’s sour look. Yeah, she’d love that.
    “Listen, champ,” Tom said, gently pushing the boy away, “after I get this problem at work taken care of, you can bring your sled out to my farm and ride the biggest hill on the place. Okay?”
    Simon nodded, but he was trying hard to hang onto his sulk.
    “Billy Bob can stay and visit for a while.” Tom glanced up at Darla. “If that’s okay. I’ll pick him up before you go to bed.”
    “Yeah!” Simon cried. He spun around and hugged Billy Bob. The dog snorted.
    “Sure,” Darla said with a shrug. “He’s no trouble. Let him stay the night.”
    “Naw, he likes to be at home.” The truth was, Tom hated being alone in the farmhouse where he’d grown up. The bulldog he’d inherited from his father brought a little life and noise to the place. “Don’t run him ragged, okay?” he told his nephew. “Now give me another hug before I go.”
    Simon threw himself into Tom’s arms again with the ferocity he gave to every action. His father, Tom’s older brother Chris, had been that way. All out, nothing held back, wringing the last drop of sensation from every experience. Reckless, in Darla’s view. Tom smoothed down Simon’s hair, letting his hand rest for a second on the back of the boy’s head where he could feel the bony bump at the base of the skull.
    As Tom got to his feet, Darla said, “Grady called and told me about y’all finding that Melungeon woman.”
    In her mouth Melungeon sounded like a dirty word. Tom wished to God she’d try harder to hide her prejudice in front of Simon. If she had her way, the boy would never know he had Melungeon blood, but that wasn’t possible in Mason County, so she would raise him to be ashamed of that part of his history.
    “Right. I need to go over the case file tonight.”
    “You know,” Darla said, nodding with satisfaction, “sometimes people really do end up exactly the way they deserve to.”
    He headed for the door without bothering to answer. In addition to being Melungeon, Pauline McClure had no doubt fallen short of Darla’s strict standards of conduct and accountability. Just as Tom had. He could never be around her without feeling the urge to apologize.
    I’m sorry I was driving that night.
    I’m sorry your daughter died.
    I’m sorry I lived.
    Chapter Six

    Tom sped past rolling hills dusted with snow and fields where horses stood hoof-deep in mud. He crossed into a neighboring county to get on the interstate to Northern Virginia.
    In the Explorer’s passenger seat, Brandon was uncharacteristically quiet, drumming his fingers on his knees and staring out the window. Tom used the silence to work out his approach to Mary Lee McClure Scott. Against Tom’s strong objection, the sheriff had revealed every detail of the previous day’s discoveries to the Mason County lawyer who still represented Mary Lee, and the attorney had passed the information to his client.