Read Bone Orchard for Free Online Page B

somewhere in between. The darkness and the light pulled at him like a wishbone. He was the buoy again, hostage to the chaotic pitch of the surf.
    The laughing…
    It filled his ears, layer upon layer of it. It ricocheted in his head like bullets in a box.
    A tingle of nerves quivered through the muscles of his back and exploded into shockwaves of excruciating spasm. It ripped him from his death-sleep and hurled him headfirst into the light. By the time it finally passed, Lazarus was lucid enough to take stock of his condition.
    Constricted breathing. Paresthesia. Uncontrollable convulsions. Blurred vision. Fingers clenched like talons.
    Great, nothing to worry about.
    He squinted. He could make out the vague shape and features of her face. What he saw bore less resemblance to the girl than it did the skull on her duffel.
    Kitty found it all quite hysterical. Watching him claw his way back to consciousness had quickly become her favorite pastime. The laughing ceased.
    “Really?”
    It was basted with a nice, thick shellac of sarcasm.
    Lazarus forced his hands to unclench. They throbbed with an arthritic ache. Not surprisingly, the ropes were back.
    Kitty assumed a “little girl” voice. “Oops, sorry. I’ll just go.”
    Her face tightened to a sneer. “Please. Your day of atonement is at hand.”
    His vision cleared, and Lazarus fixed his glare on her stonily.
    “What did I do, Kitty? Enlighten me.”
    “The last time my sister went to a Black Ryder concert, she never came home.”
    Opening the binder, she showed him the last picture. The surly girl.
    “The cops said she ran away.”
    She pulled the stun gun back out and wagged it in his face. A single blue spark arced between the electrodes and Lazarus jerked backward reflexively.
    Kitty smiled. “I think she’s dead.” She leaned close to Lazarus, their lips almost touching.
    “And you think I had something to do with it?” he asked.
    “I think you had everything to do with it.”
    Lazarus shook his head.
    “I don’t remember your sister. I’m sorry.”
    “Her name was Lacey Van Winkle.”
    “There were loads of girls in loads of cities. You can’t expect me to remember them all.”
    Kitty grabbed him by the hair and twisted hard. Lazarus cried out in pain.
    “No,” she said. “Not yet.” She released her grip. “I think I need something else to jog your memory.”
    She slunk around the chair, fingernails raking along his shoulders and leaving long scratches on his skin. Her face suddenly lit up.
    “Oh! I almost forgot!”
    She practically skipped over to the table.
    “I found some things to play with in the kitchen.”
    Lazarus felt his stomach churn as he watched her unroll the bundle of cutlery.
    “They’ll catch you.”
    “Who?”
    “The police. You must have left a trail.”
    Kitty held up the lamb splitter. Lazarus looked away.
    “Oh, I’m not that stupid. I’ve been planning this for years.”
    She considered the cleaver, then Lazarus. “No, not quite right.”
    Lazarus exhaled as she set it aside. He hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath.
    “See, my parents were total shits. Drunk assholes that only cared about themselves.”
    She picked up a long, slender metal skewer. Its tip was the fine, sharp point of a dart.
    “This might work.”
    The skewer whipped through the air as she turned and brandished it, as if it were nothing but a child’s toy and she had no intention of inserting it into his body.
    “My sister took care of me. When my parents went on really bad benders, we’d lock ourselves in our room and listen to your CDs over and over.” Kitty’s demeanor turned wistful. “She was the best sister ever.”
    Lazarus felt along the underside of the chair arm with his fingers and discovered the point of a short nail sticking up.
    “You’ll get caught,” he said. “Someone will have seen you.”
    Kitty snapped out of her reverie. “No, they saw Kathleen, a sweet, pretty, preppy girl.”
    Lazarus began to