Read Disturbing the Dead for Free Online

she did, and added, “People don’t want to upset you because they like you so much. And in a small community like Mason County, everybody’s going to know…”
    “My history,” she finished. The part that’s on the record. About the rest, you have no idea. “It’s very considerate, but I hate the feeling that everybody’s watching their words around me.”
    Tom nodded. “I can understand that. I’ve got the same problem when it comes to certain subjects.”
    His family. Of course he understood. “It keeps people at a distance, doesn’t it,” she said, “when they’re afraid to talk freely around you.”
    He smiled and said, “The last thing I want to do is keep you at a distance.”
    Rachel was groping for a response when Tom pulled a handkerchief from his pants pocket and wiped her cheek with it. “I apologize for my dog’s bad manners,” he said.
    The intimacy of his action startled her. Every time she was with him—and she seemed to encounter him a lot these days—Tom trespassed on her personal space in some small but crucial way that left her off-balance.
    While he stuffed his handkerchief back in his pocket, he kept his gaze on her. “You have beautiful eyes, Rachel.”
    Oh, don’t do this. She said as lightly as she could, “I’m covered in cat fur and dog drool, but I have beautiful eyes. I’ll hang on to that. By the way, Billy Bob’s just had a meal, so don’t let him tell you different. And he might seem tired tonight from the anesthetic.”
    “I’m going to leave him with my nephew for the next few hours. I have to get back to headquarters and go over the case file. I’ve already given Pauline’s mother the news.”
    “That couldn’t have been easy.” Rachel didn’t know how anyone could bear a job that required him to go out in a snowstorm and tell a mother that her daughter’s bones had been found.
    “Tomorrow morning I have to go see her daughter. She lives in McLean. That’s where you’re from, right? Maybe you know her. Mary Lee Scott.”
    “Oh, my gosh. No, I don’t know her, but I know who she is.” A vague memory came to mind of a woman in a newspaper photo—young, beautiful, arriving at a White House dinner with her much older husband. “She’s married to one of the major developers in the Washington area. Small world, huh?”
    “Yeah. I went to elementary school with her,” Tom said. His mild tone didn’t match the haunted look that settled into his eyes.
    “So you know the family?” Wait a minute. The dead woman had been Melungeon. That was part of the story the locals told about her. “Are you related?”
    He shook his head. “No, nothing like that.” He paused and stared into space, his gaze unfocused. “It was my dad’s case. His biggest regret was that he never found out what happened to her.”
    Rachel saw the shadow pass over Tom’s face when he mentioned his father, sensed the sadness his memories brought, and she had to snap up a barrier to keep it from invading her. Tom’s arm brushed hers. She took a step back to put some distance between them.
    “You can give them closure, at least.” What a dumb thing to say. She sounded like some shallow idiot spouting feel-good psychobabble.
    “I’m not so sure about that,” Tom said. “We have to reopen the case. Stir up a lot of bad feeling. To tell you the truth, I…”
    The uncompleted thought hung between them, and he seemed to wait for her to prompt him. Maybe he needed somebody to talk to, outside the official circle at work. But she had enough worries without taking on his. “I don’t envy you your job,” she said.
    Billy Bob gave a deep-throated bark and tugged on the leash in her hand. “He needs to use the facilities, then he’ll be ready to go.”
    Pushing open the door to a dog run, she let the bulldog out. He halted abruptly when he discovered snow on the ground and more falling, but after a loud snort he sallied forth with a rolling gait. Rachel and Tom stayed inside and