Page 16 of Stone Cold Sinner

“So, that’s what the kids call it these days.” Coy snorted.

“I’m sure they were doing more than grieving…” Cut went on.

“Eww. That’s my cue to leave. Did y’all get somethin’ to eat because me and this wagon are out of here,” Devyn warned. “You boys never change.”

Devyn huffed and went on about her way, red wagon in tow. The guys laughed as Devyn’s pace quickened when the latest man of interest rotated with another one of Ransom’s agents and took post outside the main house.

“You be careful with that girl,” Coy warned. “Make sure y’all like each other for the right reasons and not just… making banana bread.”

“Nah. It ain’t like that. Charlotte is a sweet girl. She’s special,” Nash admitted. “It’s like Mama took one look at her and knew… She saw to it that Charlotte and I… made friends. And I’m sure glad she did and that she got to know Mama.”

“This is sounding serious,” Coy said. “I think I’m going to go with Dev.”

The men laughed at the joke and went back to work, tossing the last of the dirt on the barely smoking pile when Coy’s shovel met resistance. He’d hit something hard and dug away the dirt around it.

“What the hell?” Coy said, getting the attention of the other men.

He grabbed the damp handkerchief from around his neck, wiped the sweat and dirt from his face one last time, then bent down and used it to pick up the debris he’d uncovered. The men moved in closer for a better look as Coy pulled a skull from the ashes.

A human skull.

He turned to his family. “We better go take another look at your garden, little brother.”

6

“Looks like Mama isn’t the only one keeping secrets around here,” Coy said, glaring at Nash.

Nash pointed to the ground and began to stammer, “I-I have no idea how that, those… they got there.”

“It’s right behind where you sleep, Nash.” Coy gritted his teeth. “And under your little garden of illegal shit.”

“I swear to you, I have no idea how it… or they… whatever… got here,” Nash defended, wiping sweat from his brow. “I mean, I’ve done some dumb things, but this? And why would I hide it back here, right behind where I sleep? You don’t suppose…”

“Suppose what?” Coy asked.

“Suppose those crazy noises at night in the barn are from… this? Like it’s haunting the barn?”

“Haunting? I agree,” Cut chimed in. “He had nothing to do with this. He isn’t… capable.”

“Thank you, Cut. I think?” Nash scratched his head.

“Those are human and, by the looks of it, fully intact, minus the… well, what we found over there,” Coy shared. “What the hell happened here? And when?”

“Who?” Ransom asked, looking over the gruesome scene.

A complete set of skeletal remains was lying over the freshly turned dirt pieced together. The men stood over what was once a body and studied it as if the answers could be found right there before them.

“How long does it take for a body to decompose fully?” Cut asked.

Coy raised a brow. “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously. Might be a start to a timeline. Figure out who this is and how they got here.”

“And why…” Ransom said under his breath.

“Ten days with proper conditions,” Coy said.

Nash gave him a bewildered look. “Ten days until what?”

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