Page 6 of Bone Echo

The comprehension came from deep in the past. A place where he’d seen murders far more grotesque than this on a daily basis.

The killer had known exactly where to sink the knife’s blade.

He glanced around the room. Where the hell was the knife?

Dragging his attention from the bodies he painstakingly scanned the rest of the room. Neat. No signs of a struggle or a search for cash or jewelry. He got down on his hands and knees and looked under the bed and then under the rest of thefurniture in the room. No murder weapon. Nothing at all to indicate anything untoward had taken place except two victims who had expired on the bed.

Kurt pushed to his feet and backed toward the door. He took in the gruesome scene once more. Who the hell would have done something like this? And where was the boy?

The idea that the kid could be lying out there in the woods somewhere, mutilated and dying or dead himself sent a fresh storm of adrenaline surging through his veins.

He reached into his hip pocket for his cell phone. He entered the number for the office, waited impatiently as Doreen went through her spiel then launched into his instructions, not giving her time to ask questions. “Have Peterson round up the medical examiner and meet me over here at the Satterfield place. Put in a call to the state police and tell them we need an investigator and an evidence tech, ASAP. And send McKendrick and Dawson over to the high school to pick up Brian Satterfield if he’s there. If he’s not, have them talk to his friends to see if anyone’s heard from him this morning. Call in anybody else you can reach and have them head this way. I’ll need to start a search party if they don’t find the boy at school.”

“What in God’s name happened over there, chief?”

Kurt exhaled a heavy breath of resignation. Dammit he did not want to say this out loud, but what choice did he have? He didn’t bother with the ten-code. “We’ve got a double homicide. Kathleen and Lloyd Satterfield are dead. Brian’s not in the house.” He tried to think what else he needed. “And get someone from child services involved. Brian will need a rep.”

If Brian Satterfield was found alive he needed to be questioned. Since he was a minor, child protective services needed to be involved.

“I’m putting through the call to the state police now, chief.”

“Keep me posted on the ETA.” He ended the call before she could let loose with the other questions he was certain she was dying to ask.

Now this...this was an emergency and right now he’d give just about anything to have that fifth of Jack from his barn. But that would have to wait.

Despite having moved all the way across the country to the middle of nowhere, he had himself a murder case to investigate. Not one, but two homicides.

How the hell could this have happened?

CHAPTER FOUR

9:45 a.m.

Kurt scrubbed a hand over his face as he surveyed the crime scene tape now lining the perimeter of the Satterfield’s front yard. He stood at the big window in the living room and couldn’t help but shake his head. The idea that he had two homicide victims still rattled him. Particularly folks like the Satterfields who weren’t rich by any means and weren’t involved in any sort of illegal activities. What the hell was the motivation for the crime? Nothing in the house appeared to have been disturbed. Both victims had cash in their wallets. Not one damn thing had been taken or disturbed as far as Kurt could see.

He wished like hell he’d tucked that pack of cigarettes into his pocket. He could use one about now. He shook off the idea and mentally reviewed the steps so far. Dr. Chad Holden, the medical examiner, was inside now. He’d estimated time of death between one and three this morning. Cause and manner of death were obvious. Detective Brad Tinsley and an evidence tech from the state police were on the way. Peterson was currently walking the property around the house and barn in search of tracks in thesnow that didn’t belong to Oglesby and any other evidence that might be related to what had happened inside.

Like most folks who lived in the area year round, the Satterfields kept their front walk and driveway cleared of snow and ice. This morning’s dusting had left a fresh layer of the white stuff that was now marred with official vehicle and foot traffic. Nothing suspicious in Satterfield’s work truck or the wife’s SUV. The boy’s vehicle was at the school awaiting pick up by an evidence tech. McKendrick and Dawson had taken Brian Satterfield to the station. A case worker from Child Protective Services would be arriving soon. Pat Oglesby’s brother had collected him and taken him to the station to make a formal statement.

As soon as Peterson completed his walk around, Kurt would head to the station as well. He needed to talk to Brian, the sooner the better. This situation was pointing in just one direction and he hoped like hell he was wrong about that. Brian was a friend of Ella’s. Kurt knew him. Knew this family. He would have sworn nothing like this was possible—except he’d seen far more shocking actions committed by seemingly normal family members before.

In his former life.

Peterson opened the front door, stamped his boots on the porch and set his gaze on Kurt’s. “Didn’t see one thing unexpected, chief. No tracks other than Oglesby’s going from the house to the barn and back and then around the house. No blood. Nothing.”

Kurt exiled the bad memories from his past and forced his head back into the here and now. “Keep the perimeter secure. I’m heading to the station to talk to Brian.”

“Will do.”

Kurt stepped out onto the porch, filled his lungs with cold, fresh air. The stench of death had seeped into his clothes as wellas his lungs…his skin. It would take days, maybe weeks to rid his senses of the memory. He climbed into his Jeep and headed for the station. The icy steering wheel reminded him that he’d forgotten his gloves.

No time to worry about that detail.

Brian wasn’t Kathleen and Lloyd’s son. His parents, Lloyd’s younger brother and his wife, had been killed in a boating accident years ago. When the boy was five or six, if Kurt remembered correctly. Lloyd and Kathleen had been happy to raise Brian. They’d had no children of their own and they’d already been a big part of his life. It was the natural decision. Brian was a good kid or seemed to be from what Kurt knew.

As soon as he had interviewed Brian, he would talk to Audra. As the school principal for the past seven years, she would surely know if there were any problems in the family. They had talked about Ella last night. He’d had dinner with Audra at her place. The memory of those frantic minutes in her kitchen—before dinner was served—teased him now. The shift in their relationship was unexpected for sure. After he lost his wife—as well as his mind—he’d sworn he would never feel anything like that again.

The fact that a broken relationship would be just another prompt to visit the barn and that hidden bottle of Jack had kept him avoiding relationships entirely. Until Audra. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. If he’d been half the husband and father he should have been, he might not feel so guilty. But he hadn’t been. He’d been a workaholic and possibly an alcoholic. When he hadn’t been deep in a homicide investigation, he’d been drinking away the nightmares. He hadn’t been there for Liz or for Ella the way he should have.

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