Page 40 of Cold Case Murder Mystery

“Yeah. Do you want Bent County looking into it?” Zeke asked somewhat pointedly. Like Royal might have a reason to hide. And he might. He probably did. He...

Royal looked over at her. “Did you tell him?”

“Tell me what?” Zeke demanded, his eyebrows drawing together.

But Brooke ignored Zeke. She had to, or she might just... fall apart. And there was too much at stake. She had to get to work on this skull. She had to date it. She had... things to do that weren’tthis.

First, Royal needed to know. “Dad is still in jail,” she said to Royal and only to Royal. “Whatever you think he’s cooked up isn’t true. I had it confirmed yesterday.”

Royal frowned, not looking convinced.

“What do you think he’s cooked up?” Zeke asked.

“I don’t know,” Royal said, scowling. “That’s the problem.”

“And you didn’t think that you might mention to me that your father might be the issue here?” Zeke said to her.Ohso calmly.

“No, because I confirmed with Thomas that he’s still in jail.” She lifted her chin, met his calm expression, but saw the anger in his eyes. “So he’snotthe problem.” And it just broke whatever last piece of control or something she had within her, because she was just done. With both of them.

“Because you see, Zeke, I’ve been taking care of myself and my life for the past four years. Withoutyou. I appreciate the place to stay. I even appreciate the interference, up to a point, but I won’t be made to feel guilty for taking care of myself.”

He didn’t say anything in response, but there was that old stony expression on his face she remembered all too well. She turned to her brother. “I didn’t have any problems with anyone until you started following me. Are you sure this isn’t ayouproblem?”

“You think I just lured people here to set your car on fire?” he returned, a lot of belligerence covering up a hurt.

She felt guilty and knew she shouldn’t. So she just... let it all out. “I don’t know what to think. But I do know I sent you letters, supplied an attorney, did everything I could with the resources I had to find you, to help you, and I never heard apeep. And you’ve waltzed back into my life and suddenly there’s danger, and you’re giving me attitude. Frankly, I’m sick of both of you. I’m taking my skull and I’m getting some work done.”

And that’s just what she did. She took the backpack and marched over toward the barn, Viola at her heels. She unlocked the door then carefully knelt down to pet Viola.

“I’m sorry. No dogs allowed in the lab. And I’m about to institute a no men rule too. Maybe you could be my guard dog and keep them out.”

With that, she slid inside the barn, keeping Viola out. She hung the backpack up on a hook and then went to the sink to wash her hands. Everything was in working order. Just like her other labs.

She didn’t think about Zeke doing that for her. She didn’t think about her brother, or her brother and Zeke together. She focused on herwork.

Because that was the only thing she’d ever been able to depend on. Human remains might be a mystery, but they were a set of data points. Not infuriating, obnoxious, changeablepeople.

Not people who expected you to rely on them, to trust them, to tell them the truth, but didn’t extend the same courtesy. Not people you let yourself depend on alittle, who then disappeared.

Because you’re too much of a bother, Brooke. Best keep to yourself.

Since she wanted to cry, she carefully got everything ready, unpacked her skull, then got to work. Right now, her goal was to date the bones as best she could, particularly in relation to the other remains they’d found. So far, they’d uncovered mostly intact bodies. So this was new. It was different. It needed studying.

She didn’t know how long she worked. She left her phone off. If Thomas wanted to contact her about the cave... well, he’d have to hunt her down. When the door to the lab opened however many hours later, she saw it was dark out.

She blinked. A whole day in here. She’d gotten a lot done and no one had bothered her. Not even to get her to eat.

Somehow most of the mad she’d had at Zeke was gone. He’d done all this for her, and it wasn’t his fault... None of this was about him, but here he was.

“Any progress?” he asked. No bringing up earlier. No being cold to her. Just a genuine question.

So she gave a genuine answer. “Some. I think this skull is fairly old. It’s also the only bone we’ve found that didn’t have an intact body with or nearby it. And I can’t help but think it matches a picture from that scrapbook Thomas uncovered.”

Zeke nodded. “That’s good progress, right?”

“It is.”

He stood in silence as she cleaned up for the day. She needed something to eat, to stretch out her back. She needed... Oh, she didn’t know.

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