Skeleton's Key (Delta Crossroads Trilogy, Book 2) Read online

  He was at her door now, squinting in the window, a tight smile on his face. Dani snapped the door handle at the same time as he grabbed for it, swinging the door into his outstretched hand.

  He stumbled back, shaking his fingers. “Damn.”

  “I’m sorry!” She stood on rubbery legs, immediately tearing at the heat. “Oh God, it’s hot.”

  He grunted and then stuck out his hand. “Welcome to Ironwood. I’m Cage.”

  “I’m so sorry about your hand.”

  “‘S’all right.” Cage shifted his weight, brushing his hair off his forehead. “Let me get your bags for you.”

  “If you don’t mind, I’d love to get inside the house.” She shaded her eyes to gaze at Ironwood. “I just can’t wait any longer.”

  Cage cocked his head, staring down at her as though he were trying to decide if she were worthy to enter. She didn’t break eye contact and tried to smile, but she was pretty sure the heat made her look like a mangy stray dog.

  “Go on ahead, then.”

  She forced herself not to sprint to Ironwood’s front steps. There was nothing like walking into a pre-restored historical home for the first time. She’d entered her first when she was fifteen, and had been in countless others since then, traveling throughout Midwest for her internship and later career. No matter the state, every one breathed whispers of the past in Dani’s ear. Instead of crumbling foundations and cracked walls, she saw decades of life, family hardships, and strength. Instead of a money-sucking eyesore, she saw something to be cherished: a living structure waiting to be rescued.

  She loved every home she’d ever worked on, but Ironwood was personal. The grand old home represented everything Dani loved about her mother and the promise she’d made to move on with her life. Stopping in front of the bottom step, she swallowed the hard lump in her throat and tried to will the stinging tears not to fall.

  Close-up, the house looked even more dismal and haunting. Weather had scrubbed off massive sections of paint, and several of the porch spindles were rotting. The portico’s floor looked worn through in some places, making it impossible to tell what the original color had been. But she saw beyond all that–saw the beauty of what had once been.

  She saw home.

  “I haven’t been able to do much to the outside.” Cage stood beside her. “Spent most of my time getting the inside cleaned out. Church didn’t want to give any money toward upgrades so—”

  “I’m glad they didn’t.” Dani knew her words were coming out too fast, but she couldn’t slow down. “That’s the biggest mistake made with these old homes. So many of them are gutted of their original designs. Old windows replaced with new, supposedly more efficient ones.”

  “Why is that a mistake?”

  “Because these houses aren’t made for the new windows. There is so much cost to fitting the old sills for modern windows, the energy savings are eaten up. It’s better to restore the old ones.”

  He flushed and looked away.

  “Did you replace any of the windows?”

  “Not yet. But it was on my list.”

  Dani breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. Less mistakes to fix the better. What about the interior? Is everything still the same as the pictures I’ve been shown?”

  “Yes ma’am. Majority of the woodwork is all original. Some is in pretty lousy condition, though.”

  “That’s okay. As long as you didn’t mess anything up, I can work with it.”

  Irritation flashed across his face. “No ma’am, I sure didn’t.” He strode up the sagging porch steps leaving Dani behind. She hadn’t meant to offend him. She just got so excited about restoration, and she’d encountered so much damage by well-meaning amateurs over the years.

  Cage pushed opened the solid oak front door. Warped and faded, but solid. He held it open for her. “After you.”

  Anticipation derailed her manners and she bounded up the steps. Dani’s pulse thrummed in her chest; her stomach danced. Her eyes threatened to tear again. Taking a deep breath, Dani stepped into Ironwood for the first time.

  The musty scent of old wood and the past greeted her. Her vision took a moment to adjust from bright outdoors, but when it did, she found herself staring at Ironwood’s exquisite double staircase. Directly across from the door, the grand structure took center stage.

  “What a statement,” Dani whispered.

  “It’s pretty awesome, but it’s not in great shape.” Cage gestured to their left. “The great hall and music room are in decent condition. Several years ago, the church had the plaster fixed and repainted. Woodwork’s not too bad. Balcony overlooking the great hall isn’t great, though. Peeling wood, missing railings.” He turned to the right. “Over here is the parlor. Floor’s rough in here, but I got it cleaned out. Kitchen is that way, just beyond that white door. It’s functioning, but everything in there is from the seventies.”

  She knelt down to run her hand across the marble floors. Smooth and cool, the once bright blues had faded with age. “These are from France. Early nineteenth century. Hard to find.” A section of the marble was chipped, not from the years and tread of feet, but from some sort of crude tool. “Did you do any work to this floor?”

  “Other than clean it, no. Why?”

  “Someone tried to lift the tile.” She pointed to the jagged cutting between the tile squares. “Probably a renter or some sleazy explorer looking for a buck. Fortunately the craftsmanship on these is excellent, and whoever tried to steal them had a crappy tool.”

  “Huh. Wonder if that’s what happened to the hardware in the kitchen. It’s all missing. So are some of the china door knobs.”

  “I’m sure. You wouldn’t believe the self-entitlement of some people who explore abandoned buildings. Complete disregard for the structural integrity. Common thieves.” Looking from left to right, Dani tried to decide where to go first.

  “Church keeps the butler’s pantry locked.” Cage continued to tick items off a mental list. “And I was instructed not to go upstairs until the staircase was checked out by an expert. Library needs work. Most of the family’s books were either sold or donated after the last owner’s death. Renters probably took anything left. Then of course, there’s the basement.”

  The basement. Dani had forgotten about the skull. “Have you finished digging?”

  “Not quite. Jeb–the coroner–left a little bit ago with a few more bones. We plan on extending the excavation site out by two feet to see if we can find any more bones.”

  “You still think it’s an old body?”

  “I think so, but the medical examiner will have to tell us for sure.”

  She faced Cage, looking up into his serious eyes. “I want to see it.”

  4

  Cage wasn’t sure he liked Dani. She talked too fast. She was frenetic. Jittery. She’d practically accused him of messing up the house he loved; another damned Yankee assuming the Southern hick was stupid.

  Still, he would have replaced the windows if he’d been given the money. And that made his insides burn with embarrassment.

  But the emotion on her face when she’d stood at the bottom of Ironwood’s steps pierced his heart. She’d looked ready to cry, and he wasn’t sure if they were tears of joy, sadness, or both. As he watched her in the foyer, her gaze darting from one aspect of the house to another with wide eyes, she reminded him of the way his sister had always looked on Christmas. Not at the presents or the food, but on the holiday lights tour when their parents would pile everyone into the car and drive through the antebellum district. That had been Lana’s favorite part of Christmas, and he hadn’t been able to tour the lights since her death.

  He’d like to try to do that this year. Keep moving forward like his sister would want him to.

  Dani fanned herself with her hand. “How many window air conditioners you have?”

  “Just two,” Cage said. “Both downstairs, on opposite sides of the house.”

  “Costs a mint to put central air in these places, bu
t I’m going to have to figure out a way to do it.”

  “You get used to the heat.”

  She raised an eyebrow. It was as light as her hair. “I’d like to see the basement,” she repeated. “It’s got to be cooler down there.”

  Cage led the way across the parlor. Dani stopped to inspect the large picture window overlooking the western lawn. “The sill’s not in too bad of shape. Are there any window dressings left in the house?”

  “Might be. Like I said, haven’t been upstairs. I’m not sure the stairs are safe, and the church locked up those rooms a long time ago, just like the library and butler’s pantry. Trying to protect the house.”

  “Awfully trusting of their renters not to break the locks.”

  “Pretty sure everything valuable has either been sold or given to the historical foundation.”

  “Maybe.” She looked around the room as if envisioning what it might have looked like more than a century ago. “But most people don’t know the truly valuable parts of these houses. They don’t have the training.”

  Cage chewed back the retort and decided Dani probably didn’t realize how condescending her tone was. He’d give her the benefit of the doubt for now. “And what’s your training?”

  “Degrees in history and art history. I started working in restoration in college helping a small local group in Indianapolis. Got the taste for it and have been doing it ever since.” Her eyes darkened. She pursed her lips and wrinkled her brow, then gave a quick shake of her head. “Ten years flew by. And now here I am.” She looked away and rubbed her eyes. “So. The basement?”

  Why were her eyes watering? Was she allergic to the dust or were those genuine tears? Cage wished he had a handkerchief to offer her. His dad always had a handkerchief. So did granddad. He needed to start carrying one. He cleared his throat. “This way.”

  They walked through the kitchen, where Dani paused to examine the cupboards. “Not original, but mid-twentieth century, I’d guess. Sink is definitely from that era. Is Ironwood on city water?”

  “Nope. There’s a well, but the city has been trying to get the houses out here on their system forever. So don’t be surprised when they come calling.”

  “Thanks for the heads up.”

  Like always, the basement door stuck due to years of humidity, and Cage had to pull the heavy wood up and then toward him to get it open. He’d left the light on, but the yellow gleam did nothing to dispel the cellar’s creep factor. He turned to Dani.

  “Be careful on these steps.”

  Dani started coughing. “The smell–that’s more than an old basement. And it can’t be coming from the bones.”

  “Seems like the stink’s gotten worse since we started digging.” That bugged the hell out of Cage. Any flesh left on those bones should have been gone a long time ago. But the smell seemed stronger every time he descended the steps. He didn’t mention that to Dani. “Depending on how old the body was, there may be some…leftovers…in the soil.”

  “You really think so?” Dani sounded nervous for the first time. “If the bones are clean, would there really be anything left?”

  “I wouldn’t think so. It’s probably a dead animal.”

  They reached the bottom of the steps. The basement looked much different than it had two days ago. Camping lights surrounded the gravesite, and plastic had been carefully laid out to place the bones on. Junk had been moved across the room to the winter kitchen. “Stay off the plastic,” Cage warned as Dani crossed the room. “Don’t disturb anything.”

  “That’s right, you’re a sheriff’s deputy.” She looked back at him with wide eyes. “Is this a crime scene?”

  “As of now, no. If the medical examiner says the bones are much more recent than we’re thinking, it might be. But with what we’ve got, it will be really hard to determine foul play.”

  “Being buried in a basement isn’t foul play?”

  He shrugged. “Ironwood was built in 1835. Old man Laurent owned the land before that, and he had slaves. Maybe someone died. Could have been buried before the house was built.”

  “So unless these bones are recent, this person isn’t going to see justice?”

  “Justice for what? We don’t know–”

  “You told me on the phone the skull had a big piece missing out of it.” She got to her feet. “What if her head was bashed in?”

  “We don’t know if the person was male or female. And the skull could have busted from the weight of the earth.”

  Dani stared down at the upturned earth. “I bet it was a woman.”

  “Maybe.”

  Above their heads, the front door open and shut. “You down there, Cage?”

  “That’s Jeb Riley, the coroner.”

  “Go ahead.” Dani turned away from the grave. She closed her eyes for a beat and then looked across the room. “I want to check out the winter kitchen.”

  “I’ll be right up, Jeb.” Cage handed her his flashlight. “Here. Be careful. We pushed a lot of stuff over there.”

  “Thank you.” She moved across the room with the exuberance of a cat, her excitement obvious with every step.

  Cage hesitated at the bottom of the stairs, watching her flitter from object to object, muttering to herself. He shook his head and went up to meet Jeb.

  The aging coroner sat in a kitchen chair, wiping his face with a worn handkerchief. “The Yankee here? What’s she like?”

  “She loves this place. That’s a start. You get the bones shipped off to Jackson?” In addition to the skull, Jeb and Billy had found other bones along with a tooth and some other bone shards they couldn’t identify. Sheriff Robards had ordered the remains to the medical examiner’s office this morning in hopes of jump-starting the investigation.

  “This morning,” Jeb answered. “But the deputy medical examiner doesn’t know when she’ll get a chance to look at them. She’s overloaded. In the meantime, we’ll keep digging. See if we can find a full skeleton. Gender can be determined from the skull, but I’d love to have the pelvis to back it up.”

  “How much longer you want to keep digging?”

  “I want to excavate what we marked off. We’ll see after that. Of course, we’ve got to have the continued permission of the owner.”

  Since the dig wasn’t an official crime scene and the medical examiner hadn’t categorized the bones, Adams County needed Dani’s consent for further digging.

  “Pretty sure you’ll get it. She wants to know who it was.”

  “Me too,” Jeb said. “I don’t like the marks on the skull. I’m no expert, but I get a bad feeling every time I look at them.”

  Cage’s response stalled in his throat at the sound of Dani’s quick steps on the rotten stairs. He hurried to the basement door just as she emerged from the doorway looking flushed and edgy. Some of her hair had escaped from the ponytail to curl around her face. She pushed a lock out of the way leaving a smudge of dust behind. “Have you looked at some of the things in the winter kitchen? I saw a tea kettle I might be able to salvage, plus an old ice cream freezer and a beetle.”

  “A what?”

  “A beetle,” Dani said. “It’s like a pestle. People used it to pound food and tenderize meat. And those were just surface items. I bet there are more.”

  “Honestly ma’am, I haven’t spent much time in the basement until this week. The rest of the house needed to be livable for you.”

  “I appreciate that.” She fanned herself again. “And we need to get something straight. No more ma’am. I know you’re a good old Southern boy and it’s a habit, but please, call me Dani.”

  Jeb coughed, his laughter barely disguised. Good old Southern boy? Is this what all northerners thought of politeness? He supposed their lives were too busy for pleasantries. The few he’d spent any amount of time with were nothing but greedy, lying carpet baggers looking to line their pockets with Roselea heritage. He glanced at Dani. He’d just met her, and lumping her in with that group wasn’t fair.

  Dani looked ove
r Cage’s shoulder. “Hello, I’m Dani Evans. You must be Jeb?”

  “I am.” The coroner stood to shake her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  “You too, although I’m not liking the circumstances. Do you think we can identify her?”

  “Her?”

  “For some reason, Dani thinks it’s a woman.” Cage didn’t admit his gut agreed.

  “I see,” Jeb said. “I just don’t know. We’ll have to wait to see what the ME says. Erin’s damned good though. She’ll find whatever there is to find.”

  “Well, you have my permission to dig up the entire area,” Dani said. “On one condition.”

  Jeb waited. So did Cage.

  “I want to help.”

  5

  Energy rushed through Dani with the speed of an Amtrak train as she waited for an answer from the genteel coroner. Her hands tingled, and blazing warmth stretched from her head to her sweating toes. She needed to dig out her sandals. And put in more air conditioning. A small window unit poured air into the kitchen, but it wasn’t enough to combat the high temperature of the rest of the house.

  “I don’t think so,” Cage said. “You’re not trained.”

  “Neither are you,” she shot back. She looked at Jeb. “I’ve excavated plenty of old basements looking for artifacts. I also did a dig in college looking for bones. Not to mention all the old basements I’ve stumped around in. I can be a lot of help to you.”

  Jeb scratched his chin. “Well, I’ve already got Billy. He’s studying biology at Ole Miss and likes to help out on his breaks. But I could use the extra help.” He rubbed his knees. “I’m not as young as I used to be, and Cage has to work the next few days. Would make things move a lot faster.”

  “She’s a civilian,” Cage huffed. He crossed his arms over his chest.

  Dani stood her ground. “It’s my house.”