Dance of the Bones

“What’s up?”


“There was a ‘disturbance’ at the prison a while ago. The guards controlled the situation eventually, and the prison is back under lockdown. Trouble is, two -people are dead in the incident, and John Lassiter was severely wounded. He’s in critical condition and has been air--lifted to a trauma center in Mesa.”

“Somebody tried to take him out the same day you stop by to visit?” I asked. “That doesn’t sound like a coincidence.”

“Not to me, either,” Brandon said. “Anyway, I need to go tell Amanda. I asked the warden if anyone had been sent to notify her. Turns out he didn’t even know she existed. She isn’t on Lassiter’s official next--of--kin list.”

“You’ll go see her?” I asked.

“I will,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do.”

And that’s when I knew Ralph Ames wasn’t wrong about Brandon Walker. A lot of -people I know—-especially guys like Phil Kramer—-do their best to avoid having to deal with families of victims. Walker had just volunteered to break some awful news to a family member when it wasn’t his job.

“Good luck with that,” I said, and meant it. “In the meantime, I’ll get cracking on locating Calliope Horn. I’ll also have Todd look into this Ava person. It sounds to me as though TLC has just stumbled on a hornets’ nest.”





CHAPTER 22




THE WHITE--WINGED DOVES TOOK OWL to the place and showed him the sleeping girl, but Evil Giantess was awake and on guard. Once night came, Ho’ok O’oks went to sleep. That was when Owl returned. He flew softly back and forth over Shining Falls, who still lay sleeping with Little White Feather crushed in her hand.

Very gently, Owl fanned Shining Falls with his wings, and slowly—-very slowly—-Shining Falls’s eyes opened. And this is why, nawoj, even to this day, when someone is asleep and cannot wake up, the Elders—-Kekelimai—-fan the sleeping one with owl feathers.

“I’M THIRSTY,” TIM MOANED IN the darkness. “I’m thirsty and hungry and scared. We’re going to die.”

Gabe was hungry and thirsty, too, but there was no point in talking about it. He had done his best to explore their prison. He had located the ventilation holes that he had known had to be there. They allowed air in but no light. And he had found the seam where the lid closed over them. He had been able to ease the knife blade along it until he encountered what he supposed was a metal hasp. He withdrew the blade as soon as it touched something hard. The knife was their only weapon, and he didn’t want to damage it. He slipped it into his pocket. As he did so, his fingers encountered the four diamonds that he had put there hours ago—-long before this endless time in the darkness. Gabe couldn’t see them, of course, but just having the stones in his hand somehow made him feel better.

“We’re not going to die,” he declared firmly with a confidence he didn’t exactly feel. “We’re not going to.”

“I could just as well die,” Tim went on. “What’ll happen to me if I live? My mom is sick. My dad is dead, and so are Carlos and Paul. Max is still alive, but he’s in prison. I’ll probably end up in foster care somewhere.”

Tim’s voice sounded funny—-like his tongue was thick, like he was mumbling rather than talking.

“What about your aunt and uncle?” Gabe asked. “Couldn’t you go live with them?”

“I don’t like them,” Tim said. “And they have too many little kids. I’d end up being their babysitter.”