To Trust a Friend. Lynn Bulock

liked it or not.

      TWO

      Josh looked around the sterile space that passed for Kyra Elliott’s office. “So, you took this job voluntarily?” he asked, trying not to sound skeptical. The whole building was new, but had no charm or personality. Everything was concrete and steel, probably easy to keep clean and contamination-free, but even starker than he remembered Kyra’s university lab being.

      “I most certainly did,” she answered, chin stuck out as if asking for an argument. “They were looking for someone to expand their forensic anthropology department and I was drawn to the prospect of doing criminal work full time.”

      He turned that over in his mind, trying to make sense of it. Kyra hardly looked old enough to have her doctorate in forensic science, much less be a sought-after expert in her field. Sure, he’d used her skills when he’d needed some off-beat knowledge for the FBI more than once. And he probably owed her a great deal for helping put his personal quest to an end. Still, she looked more like an undergrad in biology with her willowy frame and huge green eyes. He even remembered one case they’d worked on together in Indiana where they’d almost been denied entrance to a restaurant with a bar attached because the manager had to be convinced that Kyra was really over twenty-one.

      “I guess I could ask you the same thing,” Kyra said, drawing his attention back to the present. “Did you actually volunteer for this particular assignment?” Her brow furrowed as she leaned back in her high-backed desk chair, and then she smiled slightly. “You didn’t, did you? Joshua, what did you do or say to somebody in the bureau to get you shunted over here?”

      Joshua felt his cheeks flush. “You don’t want to know,” he told her, meaning every word of it. He had no desire to tell Kyra all the stupid choices he’d made in the last eight months. He was probably lucky that the worst his actions had earned him was this dead-end investigator’s assignment. If this was the answer to that prayer or whatever it had been in his car a few days ago, it was a pretty goofy answer. “So fill me in on what we’ve got so far. Nobody at the bureau seemed to have a lot of information.”

      “That’s because there isn’t much yet. Some bird-watchers in a park were tracking something rare when they came upon bones stirred up by the spring floods. We’ve recovered about all we’re going to. We’re cleaning the bones carefully, and I’m trying to sort out how many individuals are involved. If I had to speculate at this point, I’d say we’re looking at three young women somewhere between twelve and eighteen.”

      Josh tried to stifle the groan he felt building, but wasn’t entirely successful. “But that’s just speculation, right? And you don’t even know for sure how long these victims have been dead.”

      “There were just enough remnants of clothing that I can tell you they’d probably been there no longer than twelve years, and probably not less than seven. So I can head off any questions about this being an ancient burial site, or Civil War remains. Believe me, you’re not the first person to hope for that. These were kids who were alive in the early nineties for sure.”

      “How long before you can get more specific than all this?” He stopped himself before saying more, like “all this guessing” because he knew that would only stir up the scientist in Kyra.

      “We’ll have a few more answers by Monday. At least by then I will know for sure how many people we’re talking about, and probably give you a better estimate of age, size and ethnic makeup.”

      “So what do you want me to do until then?” Josh dreaded her answer, because it was likely to involve a lot of pointless, boring research.

      Kyra huffed. “I know that look, Agent Richards. You’re already bored with this assignment and it hasn’t even started yet. I suggest you get used to the idea that you need to spend the next few days searching for statistics on teens that have gone missing in the time period we’re targeting. If you want to make it easier on yourself, just start with the Baltimore-Washington corridor in the most likely four years.”

      How did she do that? Josh had forgotten how quickly Kyra tuned into his ways of thinking, and how different they were in their opinions. He sat up straighter in the office chair and tried to look more attentive. “Is there a spare office for me to use?”

      Kyra shrugged. “Afraid not. We’ve got researchers doubling up already in this department. I can let you have a corner in here.” Her quick smile gave Joshua a start of surprise. “That way I can keep an eye on you and make sure you’re really checking out the missing kids’ stats.”

      “Great,” he said weakly. Maybe this assignment would teach him to improve his attitude with his supervisors in the bureau. A few weeks of working closely with Kyra Elliott would either reform him or send him over the edge.

      

      Kyra studied Josh Richards as he sat working at the laptop she’d been able to provide for him his second day on the job. He’d been in her office two days now and she was still taking in the difference in him since the last time they’d been on a case together over a year ago. Before, Josh had been sharp and distant with most people, focused on the particulars of his job and little else. But he’d had self-confidence that oozed out his pores to go along with that aloof attitude. Kyra had always wanted to try to get past the aloofness and explore the person with the attitude, but he never let that happen.

      Now Joshua sat in his office chair, close to the computer. He was so quiet; no music playing, nothing personal to brighten this corner he worked in. There was almost a defeated slump to his shoulders, a posture that Kyra would never have associated with Josh before. “How’s it going?” she asked softly from where she sat a few feet away doing paperwork.

      “Okay, I guess,” he said without looking up. “There are a couple of dozen missing teens listed in the corridor during those four years you pointed out. If you’re sure your victims are female, that takes out a few but leaves plenty more. Any ideas yet how many we’re looking at?”

      “I think we have three individuals,” Kyra said, trying to give Josh a reminder that these were people they were talking about. “And they’re definitely female. I can tell from the brow ridges on the skulls and the size and shape of the pelvic bones.”

      Joshua winced but didn’t turn away from his computer. “I guess that narrows it down a little bit. How specific are you going to be able to get, anyway?”

      “You’ll probably be surprised by how much I’ll probably be able to tell you,” Kyra told him. “Haven’t you ever hung out with any of the forensic experts at the bureau?”

      Joshua shook his head, and Kyra noticed that the light caught small glints of silver in the ginger of his temples. That was new and it disturbed her a little. What kind of stress did that to someone who had to be in his mid-thirties? “Not by choice. For the most part I took the information they had to give me and went back to my own investigations.”

      Ouch. They were definitely going to have to work on Josh’s attitude toward people. Kyra tried to think of ways to help him start seeing the individual nature of those around him, whether they were crime victims or fellow workers. Maybe a little education was the answer. “Do you want to know more?” Kyra wasn’t sure what his response was going to be, or why she was so interested. In the past two days Joshua had come in on time, done his job quietly and left when the rest of the day shift did. If he’d gotten to know anyone yet it would be news to her.

      “I’m not sure. What would that entail?” His normally pale face appeared even paler. Why hadn’t she ever noticed that he had a dusting of light freckles across his cheekbones? As his face blanched a little, they stood out in relief.

      “Depends on how much you want to know. I won’t force you into anything you don’t want to be part of.” Kyra gave him a quick smile, expecting him to answer with one in return, but he stayed solemn. “I think most of it is really interesting, but not everybody does.” She thought about bringing up the young state policeman a few days back, but held back. That might just bring out Josh’s competitive nature and she didn’t want