Shadow Bones. Colleen Rhoads

was charming.”

      “He’s the sludge at the bottom of the pond. He lives and breathes for intrigue and deception. We used to be partners until he backstabbed me one too many times. He can’t be trusted.”

      Skye felt the burden lighten. She’d rather believe it was an outsider, then she didn’t have to worry about her friends and neighbors anymore. The sheriff would arrest this Cameron and life would resume as normal. “Are you going to tell the sheriff to check him out?”

      “I might steer him in that direction.” Jake looked grim.

      They arrived at The Sleeping Turtle. Inside, she found the herbs she needed. “The white willow bark is especially good for pain and inflammation,” she told him.

      He accepted them with a skeptical grin. “Sounds like quackery to me, but I’ll try them.”

      “I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised,” she said. “They work with the body and not against it like so many drugs. Natural is always better.” She measured out a dose and had him take it with a swig of water. “You’re on your way to good health.”

      The bell at the front door jingled, and Sheriff Andrew Mitchell stepped into the store. Around fifty, his khaki pants were cinched up over a beer belly. “You look like something the Windigo chewed up and spit back,” he said.

      Jake grimaced. “I feel like it, too. It’s got mighty sharp teeth.” He told the sheriff what happened.

      “You up to showing me where this is?” Sheriff Mitchell asked.

      “After our local medicine woman’s ministrations, I’m ready to take on the world,” Jake said.

      He winked at Skye, and she felt the heat of a blush move up her neck to her cheeks.

      “Hey, don’t be making fun of Skye. She’s helped more people than you can count.” Sheriff Mitchell followed them to the outside. “We might as well all go in my car.” He opened the door for them, and they got in the back.

      Once they reached the mine, Jake led them up the slope toward the dig. He moved slowly and winced several times. Skye frowned as she watched him. It would be useless to say anything. He’d never admit to the pain he was feeling.

      “Right here,” Jake said. “You can see where I went over the edge.”

      “Hmm.” The sheriff knelt and looked at the path. “I don’t see anything but this stick.”

      “What?” Jake scanned the path.

      Skye knelt and looked around with him. The rocky path was free of obstruction other than the stick the sheriff indicated. No wires that she could see.

      “You sure you didn’t stumble over a stick?”

      Jake’s voice rose, and he stood with his fists on his hips. “Sheriff, it was right here. A wire tied to a stick on either side. Look, here are the holes where the sticks were.”

      “Could be snake holes,” the sheriff said.

      Skye could tell the sheriff didn’t believe Jake. She wasn’t sure she did, either. Maybe it was a way to get her to agree to announce the discovery of the dinosaur nursery.