Skye Cree 03: The Bones Will Tell by Vickie McKeehan

tossed out, hoping Karen took the bait. But when she sat there stoic, he simply said, “It’s a shame Bob didn’t come down here with you tonight.”
    “He’s out of town. He travels quite a bit. I called him though. I guess he had that ‘do not disturb’ feature on. It went straight to voicemail.”
    “So he might not know yet that Shawna’s been found?”
    “Not yet.”
    “Look, Karen, Josh and I should get out of your way and leave you alone with your daughter. Be sure to keep us updated on Shawna’s progress, will you?”
    “Oh, I will,” Karen said, dabbing at her eyes. “ If not for you two, I wouldn’t be sitting her with her. I’ll call you the minute she wakes up.”
    Out in the hallway, Josh turned to Skye. “ Okay, that isn’t like you to drop a hot topic and run. The stepfather knows more than he’s saying.”
    “ Of course, he does. But it wasn’t the right time to confront Karen. We woke her up. She’s raw and vulnerable right this minute. If we go into grilling mode about Bob, she’d likely jump to her husband’s defense. What good would that do us? Besides, without Shawna’s input, we have nothing but a wolf’s instinct and a strong suspicion. I’m betting Karen had no idea the stepfather had the hots for her daughter. So as soon as Shawna regains consciousness, we’ll be back here to talk to her. That’s the best time to enter the fray.”
    “But we can’ t give Bob time to show up here and let Shawna wake up to her stepfather standing at her bedside,” Josh argued.
    “We won’t. Let’s go talk to the nurse. If we have to, we’ll get Shawna’s attending physician involved.”
    “ Then it’s time to call Harry.”
    “Yep. Harry’s on speed dial.”
    “Do you think the hospital did a rape kit when Shawna was brought in?”
    “We’re about to find out.”
     

     
    Harry was more than willing to confront Karen Houston about her husband. That’s why around nine o’clock that morning he guided her into one of the offices on the first floor of the medical center. There, he asked her point-blank about Bob Houston.
    “Where was he the morning Shawna went missing?”
    As Skye predicted, Karen became defensive. “You aren’t suggesting Bob did this, are you? Lord knows, he has his faults, but he wouldn’t do something like this to my daughter.”
    “Then tell me where he was.”
    “He’d gone to work.”
    “So he wasn’t out of town?”
    “Not then, no.”
    For the next forty-five minutes, Harry put Karen through a series of questions. But Shawna’s mother stuck to the same refrain.
    Before Harry finally let Karen go back to Shawna’s room, he left her with one thought. “When Shawna passed out that night, the paramedics couldn’t have brought her to a better medical facility. They took a rape kit, which is standard procedure. Be sure to mention that to your husband when he comes back into town. As soon as your daughter wakes up, as soon as she’s well enough to talk to me, I’ll be here. In the meantime, I’m leaving orders with the staff that her stepfather is to be kept out of her room.”
    “You can’t do that,” Karen argued. “Bob cares for her, too.”
    “That may be true. You have my permission to tell him that we’ll be formally requesting a swab for his DNA to clear him of any wrongdoing. At this point, it’s standard procedure. If he so chooses, Mr. Houston can certainly sit with you at the hospital in the waiting room. But until Shawna wakes up, Bob Houston will not be allowed in her room until I get answers from your daughter. Are we clear on that?”
    Karen nodded and Harry watched the woman storm out. He checked the time on his watch. If he hurried, he just might be on time for the meeting with the medical examiner at the morgue where Skye and Josh were no doubt already waiting.



Chapter Five
    A t ten-thirty the next morning on less than four hours sleep, Josh and Skye were still mulling over the mystery of Shawna as they dragged