Chapter 4
NOELLE
She found herself ensconced in an overstuffed couch that had the appearance of a Victorian farmhouse fixed with the down home comfort of a relaxing bed and breakfast in a small town.
It was a little confusing, but oh so comfortable.
As Finola King set down a glass of ice-cold iced tea with a fresh cut lemon wedge on the edge of the glass, Noelle offered, again, “Please, Missus King. I’m happy to help.”
“Heavens no, dear.” Finola smiled. “I live for company.”
As she bustled back to the kitchen, Finola called over her shoulder.
“Would you like a chicken salad sandwich? Or… a BLT? Or…something warm?”
Noelle had been on the verge of ordering after every suggestion, but hadn’t gotten the words out.
She just felt like she was going to be a burden to the woman.
Not just a woman.
Finola was McCrae’s mother.
“I know.”
Noelle bit into her bottom lip. Wondering what Finola meant.
The older woman turned around at the sink and flourished the spoon she was holding in her hand. “I’m going to make both sandwiches and we can go halfsies!”
“That sounds great.”
“See? I’m magical that way!”
Picking up her glass of iced tea, Noelle moved into the kitchen and set the glass and coaster down on the counter. “Really? There’s nothing I can do to help?”
Finola waved at her. “Why don’t you tell me how you met my son, Noelle?”
Strangely, it felt like a personal question, but it wasn’t.
Noelle knew it wasn’t.
Then why did she feel like she was under a spotlight.
Or a microscope.
“I… I’m here for work.”
“Work.” Finola nodded. “Sure.”
“No, really. It’s work. I’m… I’m somewhat of a reconstruction expert. With… with faces.”
She held her breath, waiting to see what Finola’s reaction was.
For a moment, her smile dimmed for a moment and she nodded. “I see.”
Noelle was struggling, trying to come up with something to say that would make her feel better.
“Do you think…”
Noelle watched the other woman carefully. Not the hands that were making the sandwiches on the counter, but her face.
She could tell that her normal bright smile lit up rooms.
Seeing her saddened hurt Noelle on an elemental level.
“Do you think that they suffered?”
Shifting at the counter, Noelle traced her finger around the edge of the coaster. “I’m not that kind of a specialist, Ma’am.”
“Ah-”
Finola turned to look at her. “Ma’am is so… elderly.”
“Sorry.” Noelle’s eyes widened at that. “Missus King?”
Finola shivered and laughed softly at that. “That’s my mother-in-law, God rest her soul.”
“Ohhkay?” Finola was at a loss, the respectful options that she’d learned were basically exhausted.
“You can call me, Finola.” She nodded. “That works.”
Noelle smiled at that. “Finola.”
Finola nodded. “That’s good. Or someday…” she sighed dramatically, “you can call me Mom.”
Noelle almost choked on her iced tea at Finola’s words.
“Come now, dear.” Finola brought over two plates and tipped her head to the side. “We can sit at the table behind you.”
Noelle blinked back the tears in her eyes and turned.
There was a cozy little round table beside the sliding door that they’d used to enter the house. “We can sit here and enjoy lunch and watch the show.”
Again, Noelle startled, wondering what Finola meant.
McCrae’s mom set the two plates down in front of the chairs facing the glass and took the seat closest to herself.
“Don’t worry, sweetie. You won’t be able to see the body.”
Noelle nodded, relieved at her reassurance, and then took the seat beside her hostess.
Finola gestured at the yard. “McCrae and the others moved most of the benches out of the barn earlier. They’ll be eating out there.”
Noelle took a bite of the chicken sandwich and started to chew.
“So, do you think my son is handsome?”
Noelle started to choke on the bite she was chewing.
“Oh, dear.” Finola gave her back a few pats until Noelle waved a hand to make her stop. “Better?”
Noelle coughed one more time and then sat back against the chair. “Better.”
Finola waved at her plate. “Now, we’ll eat while you tell me if my son is handsome enough for me to set you two up.”
The sandwich triangle that she had in her hand was set right back down on the plate and Noelle was starting to wonder if she’d be able to eat without choking.
Or just eat in general.
“Finola, I-”
“Awww shucks. I was only half-kidding.” She picked up her own sandwich triangle and took a dainty bite off of the end.”
Noelle hesitated for a moment, but Finola gestured at her to eat.
“Eat. Eat.”
Noelle smiled at how much Finola reminded her of her own mother at that moment.
Taking a moment to make sure that McCrae’s mom was eating and not likely to continue her motherly interrogation. Noelle picked up the sandwich triangle again and took a bite.
There were chewing, happily so, when movement outside the window drew Noelle’s attention.
She recognized Blue and Jack, both walking with several trays of food.
“Is that lunch and dinner?”
Beside her, Finola chuckled a little. “You should see how much food they can put away. I swear they just vacuum it in.”
Noelle watched as the two put the trays down a fold out table.
When Jack pulled back the foil top on one of the trays, Noelle craned her neck to see what was in it. It looked like a whole mess of sandwiches.
Before she could get a look at the second tray, McCrae walked up to the table and reached in for a sandwich.
Noelle didn’t intend to stare.
She didn’t even intend to look, but leaning over, one hand braced on the tabletop, McCrae King was a marvel of human perfection.
“Wow.”
When Finola started to chuckle beside her, Noelle realized she’d said it out loud.
“See?” Finola tittered with laughter. “I knew it.”
Noelle wanted to hide her face in her hands, but she was already embarrassed. She didn’t want to make it worse and give Finola more rope to hang her with.
“It’s okay,” Finola gave her a little nudge shoulder to arm, “I get it… He is handsome. There’s no denying that.”
Noelle took a bite of the sandwich and started to chew, hoping that she wouldn’t have to answer another question.
“You don’t have to worry about telling me how handsome he is.” Finola took a sip of her own iced tea and leaned into half-whisper. “After all… I made that.”
Oh boy.
* * *
DUVAL
Blue sat down and looked over at him.
“Where did Miss Garcia go?”
Duval pushed the bite he was chewing on into the corner of his mouth to answer. “Inside with my mom.”
The only person who reacted out loud was Jack.
She thought it was hilarious.
“Your mom? That spitfire with a sweet tea accent? That’s got to be driving you nuts, Duval.”
He saw Blue give her a little shake of his head. Oxy laughed out loud.
If everyone had been present, there would have been more mocking and humor.
Duval looked up at Jack and lifted his chin in her direction. “Bite me, Jack.”
She pursed her lips and gave him an air kiss.
He gestured over his shoulder at the dig. “Noelle said that she normally sees the skulls in a controlled environment.”
Colt gave a half shrug, holding his can of Dr. Pepper in the other hand. “Makes sense. She’s an artist. I doubt she’s much of a digger.”
Oxy pointed over at Colt, grinning. “He’s got a point. She’s not Indiana Jones.”
Blue turned his head frowning. “Did Indiana Jones ever dig in one of the movies?”
Duval had to think about that.
“Not that I can remember.” Colt answered first. “But I’m not much of a movie guy. I spend most of my life outdoors when I can manage it.”
Jack shook her head. “Not me. I like air conditioning too much to fully embrace the outdoor life.” She tipped her head to the side and thought for a moment. “I bet Noelle’s more like me. She’d like a good spa instead of a dirt covered skull.”
Oxy frowned at her. “Is that why you didn’t want to be an evidence tech?”
“Among many of the reasons,” she explained. “I’d much rather go hand to hand with a suspect than have to worry that I put the wrong number on something.”
Oxy agreed. “Especially if it’s wet stuff,” he winced. “Blood or,” he swallowed, “other bodily fluids would be a deal breaker for me.”
Colt nodded along and swallowed the bite he had in his mouth. “What about brain stuff?”
“Okay, that’s enough.” Duval felt his stomach starting to turn. “Let’s keep the conversation about fluid and chunks for after we eat.”
Jack shrugged. “And they say women are weak.”
Colt put his hand to his chest. “You missed the shot.”
Holding up her free had with three fingers up, Jack smiled at him. “Read between the lines, Colt.”
While his S.W.A.T. teammates were joking back and forth between each other, he turned his head and looked over at the dig.
The skull had been cleaned up more by the evidence techs. The dirt and plant matter had been put into an evidence bag to be sifted through at the lab.
The tech that was leaning the skull turned it one way and then the other, probably looking for any bits and pieces that might have been missed.
When she moved her hand away, Duval found himself looking into the dark cavities of the skull.
There was a large missing piece from the top of the skull.
A piece that might fit much of the gap was tagged with another number.
Duval had read the PDF download about Noelle’s work and what evidence she required to even consider taking a particular job assignment.
She needed at least half of the face to begin.
They’d explained it in more detail, later. ‘Half’ meaning the facial features divided by the center of the face. Half of the mouth. Half of cheek/nose area. And at least one cumulative eye. It wasn’t easy to take bone and make it flesh again.
If she didn’t have that much there would be too many gaps where she’d have to make a guess.
That just seemed to be too much to fill in.
What was it like, he wondered, seeing something dead looking back at you, needing a face?
“Do you think they’ll clear us to take the skull with us?”
“Hmm?” Oxy looked at him. “When?”
Duval shook his head. “That’s what I’m asking. She took one look at the skull with the dirt and plants stuff on it and I thought she was going to faint.”
Colt shrugged. “Scared her, probably.”
Jack jumped in on that. “Why go straight for the ‘weak woman’ narrative. Maybe it’s because of the heat?”
“Or the smell.” Blue handed Jack a cold pop. “Here.”
“Thanks,” she smiled and took a sip.
Duval watched Jack and Blue wondering what it was about them that got his spidey sense tingling.
His cell phone rang and Duval pulled it out of his pocket and answered it after a quick look at the screen. “West?”
“How is the dig going?”
Duval looked back over at the dig site and nodded. “So far so good. They’ve taken out about seventy-five percent of the skull. Most of one arm has been recovered. Half of the other. The bones in the torso look like they’re mostly there-”
“The expert? Miss Garcia? What has she said?”
Duval put his sandwich down and reached for a bottle of water. “When the techs clear us to remove the skull from the scene, can I take it with her to her workplace?”
As soon as he asked the question, he could sense that it was going to be a no.
He understood why, too.
They had to preserve the chain of evidence.
Even though the higher ups had already told them that the body would likely end up in the unsolved case files, at least they were recovering it and doing the basic investigation that anybody deserved.
Anybody, his mind corrected.
He’d do his best to find out who it was.
He knew that even though his mother seemed to be dealing well with the mystery, he knew that it was unsettling for her.
His father had been a Texas Ranger who’d lost his life on the job.
It had worried his mother to no end when he’d decided to follow in his father’s footsteps.
She wanted him to love his job, but she didn’t want him to meet the same fate as his father.
“Duval? Are you still there?”
He shook himself back to the present. “Yeah. I hear you.”
“All right.” West cleared his throat. “I was trying to tell you that you can’t take the skull anywhere that’s not controlled by law enforcement. I’d like to keep it at the Ranger Station we work out of.”
Duval nodded. “Okay. I can see that.”
“Hmm.” West agreed. “Are you okay to take point on this?”
Duval hesitated. “Are you sure? This is connected to my family.”
He swore he could hear West shrug.
“Are you going to cut corners in the investigation or go off half-cocked?”
Colt and Oxy snorted laughs and Duval realized they could hear the conversation.
It was fine.
He wasn’t hiding a damn thing from anyone.
“I’ll follow the rules and policies. I don’t want whoever did this to come back and claim that we fucked up.”
“Then I have no problem letting you take point on it?”
Duval felt the weight of West’s trust weighing on his shoulders. “Okay. I’ll take care of it.” He looked back toward the house, nodding. “I’ll keep you up to date on all of the developments.”
“Good.” He heard a little relief in West’s voice. “I’ve got my hands full changing diapers.”
Duval grinned. “Send Tracy and the kids our love.”
The other rangers on the S.W.A.T. called out their own greeting to West and his family before West hung up.
After he put the phone away, he got up, setting his food aside, and walking over to the techs.
“Don’t forget we have lunch over there when you’re ready for a break.”
The crime scene techs that were on their hands and knees, brushing away dirt, rocks, and other detritus from the skeleton they were revealing nodded. The nearest tech thanked him.
He moved to the side of the female tech. “How are things going?”
She looked up at him and nodded. “Good. The rain loosened the soil so we may have lost evidence in the water, but” she turned her head and pointed in the direction of the side of the house. We can look over there and the path of the water to see if there are pieces that came loose in the storm.”
Duval nodded. “That’ll be a good follow up.” He looked over at where he’d parked his F-150. “I’ll get some police line tape and mark off the area you think we should investigate.” He gestured at the other rangers. “We can start looking for pieces that might have washed.”
She smiled. “That would be a big help. We have flags in one of our boxes to use if you’d like.”
“Is there an estimate on when we might be able to transport the skull to our offices for more investigation?”
She tipped her head to the side and looked up into the sky. “Hmm… Maybe an hour?”
“Good,” he nodded. “Take the time you need to but let me know when it’s ready for transport.”
“Sure, Ranger King. I’ll have the evidence transfer paperwork ready to release it to you and then I’ll call you back over.”
The back door to the house opened up and he saw Noelle standing in the shade of the porch.
She lifted a hand and gave him a little wave.
Before he could challenge his own instincts, he lifted a hand and waved back at her.
Damnit. I think I’m in trouble.
Real trouble.