Under the Autumn Sky Read online

  “You can sit in the back of my squad car,” he told her, taking her by the elbow again and leading her—carefully—back to the path. “And if you puke in there, you’re cleaning it up.”

  She stopped, forcing him to halt midstride. “My phone.”

  “What about it?”

  “I dropped it.” With her free hand she gestured vaguely behind them. “Over there.”

  He started walking again, dragging her along. “Too bad.”

  She dug in her heels, tried peeling his fingers from her arm. “I have to find it! I need it.”

  “Then I guess you shouldn’t have dropped it in the middle of the woods at night.”

  “Ow!” Jess cried suddenly. “Uncle Ross, stop. You’re hurting me.”

  What the hell? “I’m barely touching—”

  “I’m sorry.” She started sobbing. Loudly. Loud enough for everyone in the clearing to hear. “I won’t do it again. Please don’t hurt me.”

  “Seriously?” he asked. “You’re going to play games with me now?”

  The radio at Ross’s hip crackled to life. “Everything okay, Chief?” Sullivan asked.

  With a sigh, Ross unhooked the radio, pressed the button to speak. “Everything’s fine.”

  “You sure?” she asked, humor evident in her tone. “You need backup?”

  “Negative,” he ground out. “I’ll be there in a minute.” He put it back, never taking his eyes off Jess. “You should join drama club when school starts again. Put those acting skills to good use.”

  She lifted a shoulder, her expression smug. “I’m not leaving without my phone.”

  She was stubborn. Sneaky. Manipulative. And until she turned eighteen, she was his problem. His responsibility. And he had no idea how to handle her. Damn it.

  “You have three minutes.” He held out the flashlight so that it shone up, lighting their faces. She grabbed the bottom but he held on. “At the end of those three minutes, you’re going to accompany me out of these woods willingly and, most important, quietly. Whether or not you’ve found your phone. Understand me?”

  “Whatever,” she muttered.

  He let go of the flashlight and she staggered back toward where he’d first found her. And it hit him. He’d given in. She needed rules and discipline and to learn how to obey orders and he’d let her get her way because she’d caused a scene. Because it was easier than dealing with the drama she created.

  He tapped his fingers against his radio. Glanced toward the clearing. Not that he could see anything other than the faint glow from the fire. He trusted Sullivan had the situation there under control. And was handling it how he wanted it.

  “Time’s up,” Ross called. Jess had her head bent as she searched the area by a large evergreen. “Let’s go.”

  “That wasn’t three minutes.”

  “Sure it was. Come on.” She didn’t move, just held the flashlight so its beam was on the ground, her eyes downcast. Probably plotting other ways she could make his life difficult. “Jess. Now.”

  Still staring down, she slowly crouched and reached out her free hand only to snatch it back as if something had snapped at her. Made a sound like she’d been kicked in the stomach.

  “Damn it, Jessica,” he growled, picking his way through the thick undergrowth to stand over her. “Don’t make me handcuff you and haul you out of here.”

  “Loo—look,” she said in a strangled voice.

  He followed her trembling, pointing finger to the end of the beam of light.

  And the human skull half-hidden under a fallen log.

  ISBN: 9781459233959

  Copyright © 2012 by Amy R. Talley

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