Page 27 of Rattling Bone (OutFoxing the Paranormal #2)

The Dillon family cemetery lay at the end of a long dirt road, far back in what Oscar and Scott referred to as “the holler.” The winter sun shone down brightly as Oscar parked the van near a low stone wall encircling a number of weathered headstones. From the dead grass poking up through the snow, Nigel guessed that no one came here much anymore. Though sad, the abandonment was perfect for an illicit burial.

“I haven’t been here in years,” Scott said as he climbed out of the van. “I must have just been a kid at the time.”

Once Agnes was gone, they’d hurried to get Scott and Oscar back to the van, out of their wet clothing, and wrapped up in blankets with the heat blasting. Early the next morning, emergency responders showed up to get them out; when Scott didn’t come back the night before, Lisa had sounded the alarm.

Nigel expected to get in trouble with the police for trespassing, since they had no official permission to be on the property. But the sheriff clearly knew Scott—not surprising, given the town only had eight-hundred people in it—and only said she hoped they’d all learned a lesson and wouldn’t be wasting the time of emergency services in the future.

The snow thawed over the next couple of days, until it was possible to go back for the van and have the SUV towed out. While they were there, they used a pool skimmer to carefully scoop Agnes’s remains from the bottom of the spring.

Oscar grabbed a shovel and followed his father. Nigel and the others hung back while Scott searched the graveyard, brushing snow away and trying to read the weathered inscriptions. Finally, he stood back and called, “Here she is!”

“Let’s take a look,” Lisa said, and Nigel, Chris, and Tina trailed after her.

The headstone had been eaten away by rain and wind, but the words carved into it could still be made out.

Virginia Leigh Dillon

B. 1867

D. 1966

Beloved mother and grandmother.

“Do you remember her at all?” Oscar asked.

Scott shook his head. “No. I wish I did, but I was too young when she passed.”

Oscar nodded sadly. “Yeah, it sounds like she was something else. Where do you want to put Agnes?”

Scott surveyed the area, then pointed to an open patch of ground to one side. “There. She and her baby sister can finally be together again.”

Lisa folded her arms over her ample chest. “Would Virginia even want that? Agnes hurt your mother something awful, and then tried to kill you and Oscar. And did kill other people. I don’t get why you didn’t just leave her in the spring.”

“For one thing, we didn’t want someone to find her later, and end up being questioned by the authorities,” Nigel said, pushing his glasses higher on his nose.

Oscar cast him an amused glance. “Nigel isn’t wrong, but…I don’t know.” His expression shifted into something more thoughtful. “She did terrible things…but she was suffering, too. Trapped in anger, in the desire to make someone pay for her death. But there’s no price in the world that could give her back what she lost, so she just kept lashing out.” He shook his head. “It’s not for me to judge. My duty is just to give peace to the dead who can’t find it on their own.”

Lisa looked abashed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Judge not lest ye be judged, and all that.”

Oscar took the shovel and started in on the spot Scott had selected. Though cold, the ground wasn’t frozen solid, and he dug with minimal difficulty. Scott took over toward the end, and Oscar went back to the van and opened the back. A minute later, he returned, carefully carrying one of his mother’s handmade quilts. Wrapped inside was all that remained of Agnes.

Nigel felt as though he ought to say something as Oscar lowered the quilt into the hole, but couldn’t think of anything appropriate. Tina whispered something that might have been a prayer in Spanish as Scott began to fill the hole in again, but otherwise they were all silent.

Once the earth was tamped down, they scooped some snow on top, so there wouldn’t be an obvious disturbance. Not that anyone was likely to come here outside of hunting season, but there was no reason to court trouble.

When they were done, Oscar said, “I’d like a moment, if that’s okay.”

“Sure,” Chris said. “I’m going to get back in the van and get warm.”

Nigel hesitated. “Can I stay with you?”

The smile Oscar gave him warmed him to his toes. “Absolutely.”

The two of them stood in silence for a while, staring down at the grave that was the culmination of over a century of injustice. Then Oscar sighed and took Nigel’s hand. “Well, that wasn’t the way I hoped you’d meet my parents.”

“I don’t know, I think Scott’s come around.”

Oscar snorted. “Yeah, after Mamaw practically smacked him upside the head.” He sighed again. “I haven’t felt her again in the house, since we came back.”

Nigel squeezed his hand. “I suppose she’d done what she set out to do. Protect you as best she could, while you settled her unfinished business.”

“And Dad.”

“And your dad helped, yes.” Nigel glanced up at him. “Do you think your relationship will be better now?”

“Definitely. I mean, I wouldn’t have said it was bad…but it couldn’t be good, either, not with me hiding things from him, and him refusing to believe me. Now we’ll have a real chance to connect, I think.” Oscar turned to face him. “But for now, I can’t wait to get out of here and back home to North Carolina.”

Nigel swallowed against unexpected nerves. “About that…ah, well, I…”

Oscar arched a brow at him, grinning.

“One thing this trip did was drive home the fact I don’t want to be without you.” Nigel straightened his shoulders, though he didn’t quite meet Oscar’s eyes. “I thought maybe…you’d like to move in together? If it’s too soon, I understand, I know we haven’t been dating that long, and—”

“I’d love to make a home together.”

Nigel blinked, then smiled. “You would?”

“I would,” Oscar confirmed, and kissed him beneath the winter sun.