Free The Haunted Bones (A Lin Coffin Mystery Book 3) by J A Whiting Page A

nod, keeping her eyes on Emily. The ghost remained with her arm outstretched for several seconds and then the shining particles of her form began to swirl, faster and faster until she disappeared.
    “Is it Emily?” Viv’s voice shook.
    “She’s gone.” Lin looked in the direction that the ghost had pointed. “The mausoleums.” She tugged on Viv’s arm as she moved towards them. “We need to check them out.”
    Viv groaned, but followed Lin as she made her way towards one of the small stone buildings built partially into the hill. She flicked on the flashlight and moved the light up and down and from side to side over the stonework. “Everything looks intact.” She adjusted the light so it shined on the lock. “It doesn’t seem disturbed.”
    The girls moved to the next one and repeated the process while the dog hurried about with his nose to the ground. After checking all five mausoleums built into the hillside, Lin walked along a path that ran between graves and led to another small stone building. The girls inspected the outside stones and then went to the front to see if anyone had tampered with the door or the window. Lin pulled on the heavy lock attached to the door. It didn’t budge.
    “Maybe Emily was pointing to something else,” Viv offered.
    “She was definitely pointing to the mausoleums.” Lin looked back at the group of crypts near the hill. “She pointed to those.” Lin gestured back to where they had started. “Let’s go back there.”
    “It’s late, you know.” Viv had her flashlight beam pointed at the ground. “We both have to get up early. Let’s come back another time.”
    Lin had to agree that she was feeling fatigued and wouldn’t mind crawling into her soft, comfy bed. She stopped and stretched. “Okay. We’ll come back another time. I’m beat.”
    Viv clasped her hands together and looked skyward. “Thank heavens.”
    Lin chuckled and slipped her arm through her cousin’s. “Come on, Nick.”
    The dog wasn’t with them. The girls stopped and turned to see the dog staring back at the road where the young couple had been parked earlier in the night. Lin called to him again, but he didn’t budge.
    “Now what?” Lin sighed and walked towards the dog. A few feet from the animal, she came to a dead stop. Coming from the dirt road, the sound of a car’s engine floated on the air. It was getting closer. Lin scrambled back to her cousin, grabbed her arm, and pulled her across the grass to the tree line. “Get down.”
    The girls squatted.
    “Nicky.” Lin kept her voice down.
    The dog dashed to Lin’s side and sat next to the crouched young women.
    “Is this spot lover’s lane, or what?” Viv asked softly. “Is it just another couple arriving to make out?”
    The girls stared through the branches and saw the car come to a stop where the dirt road met the cemetery boundary. The engine quit and someone stepped out. The person was wearing a hoodie. The face was hidden by the hood and the darkness. Reaching into the back seat, the person took something from the back seat.
    “A duffel bag?” Viv whispered.
    Lin raised her index finger to her lips to urge quiet.
    The man headed down to the second stone building where he fiddled with the lock. The door opened and he disappeared into the mausoleum.
    The girls exchanged wide-eyed looks. After about five minutes, the person reemerged, closed the heavy door, and carried the bag up the short hill to the car, where he got in, turned the vehicle around, and drove away.
    “What was that all about?” Viv practically leapt to her feet. “What did he do? Who is he?” One hand was on her hip while the other hand flew about gesturing wildly.
    Lin slowly rose from her crouched position. “It can’t be anything above-board that he just did. It’s nearly midnight.” She let out a long sigh. “Did you notice what kind of car he was driving?”
    “I couldn’t see it very well in the dark. It just looked like a dark sedan. Maybe