Bone Deep Read Online Free PDF

been doing that her entire adult life... trying to measure up to Kate. The admission made her stomach clench with emotion.
    Just stop . Feeling sorry for herself was childish. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel and parked in front of the house. Cody and Kate needed her and nothing else mattered at the moment. Her sister had never been the enemy. All who’d lived through Jill’s formative years would say that she had been her own worst enemy. Maybe, after all these years, she could admit some truth in that accusation. Just not today.
    Her mother would be waiting for news and some sort of strategy as to how Jill intended to straighten out this misunderstanding. It was nothing more than an unthinkable mistake. That was Claire Ellington’s way of dealing with the situation. Somehow Jill had to make her see the circumstances they were facing for what they were: real life and Claire didn’t get to make the rules.
    Jill shut off the engine and turned to Phillips. Some of his color was back. That was a good sign. “We can discuss your thoughts over lunch.” She couldn’t recall the last time she’d eaten and she doubted he could either.
    “There’s no hotel?” he asked without looking at her.
    Why did he need a hotel? Was he staying? Did he really believe he could help? Hope dared to make an appearance. Another mistake. Anger nudged her. However special and gifted Richard thought this man to be, Jill had witnessed no indication of either.
    She had an appointment with Cullen Marks, the attorney from Nashville, a little later. Right now, she wanted to lay her cards on the table with Phillips. Hear his thoughts and move on. She had no intention of wasting time with him. Her mother would simply have to be content with her chosen course of action or she could make arrangements of her own. Jill was sick to death of waiting on everyone else to decide what to do next.
    “There’s no need for a hotel, Dr. Phillips. Let’s not make this any more complicated than it has to be.” She didn’t wait for a reaction. She got out of his SUV and slammed the door.
    He’d seen the body. He had the files. He should be ready to discuss this case—unless he had nothing to say. All those nasty reports she’d read last night haunted her. What kind of person took advantage of another’s despair? And why the hell couldn’t she make up her mind what she wanted to believe?
    Shaking her head, Jill marched toward the verandah. Her mother would be waiting.
    A self-professed agoraphobic, Claire Ellington never, under any circumstances left the house. Not since the death of her husband. Life period in the Ellington home had not been the same since his untimely passing. Just another reason Jill rarely came home any more.
    But that was no excuse. Her stomach churned with remorse. She had allowed the resentment to widen the emotional gap between her and her family. Her selfish attitude had been wrong. Rectifying that misstep might just prove impossible but she had to try just the same. She had no power to change the past. What was done was done. She hadn’t been here. Not for her father before he died. And not for her sister before this horrible thing happened.
    But she was here now.
    Exiling what she couldn’t change to the back of her mind, she trudged up the six steps to the verandah. Phillips followed. The least she could do was feed him before she heard what he had to say and sent him on his way.
    Jill didn’t have to fumble for a key. No one in Paradise ever locked their doors. There was nothing to be afraid of... at least until now.
    “Hello,” she called out in the empty foyer. The silence sent a shiver up Jill’s spine. When she and Kate were kids there had always been happy sounds in this house. Their mother humming as she baked. Their father enjoying a cigar and evening drink with a colleague. Never disquieting silence like this.
    Uncertainty wound tight inside her. Knowing Claire, she had handled the problem as she had all