Vampire Dreams (Bloodscreams #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

with footprints. No way to reconstruct what went on here.”
    “Back off,” Briggs repeated, “just a bit.”
    Stroud's thoughts raced ahead of him. He didn't tell the Chief or the camera or the others that the bones had something to say. Stroud studied them for longer than was comfortable to the camera eye. He studied them until his legs complained with cramps. He sifted through the dirt and pulled some out and stared and hummed to himself until everyone present was also uncomfortable.
    Finally, Briggs said, “Well, whataya think, Professor?”
    In a near whisper into the microphone, McEarn, somewhere over Stroud's shoulder, told the listening audience at home who Professor Abraham Stroud was. Stroud said tonelessly, “Chief, you can't bulldoze this area until--”
    “Backhoe, son ... backhoe. Don't intend to doze it over. Intend to dig and sift until we got the extent of the problem in our sights.”
    This sounded good to everyone present who agreed with verbal soundings.
    “Just give me until sundown tomorrow,” said Stroud. “I think this area is some sort of burial ground.”
    Briggs only scratched behind his ear.
    Stroud said to the gathered men, “Do any of you men know who Timmy Meyers played with, went to school with?”
    “Be my boy, Joey,” said Carroll, “but--”
    “Did you talk to him about the disappearance?”
    “He came home late ... didn't eat ... wasn't feeling well ... went up to bed early.”
    “Is it possible, Mr. Carroll, that he played with Timmy before dark? That he was the last person to see the boy?”
    “We couldn't get him to say much when we asked him about it. Said he and Timmy weren't playing together anymore. You know kids.”
    Stroud knew some kids, but he'd never had any of his own. Still, as a cop, he knew how their minds worked, particularly when they were scared. He'd interrogated a lot of frightened kids during his time in Chicago.
    “Would you mind, Mr. Carroll--”
    “Ray.”
    “--Ray--if I talked with the boy?”
    “He'll be asleep hours ago.”
    “It could help.”
    The insurance man nodded. “I guess ... maybe ... when I think it could be Joey out here missing ... well...”
    The unspoken truth was that any boy lost in these woods could be dead by morning. “Get into the Jeep and we'll go together.”
    Stroud began to make his way back around the Jeep when the TV floodlights hit him in the eyes, making him curse.
    “What progress, Professor Stroud, has been made in locating the Meyers boy? What do the bone finds have to do with the boy's disappearance?”
    Stroud grabbed John McEarn and lifted him against the side of the Jeep. “You have any idea what that kind of broadcast'll do to the boy's parents, you hemorrhagic ass?” Briggs and a deputy pulled Stroud away from the newsman before Stroud's fists got into the act. For a moment, Stroud felt like a cop again.
    McEarn was shouting that he'd be sorry for his actions.
    Stroud got into the Jeep and tried to calm down, taking a great breath of air.
    “Rest of you men, we're not going to be able to do much here 'til daybreak when we can see what we're doing. Go on and finish your sweep for the Meyers boy. Leave any more old bones to us. Meanwhile, my deputies'll be with you,” Briggs was saying.
    Stroud and Carroll tore off, the Jeep backing out at full tilt, lights picking up Briggs holding up a skull to the TV cameras. Stroud cursed under his breath and grabbed for the skull he had placed on the seat earlier, his large hand wrapping around it in a protective cocoon. He stopped the Jeep and drove forward again, whirling alongside the chief, kicking up dust and whirling dervishes into the camera and his face. Briggs's interview was stopped. Stroud shouted out to Briggs, “Whatever you do, Chief, hold off on the goddamned heavy equipment until I get back.”
    Briggs was choking on dirt, wildly shaking his fist high over his head when Stroud's Jeep hit the pavement and raced down the tarmac. The black ribbon