Body Double: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel

live?”
    “Up on Skyline Road. You ever been up there?”
    “No.”
    “It’s kind of a long ride up the hill. Think you can make it?”
    She nodded.
I can do anything for you.
    They pedaled away from her house. She hoped that he’d turn onto Main Street, past the malt shop where the kids always hung out after school playing the jukebox and sipping their sodas. They’ll see us go riding by together, she thought, and wouldn’t that set the girls’ tongues wagging? There goes Alice and Elijah-with-the-blue-eyes.
    But he didn’t lead her down Main Street. Instead, he turned up Locust Lane, where there were hardly any houses, just the backside of a few businesses and the employee parking lot for the Neptune’s Bounty Cannery. Oh, well. She was riding with him, wasn’t she? Close enough behind him to watch his thighs pumping, his rear end perched on the seat.
    He glanced back at her, and his black hair danced in the wind. “You doing okay, Alice?”
    “I’m fine.” Though the truth was, she was getting out of breath because they had left the village and were starting to climb up the mountain. Elijah must ride his bike up Skyline every day, so he was used to it; he seemed hardly winded, his legs moving like powerful pistons. But she was panting, pushing herself onward. A flash of fur caught her eye. She glanced sideways and saw that Buddy had followed them. He looked tired too, his tongue hanging way out as he ran to keep up.
    “Go home!”
    “What did you say?” Elijah glanced back.
    “It’s that stupid dog again,” she panted. “He won’t stop following us. He’s gonna—gonna get lost.”
    She glared at Buddy, but he just kept trotting along beside her in his cheerful dumb dog way. Well, go ahead, she thought. Tucker yourself out. I don’t care.
    They kept moving up the mountain, the road winding in gentle switchbacks. Through the trees she caught occasional glimpses of Fox Harbor far below, the water like battered copper in the afternoon sunlight. Then the trees became too thick, and she could see only the forest, clothed in brilliant reds and oranges. The leaf-strewn road curved ahead of them.
    When at last Elijah pedaled to a stop, Alice’s legs were so tired she could barely stand without trembling. Buddy was nowhere in sight; she only hoped he could find his own way home, because she sure wasn’t going to go looking for him. Not now, not with Elijah standing here, smiling at her, his eyes glittering. He leaned his bike up against a tree and hoisted his book bag over his shoulder.
    “So where’s your house?” she asked.
    “It’s that driveway there.” He pointed down the road, to a mailbox rusting on a post.
    “Aren’t we going to your house?”
    “Naw, my cousin’s home sick today. She was throwing up all night, so let’s not go in the house. Anyway, my project’s out here, in the woods. Leave your bike. We’re gonna have to walk.”
    She propped her bike up next to his and followed him, her legs still wobbly from the ride up the mountain. They tramped into woods. The trees were dense here, the ground thickly carpeted by leaves. Gamely she followed him, waving at mosquitoes. “So your cousin lives with you?” she asked.
    “Yeah, she came to stay with us last year. I guess it’s permanent now. Got nowhere else to go.”
    “Your parents don’t mind?”
    “It’s just my dad. My mom’s dead.”
    “Oh.” She didn’t know what to say about that. Finally murmured a simple “I’m sorry,” but he didn’t seem to hear her.
    The undergrowth became thicker, and brambles scratched her bare legs. She had trouble keeping up with him. He was pulling ahead of her, leaving her with her skirt snagged on blackberry canes.
    “Elijah!”
    He didn’t answer. He just kept moving ahead like a bold explorer, his book bag slung over his shoulder.
    “Wait!”
    “Do you want to see this or don’t you?”
    “Yes, but—”
    ”Then come
on.
” His voice had taken on an impatient edge and it startled her. He stood a few yards ahead, looking back at her, and she noticed that his hands were clenched into fists.
    “Okay,” she said meekly. “I’m coming.”
    A few yards farther, the woods suddenly opened up into a clearing. She saw an old stone foundation, all that remained of a long-gone farmhouse. Elijah glanced back at her, his face dappled by afternoon light.
    “It’s right here,” he said.
    “What is?”
    He bent down and pulled aside two wooden boards, revealing a deep