Deadly Aim Read Online Free PDF Page A

door, he said, “It’s okay, Kath. I doubt I could have made a difference anyway.”
    Once in his car, an unmarked Crown Victoria, Callen hit the switch to turn on his lights, burning rubber in an effort to make up for the time he’d lost. It took him all of three minutes to reach the scene.
    Officer Delaney was sitting in one of the patrol cars when he pulled into the parking lot in front of the old cannery warehouse. It wasn’t hard to pick her out, since she was the only woman around. She looked in his direction, then tipped her head down to stare into the cup of coffee in her hands. Something about her demeanor and the glazed look in her eyes squeezed his heart. For the first time since leaving the house, Callen wondered if things would have been different if he’d responded when he heard the first barrage of gunfire.
    Nick Caldwell and another uniformed officer stood next to her, and when Caldwell saw Callen, he hurried toward him.
    “Detective, Officer Mason was just going to take Angel back to the station. Do you need to talk to her first?”
    Callen shook his head. “We can give her some time to pull herself together. My main concern is making sure the weapons are all checked, and I’d like to do a gunshot residue test on all of the officers involved.”
    “You got it,” Nick said. “I already told her we needed a urine specimen, and I collected Angel’s weapon and bagged it. She fired three shots into the victim. Several of us got shots off at the pharmacy. I think Eric and I are the only ones who didn’t fire.” He pointed to a squad car. “Eric’s the one getting into the car with Angel.”
    Callen opened his trunk and secured the GSR kit. “We’ll check him first, then the others.”
    After introducing himself to Angel and Eric, Callen turned to Eric. “I’ll need to check your weapon.”
    “Sure.” The officer produced his duty gun, confirming what Caldwell had said about him not firing. He had a full magazine. “Nick said you were thorough,” Eric said when Callen handed the .40-caliber Glock back to him.
    “I try to be. I’d like to do a GSR test too.”
    Eric frowned. “What’s that?”
    Callen wasn’t surprised at the question; most officers didn’t know about the procedure. The Oregon state lab was one of a dozen or so places in the country that had the equipment for GSR. He produced a sterile swab from his kit. “I do a swab of each officer’s hands and send it to the lab, where they test for gunshot residues.”
    “Interesting.” Eric nodded and offered his right hand.
    Callen dipped the swab in a bottle of sterile water and rubbed Eric’s hand with it, then placed it in a paper envelope. Glancing over at Nick, he said, “I’d like you to get the other guys lined up, and we’ll do them all at once.”
    He went around to the passenger side of the squad car and tested Angel as well. Her hand flinched as the swab went across it. Callen made the mistake of looking at her and got caught up in the depth of her violet blue eyes. Beautiful eyes.
    Words got stuck in his throat, and he cleared it. “Caldwell said you were going back to the station,” he managed to say. “That’s a good idea.” Best to remove her from the scene as soon as possible, before the media descended on them. He’d need to talk to her eventually, but his interview could wait. For the moment he’d get statements from the other officers at the scene.
    Callen hated situations in which an officer had to use deadly force, and this one sounded bad. Shooting a kid—the media would have a field day. He frowned as he watched the squad car drive away.
    Angel Delaney. What kind of name is that for a cop ?

 
    O n the way back to the station, Angel reminded herself she’d done the right thing. These things happen , she told herself again and again.
    “Anything I can do to help?” Eric asked.
    She offered him a weary smile. “I was just thinking.”
    “What about?”
    “I—I could’ve sworn I only