False Witness (John Steel series Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

his cup down on one of the coasters she insisted he used. Her desktop was immaculately laid out, everything had a place and purpose.
    He could see that something was bothering her, hell, a blind man could see that. There was something that didn’t sit right and he knew enough to realise that she would stare at that board until the conundrum became clear.
    She wasn’t just a detective, she was a hunter. And she was tenacious, which was one of the things that he liked about her.
    “So how did the three guys get away?” he asked. “I thought that they were locked down to the floor during transit?”
    McCall turned and shot him a look, and then he realised he had asked the very question she was pondering. “Apparently the lock disengaged when the bus hit the wall, I don’t know, must have been a malfunction or something.”
    The male detective heard her words and he could tell that she didn’t believe the explanation any more than he did.
    His eyes scanned the photographs of the crash, where everything was and the general conditions. Neither of them spoke, they just stared at the puzzle before them.
    “How did the three men survive it anyway?” he mused. “I mean seven of them were killed instantly and in a crash like that I am not surprised.”
    McCall shook her head and looked back at him. “What’s your point? The thing is amour-plated.”
    Steel looked at the photograph that was taken from the rooftop of one of the nearby buildings, and he checked every detail on the eight-by-ten. “Do we know where everyone was seated?”
    The woman sat back in her chair and took a sip from the coffee. She just stared at him, watching as the adrenaline rush inspired by investigating the case seemed to make him as hyper as a kid on a sugar rush. “Not yet. Tony and Tooms are off to the prison in the morning to see if they can get any information and hopefully they can also explain why the floor lock broke.”
    Steel finished off his coffee and looked at his watch. It was now seven o’clock and he had plans. “Well, we can’t do anything until tomorrow so I will say good night.”
    McCall looked up at him curiously. She could tell something was bothering him and that normally meant that someone was about to end up in a hospital. “See you tomorrow then. Oh and, Steel, stay out of trouble—we have enough bodies.”
    He smiled and gave a quick salute before turning and heading for the elevator. He had that stony look on his face that made him look cold and companionless.
    She pitied the person he was going to see.
     
     
     

SIX
     
     
     
     
    The next morning the sun had not quite broken the horizon as the city began to come alive. The cold blue sky seemed to colour the buildings and streets, and a chill wind brought in fresh unspoiled air through the maze of stone and steel.
    Joggers and dog walkers set out on their daily routines and garbage men went about cleaning the streets before the chaos ensued.
    Samantha McCall lay motionless underneath her sky-blue bed sheets, her body contorted into the kind of shape that a yoga instructor would have been proud of.
    Slowly she opened one eye as if the other was glued shut. She turned her head and flattened the pillow beneath her so she could get a better look at the alarm clock. It was four in the morning.
    McCall didn’t move at first, merely lay still, hoping that if she didn’t move she would eventually fall back to sleep, but her hopes shattered as she felt her brain starting to click into her morning routine. With a grumble, she crawled from beneath the sheets and headed for the bathroom.
    The wooden floor had a disagreeable chill to it as she entered the large space that combined her sitting room, kitchen and bathroom and was adjacent to the bedroom.
    Quickly she scuttled into the bathroom and shut the door. Seconds later the door slowly opened and a very awake McCall looked out towards the kitchen.
    She felt a cold chill run down her spine as the sound of the coffee