Fatal Care Read Online Free PDF Page B

taking her arm. “Come on. Let’s go look at dead babies.”
    They walked along the periphery of the excavation site. The sidewalk was uneven with cracked cement slabs that jutted up. Joanna stepped cautiously, inspecting the ground and surrounding area. The fence next to her was made of plywood and painted green. There were Mexican gang markings sprayed on it and a scattering of posters announcing a rock concert. Across the street were small, run-down apartment buildings with faded stucco surfaces. The cars on the street were at least five years old.
    They passed by trees and tall bushes that blocked their view of the street. On the ground were broken pieces of glass and a discarded milk carton. Joanna’s heel caught in a crack of the sidewalk, and she stumbled badly. Quickly she grabbed Jake’s arm and steadied herself.
    “Christ,” Joanna grumbled. “You’d think they’d fix these sidewalks.”
    “Not in this neighborhood,” Jake said. “The people who live around here don’t have much pull at city hall.”
    “I’ll bet these sidewalks are fixed promptly when this multimillion-dollar project is completed.”
    “Oh, yeah,” Jake agreed. “Money always talks.”
    Jake grinned at her, studying her profile. She was so damn pretty and sexy, and she seemed to get prettier and sexier with time. Everything about her turned him on. He glanced over his shoulder and, seeing no one, he reached for her waist. “How do you manage to look so good at the end of a long work day?”
    “I primp,” she said softly. “I always primp for you.”
    Jake pulled her closer and gave her a quick hug, smelling the shampoo-fresh aroma of her hair.
    Joanna brushed her cheek against his and then playfully pushed him away. “Control yourself.”
    Jake smiled mischievously. “Aw, you’re no fun at all.”
    “That’s not what you said last night.”
    They chuckled at one another and walked on, their arms touching ever so slightly. Ahead of them, the street curved and began to slope downward.
    Jake asked, “Do you want to go out for dinner later?”
    “Sure. I should be finished at Memorial sometime after midnight.”
    “You’re that backed up, huh?”
    “I don’t even want to talk about it.”
    They came to an opened chain-link gate. Ducking under yellow police tape, they entered the excavation site. Directly in front of them was a steep dirt ramp that went down six stories. At the bottom of the huge pit, a team of medical examiners and their assistants were turning up the earth with small shovels. Joanna could see miniature red flags on sticks that were stuck in the ground.
    “The red flags mark the places where the bodies were found. Right?” Joanna asked.
    “Right.”
    Joanna counted seven flags.
    Lou Farelli trudged up the incline, huffing and puffing loudly. At the top he paused to catch his breath. “Goddamn it! We need an escalator here.”
    “You got anything?” Jake asked.
    “Nothing. Nada. Zilch.” Farelli coughed hard and then cleared his throat. “Nobody saw anything. The construction gang gets here at seven a.m. and leaves at four p.m. sharp. They saw nothing unusual. Nobody was hanging around or casing the place.”
    Jake pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. “What about the people in the apartment units across the street?”
    “Mainly blue-collar workers who lock their doors real tight and turn television sets way up so they can’t hear the drug deals and fights that go on all night.”
    “So nobody heard anybody kicking in a fence last night, huh?”
    “If they did, they ain’t talking about it.”
    “What about addicts?”
    “They congregate in a park three blocks from here. I’ve got a black-and-white over there now, rounding them up.” Farelli slowly twisted his shoulders and stretched his sore back. “This isn’t going to be a good day. It started out crummy and it’s staying that way.”
    Jake nodded. “Have you heard anything more about Billy Cunningham?”
    “He’s not