Justice in the Shadows Read Online Free PDF Page A

when? Being a registered confidential informant meant that Sandy was listed with the department by name and paid out of department funds on a regular basis. And if that were the case, Sandy’s identity was now on file for anyone to find. Jesus, as if being on the streets isn’t dangerous enough for her already. Why not just hang a target around her neck.
    Mitchell managed a nod as Jason walked in with Sandy beside him, but her stomach was in knots.
    “Can I get you some coffee or a coke?” Jason asked.
    Sandy did a quick scan of the room, hesitating for millisecond on Mitchell’s face, before fixing on Rebecca with a defiant stare. “Yeah, sure. Why not.”
    Addressing the group at large, Rebecca explained, “I asked Sandy to come down because I want her to look at last night’s live feed. It’s possible she might recognize the location, or the girls, or even the guy.”
    Watts grunted in appreciation. Mitchell said nothing, but her eyes never left Sandy’s face.
    “I can bring it up on the big screen in the viewing room,” Sloan offered.
    “Great. So’s we can all get a close-up of the guy’s pecker.” Watts inclined his head toward Sandy. “Any chance you’ll be able to recognize that? “
    “Depends,” Sandy said flatly. “Most of them look pretty much the same, except…” her eyes dropped briefly to Watts’s crotch, “some of them are a lot smaller than others.”
    Watts grinned, not looking the least bit offended.
    Sandy stayed close to Rebecca’s side as the group wended its way through the core of the work area, aware of Dell walking just behind her. Frye didn’t tell me Dell would be here tonight. Jesus, she looks pissed, too.
    Once there, Sloan pushed a button and almost immediately images sprang to life on the large screen on one wall.
    “I want you to look at the girls first,” Rebecca said. “Then we’ll go back, and you can look at him.”
    Sandy was oddly silent as she watched the action on the screen. A man in a nondescript uniform entered a room in which the only furnishings were a bedroom set of the type sold in discount warehouses, a few lamps, and a chair. The bed was made up with a faded quilt. She leaned forward as two girls entered the room. One was Asian and the other Caucasian. The man stripped as they feigned surprise and awkward shyness.
    “Can you…you know…make this bigger?” Sandy stared fixedly at the screen. “I want to see their faces…their eyes.”
    “Just a second.” Sloan made some adjustments and zoomed in on the Asian girl’s face.
    Sandy nodded in satisfaction. “She’s young, but not quite as young as they want you to think.”
    “Anything else?” Rebecca whispered softly.
    “I don’t know them,” Sandy replied hollowly. Watching the young girls do what she herself did on a nightly basis was harder than she had expected it to be. It was even worse knowing that Dell was watching. Why do I care what anyone thinks? Even her.
    “Okay,” Rebecca whispered, hearing the discomfort in Sandy’s voice. Over her shoulder, she said to Sloan, “Get us a shot of the guy now.”
    The images blurred, and then a profile of the man’s face came into view. Sandy straightened suddenly. “Wait…can you go back?...There…” she pointed at the screen. “On his neck…is that a scar?”
    “Sloan?”
    “Can’t be sure, but Jason can work it up for us later with the imaging software.”
    “Good girl, Sandy.” Rebecca’s voice was tight with excitement. “Do you know him?”
    “Seen him, maybe,” Sandy replied. “I remember something about a guy with a scar on his neck shaped like a, whatdayacallit, a scimitar.”
    “Turn it off,” Rebecca ordered.
    The lights came up and they all stood, blinking, carefully not looking at one another.
    “If you can give me pictures of those girls, I can show them around,” Sandy offered.
    “Jason will get them made up for you tonight,” Sloan replied.
    Sandy nodded, really looking at Sloan for the first