Little Belle Gone Read Online Free PDF

finished processing the scene yet and until the clean up crew came through the blood pools would remain.
    “We didn’t want to disturb the tenants, but the scene will be gone by tomorrow. The cleaning crew is scheduled to come in tonight.” It irked her that he could read her so easily, especially considering that he had been behind her. She halted and he came up to stand with her. Looking down at her, his eyes seemed to smile a bit and against all reason, she felt her face flush. Ridiculous, foolish girl , she berated herself, as she too quickly looked away, pulling his smile down to his lips. Again, that horrid, traitorous place in her mind sparked to life, begging her to take in that winsome smile she was sure he had. Chancing a glance, she discovered, much to her dismay, that it was even more beguiling than she had feared. His strong lips were parted slightly over a row of straight white teeth and the shared glow of his mouth and his eyes made that corner of her mind leap and swirl.
    “I saw it this morning when I left for the academy.” Trying to sound aloof, she moved away from him, shifting the edge of the shroud and stepping through. The tarp prevented the air flow that would have allowed that thick, briny, metallic smell of so much blood to escape. Pinned in as it was, the stench was so heavy inside the confined space that for a moment her stomach lurched. Pulling herself up straighter before he filed in behind her, she scanned the scene, now blessedly free of corpses. The pools of blood were expansive and dark. There was so much blood.
    “That’s right, I forgot you lived here...well, ki.., Detective Cord, what do you see?” He had caught the term in his throat when her head snapped viciously to him. Good, at least he could learn.
    “Well, judging from the amount of blood, it’s a sure bet they died where we found them. Though, that’s not to say the carving was done here, nor the dressing of the desk clerk.” Her mind drank in the scene, all it offered, but especially what it didn’t.
    “And what makes you think that?” She was certain from the respect the other officers had shown him at the briefing that he was good enough to already know. Part of her was offended that he would ask, but it dawned on her that he was supposed to be training her. Resolutely looking anywhere but at him, she explained.
    “Well, according to your briefing, the desk clerk’s uniform was not under the dress,” the word hissed out of her mouth, “and it wasn’t found at the scene or in the dumpsters around the back or the cans along the street. So, one can deduce that the killer either dressed his victim somewhere else, or took the time to thoroughly clean the scene before laying his victims down to die.” Feeling his evaluating gaze narrow on her, she added, “and since the carvings were under the clothes, not through them, we can also assume that both men were shirtless at some point and then redressed. Also, this is a full building, with nearly two hundred apartments, so the time it would have taken to do all of it here in the lobby would have meant inevitably being seen. Honestly, I am a little amazed they were able to bleed out before someone, well, I, found them.” As she finished, she turned her head to find him watching her. Something that looked like pride seemed to hover over his eyes, and again her stomach knotted with a flourish of warmth.

 
     
     
Chapter 6
     
     
    “Good. Perhaps you will be everything Moreano believes you will be, Cord.” He paused to relish the wave of pink that flashed across her face. Pretending he didn’t notice it, or feel his guts tighten in response to it, he turned to the scene. “Actually, that puzzled me, too. The time it would have taken to carve and redress them would have been extensive. That, coupled with the fact that the bodies were positioned so precisely in front of the resident listing board, suggests that every part of this was planned. The stab wounds were