Ruthless Game (A Captivating Suspense Novel) Read Online Free PDF Page A

though she had seen the crime scene from the other side of the room.
    "I think we can skip checking for a pulse," Greg said.
    Alex was still picturing the room as though she were standing on the other side. She tried to move but couldn't. It was as though someone had taken the remote control for her body away from her and had paused her reflexes.
    "You're looking a little pale. You okay?"
    She kicked herself back on and nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
    "This is your first corpse. It's not supposed to be easy. You want to get a breath of air?"
    She forced herself to shake her head, letting her eyes move past the body. "I'm fine."
    Greg grinned. "Tough guy." He pressed his radio. "This is Adam Nine. Come in."
    "Nine, go ahead," the dispatcher responded.
    "We've got a DBF. Cancel EMT. Call the ME's office instead. And notify the detectives on duty."
    "Copy."
    Alex looked down at their DBF, "dead body found," and wondered what the man had done to deserve such a death.
    Beside her, Greg put his hands on his hips and shook his head, following her thoughts. "Wonder who this guy pissed off."
    With her gun tucked back in its holster, she knelt and studied the side of the man's head. His dark hair was graying by his ears and thinning in a small circle at the back of his scalp. Except for one eye and the side of his nose, she couldn't see his face.
    "You doing okay down there?"
    She looked up, feeling more steadied the more clinical she became. "Fine, why?"
    He shook his head. "Couldn't pay me to get that close."
    "You're a cop, Greg."
    With a wave of his arm, he dismissed her comment. "Medical examiner gets these guys. I work for the living."
    "Smell's not bad yet." At the morgue, she'd encountered corpses that had been discovered by their smells days and even weeks after death. It wasn't a pleasant experience.
    Careful not to disrupt anything, she poked the dead man's muscles through his sleeve. The muscles were taut with rigor mortis, but she knew that wouldn't indicate exactly when he had died. Rigor mortis tended to start between two and six hours after death, then disappeared in about the same time frame. Alex had paid extra attention to the basics because she hoped to end up in the detective division. Which also meant getting used to death.
    Inhaling deeply, she returned her gaze to the victim's neck and then followed the trail of blood that looked like finger paint along his chin and neck. She circled the body with her gaze, searching for blood splatter and the evidence that the technicians would use to determine how and when the man was killed. Except for the pool of blood and a little tissue, the area surrounding the body was relatively clean. Alex guessed the victim might already have been lying down when he was shot.
    Feeling solid, she studied the stump where his hand had been, scanning the remnants for defense wounds and finding none. No pooled blood there. She guessed the hand had been removed post-mortem. Forcing a detached, clinical mode, she surveyed the area around the body. Every few minutes, she glanced back at the body to test that she was still in control, that she could do it.
    "What's this?" Greg asked.
    She turned to see Greg lean over and pick something off the floor with a tissue.
    In the white cloth, he cupped a small gold loop earring.
    Alex's eyes widened as she touched her ears. It was one of hers.
    "It's yours?"
    Fire lit in her cheeks.
    "Alex?"
    She showed him her empty left earlobe. "It must have just fallen off."
    He handed it back to her. "Rookie, we call that contaminating the crime scene."
    She saluted, trying to make a joke of it.
    He handed her the earring. "Lombardi would have your head on a platter." With a sardonic smile, he stopped and motioned to the body. "Guess that wouldn't be too funny to this guy."
    Alex forced a smile and put the earring back on as Greg pulled his notebook from his pocket.
    "Must've fallen out of your pocket," he said.
    "My pocket?"
    She looked up at him and