Vile Read Online Free PDF Page B

downtown camera in the system. It was a tedious task, but if they caught a glimpse of the woman who’d dropped off the child maybe they would at least learn the make of the vehicle she drove.
    It was worth a shot.
    Hayes was at his desk contacting hospitals in a hundred mile radius. Another monotonous job that likely wouldn’t yield any results.
    Clues in a case such as this were like finding the needle in the haystack. You had to sift through the numerous possibilities in hope of finding a single shred of evidence.
    Approximately seven hours and counting. Why had no one reported the child missing?
    A rap on the door preceded Deputy Chief Harold Black poking his head into the office. Jess worked up a smile although she would have preferred to demand what the hell he wanted. She was not happy with the man. Then again, she rarely was.
    “Chief Harris,” he said in that kind, we’re-all-friends-here tone of his, “I need your help with the perp I have in interview room three.”
    Jess smoothed her hand down the front of her suit jacket. Very soon, she had to take the time to go shopping. Already she’d noticed her waistbands tightening. She’d had to hold her breath to zip this skirt this morning. “Certainly. I’ll be right there.”
    Black opened the door a little wider. “I’ll just wait and walk you down.”
    Lieutenant Hayes was at her side before Jess could respond. “I should join you. In case you need my assistance.”
    For a second, Jess weighed the prospect of telling both men that she was perfectly capable of walking wherever she wanted to go, but she opted not to waste her breath. Instead, she smiled at Hayes and said, “Good. You can carry my bag.”
    Without so much as a blink, he strode over to her desk and rounded up the big black leather bag she carried everywhere. Actually, it wasn’t the original she’d bought herself for her fortieth birthday—that one had gone up in smoke with the fire at Dan’s. This was one just like it. Sylvia Baron, Jefferson County’s associate medical examiner and a friend, had given it to Jess.
    “Don’t forget my phone,” she reminded Hayes.
    He grabbed the cell phone from her desk and hustled over to the door.
    Jess turned to Black. “Lead the way.”
    As they exited, Jess glanced at Harper who smirked. Though Hayes was a damned fine addition to their team so far, he still had a way to go with fitting in. Simply because he outranked the others didn’t make him more important to Jess or to the team. Somehow, he had decided that it was his job to stick to Jess. His eagerness was creating tension among the others. That annoyance, however, wasn’t anywhere near the top of her priority list.
    “We received a call this morning,” Black explained as they headed for the elevators, “about a disturbance at one of the smaller homeless shelters in the area. When we arrived, the residents were in the street and the two men overseeing the facility were injured. One is still in the hospital. The other was treated and released.”
    “There was a murder?” Jess presumed so since Crimes Against Persons had caught the case. Though that division worked everything from assaults to murders, she suspected they were talking about a murder since Black was personally involved. He preferred having his hand in the higher profile cases.
    He nodded. “A gruesome one with some unexpected similarities to a previous case involving Spears.”
    Jess stilled. “Why wasn’t I called to the scene?”
    They hesitated at the elevator and Black pressed the call button. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves now, Harris. I think this might be a copycat trying to get our attention. That’s why I’m calling on you now.”
    The elevator doors opened and Jess moved inside. Waiting for the others to board gave her the few seconds she needed to get her irritation under control. About a minute of his condescending attitude and she was ready to punch the guy. “Why don’t you tell me about the