04 A Killing Touch (6 page)

Lionetti nodded at the tech, who unzipped the bag. Foul and violent, the stink of death hit her first. Bile burned in Lana’s stomach but she held it down.

A woman with long, dark hair was covered in the pustules the other bodies had. Sections of her skin had begun to slip. She’d been dead awhile judging by the decay. On her right cheek was a concentration of smaller pustules in four long lines, each the width of a finger. Lining her left jawbone was another line of the smaller pustules. This time the line was shorter and a little wider. Like a thumb.

This touch was more personal than the others. As if her face had been cupped as she looked into the eyes of her killer.

“See what you wanted?”

“Unfortunately.” Not wanting to contaminate evidence, she motioned for the tech to close the bag. “There are two more bodies in the morgue with this same kind of rash.”

Lionetti spoke hesitantly. “You saying this isn’t an accidental death?”

She shrugged. “I’m saying it’s not unique.”

Lionetti told the tech to get the body back to the ME’s office and then turned back to Lana. With a nod for her to follow he walked to a box well away from the other reporters. She didn’t need to be told it was where the woman had been found. The moisture staining the cardboard was enough evidence.

“What do you know, Quinn?”

“Maybe nothing.”

“And maybe something.”

She didn’t want to tell him, but holding back would only make him resent her if there was a connection between victims and the FBI tromped in on the investigation. If she warned him, he’d know what to expect and while he may not appreciate losing the case he at least wouldn’t be able to say she hadn’t been straightforward. “The FBI is looking into a series of deaths by allergic reaction. Each victim has a rash similar to hers.”

“You’re saying I should expect a call taking this case from me.” Bitterness weighted his accusation. He didn’t like the idea of sharing the glory with anyone; it was a part of his reputation that had preceded him from New Jersey. He especially didn’t like the feds moving in on a case of his. No cop did.

“It’s possible they’ll be contacting you. I don’t know if they’ll want to take over or not.” She hoped so, because the team Aidan worked on had an almost perfect record for closing cases. “Thanks for letting me look.”

“Already wishing I hadn’t.”

Certain she was still on to something, and that this body was related to the others, Lana resolved to visit Dr. Reede, the Chief Medical Examiner, before the day was out. In the meantime, she’d head back to the office and do some digging into Jane Doe.

Chapter Four

“Tyler.” Aidan stepped into the tech room connected to their enclosed work area. “You find anything?”

Tyler glanced briefly away from his screens before returning his focus to the machine. It was more of an acknowledgement than Aidan had expected, because interruptions typically met with greetings as chilly as the air keeping the machines cool.

“Lana’s thorough. I’ve found nothing relating the vics to the allergist beyond what she already told you.” Tyler’s foot tapped steadily in time with some obscure metal band only he knew the name of. His dirty blond head bobbed with the rhythm. The beat rocked, but the lyrics were a stream of screams. Thankfully the room was well insulated for climate control so once Aidan stepped out he wouldn’t have to listen to the noise.

Well-insulated and filled wall-to-wall with shelves packed full of gadgets and gizmos, servers and screens, the room was perfect for their tech expert who preferred circuit boards to most humans. Tyler half sat in an ergonomic drafting chair he rarely used correctly as he was frequently rolling from one monitor to the next. He’d deliver intel on the go without the slightest pause in his work.

“Anything relating the vics?”

“Other than death by allergy, no. One was an elderly woman who died in assisted living. Her health had been failing, but cause of death is down as allergic reaction. The other was a young man, early twenties, working as an insurance auditor. There were witnesses to his death. Allergic reaction.”

“They do an autopsy on him?”

“No. The witness statements were all the same. One minute he was eating and was fine. The next he was swelling up and then dead.” Tyler grabbed a corner rail of a shelf and pulled his chair around to another monitor. “I’m writing a program to run both victims simultaneously. An algorithm will work through their known pasts and the people in them to look for cross points. It’s going to take some time.”

Tyler was good in the field, but when he stepped up to technology he was at his best. He’d been pulled into the unit because of the mass quantity of tech crimes they seemed to work, and because his tech skills could help with the non-tech crimes. Sometimes, even Tyler and his gadgets weren’t fast enough.

“I’m running out of time before Lana’s going to show up and demand answers.”

“I’m working as fast as I can.” Tyler shrugged a ropey shoulder that was stronger than it looked. “She doesn’t like it, she can kiss my ass.”

Aidan’s jaw clenched. Lana didn’t need to be kissing another man’s ass—literally or figuratively. She didn’t need to kiss anyone’s anything. He shook his head to stop the track of thoughts. They’d had some awesome sex. They were not a couple. He did not have any claims on her.
Damn it.
“It’s not that simple, Tyler.”

“Look, Aidan.” Tyler turned his caramel gaze to Aidan. “I am working as fast as possible, but since these deaths are different people with different situations and no autopsies have been done, I can’t give you proof as to which of you is right. There may or may not be a case here.”

Which meant Lana would be back on her path of tracking down the doctor. Not that she’d get anything.

Aidan had gone to Dr. Grayson’s office and found himself blocked by the stone wall of the office manager, Jayleen Somers. She said she’d never heard of the auditor, they knew nothing about his death, they couldn’t divulge the identities of their patients without a court order, and Dr. Grayson had apparently been
openly candid
in his article, as opposed to cautiously candid.

As for talking directly with Dr. Grayson… The good doctor apparently only worked three days a week. Today wasn’t one of his days, but Aidan had managed during a brief distraction on Jayleen’s part to snap a quick photo of a patient list with his phone. Those patients were all alive and doing well, but they couldn’t approach them with any questions until they had a court order for the patient list. Even then there didn’t seem to be anything to find.

“What about Grayson’s study? Anything on that?”

“I need a court order and right now there’s not enough to compel a judge to issue one.”

“So there’s nothing.”

“There’s a third victim.” Dressed in perfectly pleated, black slacks with wide legs and a brilliant blue blouse, Lana crossed Tyler’s space and kissed his cheek. “How are your CPU chips?”

“Processing nicely.” Tyler rubbed his thumb across her cheek and smiled. “Who brought you up here?”

“Breck cleared me.”

Aidan dug his molars into the inside of his cheek. Lana was crisply put together right down to her flawless makeup and shiny lipstick, but it wasn’t her appearance that had him wanting to throw her over his shoulder and carry her off. It was her easy intimacy with Tyler. The tech rarely paid attention to anything other than his machines, but Lana pulled his attention without effort.

“They always do.” She bumped her shoulder against Tyler’s and faced Aidan. “Not a productive day?”

“Depends on your definition of productive.” Aidan shoved his hands into his jacket pockets to keep from grabbing for her. “What do you mean there’s a new victim? You were supposed to back off the story for a while.”

“You asked me to back off the doctor. I did that.” Her glossed lips seduced the words and had Aidan thinking too much about what she’d done with them last night.

“And you found out about this new body how?”

“A source. Cops found a woman this morning with a severe rash like the others.”

Her smirk pissed him off and aroused him simultaneously. The woman was dangerous and made concentration on work a challenge. “And?”

“She was found in a cardboard box in an alley. The field tech said it looked like she’d only been there a few days. The autopsy suggests she was frozen before that.”

“They’ve already autopsied her? And what do you mean frozen?”

“The officer on the case asked for a rush. She’d thawed out, but there was damage consistent with frostbite on some of her internal organs and in her nasal passages.” Lana shuddered over the information she was imparting. As tough as she was, she was a civilian and by extension was naturally sheltered from some of life’s realities. “The other victims were discovered almost immediately and in nicer neighborhoods. This woman was found in West Little Havana.”

“Is this how you back off a story?” Aidan’s nerves, and instincts, tingled. Whatever had started as a potentially linked series of deaths was looking more related by the moment.

“I didn’t pursue the story. It pursued me.” Lana saw logic differently than he did. Of course, most journalists did. “While I was with the detective at the scene he let me see the box the woman was found in. The cardboard was warped and tearing and still moist. She was moved in it and left near a dumpster to thaw and be discovered.”

“We could try running freezer sales to see if anyone pops up,” Tyler said. “Though it’s unlikely. Especially given the use of deep freezers to store meat and fish.”

“Don’t you have some sort of profiling abilities?” Lana asked. “Some way of estimating how far a killer would carry a body to dump it? You know, would he travel far from his home? Would he dump her where it’s convenient? Why would he freeze one, but not the others?”

“Farther away keeps the spotlight off. The better question is who is she and why was she frozen? Why preserve her body?” Aidan stepped closer to Lana until her floral perfume reached him. Its softness suited her when she was in the bedroom melting beneath his touches. Outside the bedroom, it was at odds with her tough exterior. “The ME give you any idea how long she’d been frozen?”

“A few weeks was his best guess. He’ll know more after running more tests, but—”

“That takes time,” Aidan finished. “I’m hearing that a lot today.”

“So…” Lana cocked her hip. “Are you willing to concede my point?”

“Today’s body has strange circumstances, but it’s not our case. I don’t want to pull it from the locals and piss them off just to soothe…a suspicion.” He’d almost said her imagination, but stopped himself. He didn’t want to appear to not believe her any more than he wanted to fight with her while they were still getting along. “I want facts.”

“But they could hand it over to you willingly.”

“They won’t.”

“If they would, would you seriously look at it? Would you follow the evidence?”

It wasn’t what they normally did. They were talking one victim with obviously suspicious circumstances. Aside from the rash there was no connection between the deaths. Damn if the rash wasn’t a curious point though. “If the officer in charge turned it over willingly.”

“Great.” Lana reached into her bag and pulled out a business card. “Lionetti’s expecting a call. Would you like me to take you to where she was found?”

“You’ve already been there?”

“This morning.” She shrugged. “I got a tip another body had been found. I followed up.”

“Without calling me.”

“It wasn’t your case. Isn’t yet. You said you wanted to look into the doctor. This wasn’t near the doctor. Besides, for all we could have known it wasn’t related. I am still a journalist.”

She was arguing semantics when they both knew she’d known the body had been like the others. “You promised to back off.”

“As I’ve already stated, I haven’t done anything to follow up on the other bodies or contact the doctor.”

“Not the point.”

“Guess you need to be more specific next time.”

Tyler laughed. “You two sound like a married couple bickering over who’s going to pick up the kids.”

“Ha!” Lana scoffed. “And on that horrifying note, I’m leaving so you can call Lionetti.”

She spun on the ball of her simple black stiletto and headed toward Kieralyn and Ava who were huddled over something at Kieralyn’s desk. Even dressed more sedately the woman was walking provocation. Aidan didn’t need to see her legs to imagine how the muscles flexed and released with each step.

Aidan turned toward Tyler, who was watching him as intently as he normally studied his computers. “What?”

Tyler shrugged. “Didn’t expect to see you fall so fast.”

“What? No. Lana? Nuh-uh. I am not falling for her.” She was only going to be a fun distraction until the desire for her burned out. It had to burn out because he couldn’t be with a woman who always put herself in danger. He couldn’t risk the pain of losing her if he was able to get past her job.

“Because you’re already sunk.”

“How could you know anything when you never take your nose out of your electronics?”

“My nose isn’t what I see with. And I can still read people.” Tyler’s fingers flew across the keys as he set the computer before him to work.