Dead Center (The Rookie Club Book 1)

Dead Center

The Rookie Club

Book One

by

Danielle Girard

Award-winning Author

Author's Cut Edition

DEAD CENTER

Reviews & Accolades

"....will keep you guessing and anxiously waiting for more."

~Lisa Gardner, New York Times bestselling author

"Compelling and compassionate, with three of the strongest female characters to have graced the genre in years."

~John Connolly, New York Times bestselling author

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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ISBN: 978-1-61417353-3

Copyright © 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014 by Danielle Girard. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Previously titled: The Rookie Club

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Dedication

For Helen Breitwieser, for guidance, untiring support, and friendship. This one is all yours!

Acknowledgements

As always, I am indebted to so many generous people who took the time to keep this book on track. I hope I have done them justice. Any errors are wholly mine.

The San Francisco Police Department has continued to be incredibly generous. Thank you to Lieutenant Richard Corriea of the sexual assault division for access to the department and to Inspector Dan Everson, now of the homicide division, who took me through a day in the life of a sex crimes inspector. I am especially grateful to sex crimes inspector Dolly Casazza who has answered every question and then some as The Rookie Club came to being. For DNA information, I would like to thank police inspector and DNA expert Pam Hofsass. For coroner information, I am indebted to Andrea Wagner of the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner's Office. I appreciate the help of Anthony Toby O'Geen, Ph.D., Soil Resource Specialist in Cooperative Extension from the Department of Land, Air & Water Resources at UC Davis.

In addition to wonderful professional resources, I am also very fortunate to have an amazing cast of friends who were involved in The Rookie Club. I am extremely grateful to Tony Kelly, who spent many lunch hours walking the streets of San Francisco, talking about New York City and trying to make sense of 9/11. Thank you to Dr. Rachel Lewis for the mock-ups of medical diagnoses for my victims, to Brian Grossenbacher of Grossenbacher Guides for fishing terminology, to David Wanderer of Ridgeline Computer Solutions for endless technical support, and to Dr. Tracey Hessel for setting me straight on San Rafael geography. Thank you to Inglath, Monica, Lisa H., Lisa B., and Jean for reading and commenting on all stages of the manuscript and for the moral support only other authors know how to provide.

I'm also deeply indebted to the editorial staff at New American Library. To Claire Zion and Kara Welsh for making this happen and especially to my brilliant editor, Kara Cesare, for the incredible time and energy she has invested.

Lastly, I want to thank friends and family who know when to tiptoe around me and when to drag me out into daylight. Especially Marcie, Ixtla, Albee, Tiffany, Dani, and Julia. And to Leigh Anne, for Tuesday lunches.

Finally, my sincerest gratitude and affection go to my husband without whom any achievement would be diminished... and especially for this latest chapter. It's one worth writing.

Chapter 1

Emily Osbourne stepped out of the darkened sex crimes department and closed the door behind her. The station was deserted, everyone already at the awards ceremony. Truly the last place she wanted to go. She'd been up since five a.m., in the lab for fourteen hours. Cases were so backlogged that evidence in even the most time-sensitive ones was taking up to three months. Any crime less serious than murder was backed up six months or more.

At least she'd finally finished the initial findings on Jamie Vail's serial rapist case. It was more than six months old and Vail had been on her hard. Now all she had to do was stay awake for two or three hours of acceptance speeches and she'd be able to catch a few hours of sleep. Maybe even seven. It might feel like a record.