Touched by Death (12 page)

"Sure," said Stephen. "About as likely
as finding a bunch of chained women in a grave intended for victims
of an earthquake disaster."

Jade stood up. She glanced back toward the trailers,
barely visible through the rocks. "Bruce said he'd be here around
noon today." She took a long drink. "He was hoping you'd have
information on that first woman with the chains."

"Right. That's why I'm going back to work on
her right now." Dr. Mike rotated his shoulders.

Closing the lid on her own bottle, Jade nodded. "And
I'll photograph what we have so far here – then when Bruce arrives,
we'll proceed."

Relief lit Dr. Mike's face. "Good plan."

Jade walked down with him and retrieved her camera.
As soon as she returned to the gravesite, she adjusted her camera for
the light and started with close-up pictures from all sides.

Stephen watched her for a few minutes. "Fine.
I'm going to grab a bottle of water then. The dust here fills my lungs
and dries my throat."

"Grab me one while you're there, please."
Jade focused and shot, changed her position and did it all over again.
She tried not to think about the poor people in front of her. But her
mind twisted through the endless possibilities. How did they end up
in chains?

The stillness around her settled in. Jade felt as
if she were being watched. She glanced around wondering how long Stephen
had been gone.

Weird.
She continued to photograph their findings. Then, because
she couldn't get the feeling out of her mind, she refocused her camera
and started taking pictures of the surrounding woods. Just a nice series
of shots showing that there was no one there. By the time she turned
back around again, Stephen stood beside her grinning.

"And you are doing what?"

She smiled. "Sightseeing."

Jade studied their new room and immediately laid claim
to a small portable table where she set about creating a workspace beside
the window that overlooked the gardens. This space was a hell of an
improvement. It was twice as large as the space they had before, boasted big bay windows that let
in lots of natural light and came with several large tables. Bruce had
decided that they needed a more secure area at the hotel for work. This
had been the perfect solution. Nice.

Now if only there was an answer to the on-site security
issue.

Knowing she needed as much computer time as possible,
she focused on her charts as the others moved around her.

"Couldn't find yourself any better spot to be
in the way, huh?" Bruce grinned at her as the bookshelf went on
the wall behind her.

"Nope. Figured this offered optimal irritation."

"You're probably right." Stephen came over
and dumped a large box of binders destined for the bookcase behind her
on the floor. "When you get a chance you can put these on those."
He patted her gently on the shoulder before disappearing again.

She shook her head and entered the information Dr.
Mike had added to Rose's file. Holding the chart in her hand, she puzzled
over the handwritten notes. Dr. Mike's writing was damn near impossible
to read. He also didn't do computers well. But according to all accounts
he was a hell of a doctor.

"Hello, Jade. How are you?"

Surprised by the strange voice calling out to her,
Jade glanced around and frowned. Tony. She should have expected to see
him at some point. Still, his arrival on their moving day was a surprise
– just not a good one. Though their relationship had been civil
so far, she hadn't been at her best during their first meeting and he
hadn't been enthusiastic about her joining the team. He'd been desperate
to complete the team quickly and with Duncan's urging, had finally agreed
to give her the position – with a warning he'd be keeping an eye on
how she handled the job.

Still she was here. And that made him her boss. "Hello,
Tony. I didn't know you were coming."

"I'll be in and out several times over the next
few months."

She smiled politely. That made sense. A lot of money
was being piped into this recovery. "To be expected."

"How are you handling your job?"

Was there something off in his voice? She studied
his face, looking for anything other than general interest. "I'm
doing well, thank you. The job is interesting and once we get properly
set up, I can see we'll make a lot of headway."

"Are you finding it difficult to be here?"

Raising one eyebrow, Jade shook her head slightly.
"Not at all. Haiti has moved forward – plus the job is very different
– not many similarities between the two experiences at all."
She shrugged her shoulders. "Things are good."

He appeared to be about to speak then thought better
of it – and left. She stared at the empty doorway for a long
time.

Had he told anyone about their first meeting? Maybe
not all of it, but someone must know to keep an eye on her.

She would appreciate it if her problems stayed private.
But then Tony had a job to do too. Did he consider her a liability?
Or was he just checking in on his investment?

Retrieving the chart again, she held it under the
light to try and decipher Dr. Mike's notes.

It took almost as long to do the charts as to process
each body. But when
didn't
paperwork take longer? She searched through her downloaded
picture folder to locate the ones for Rose's case file. Jade attached
over forty, wanting to be thorough in case the police followed up. She
finally turned to the last file.

Where had everyone gone?

"Are you done yet?" Dressed in a long, brightly
colored cotton dress, Meg looked so relaxed, so beautiful, Jade sighed.
She wished she could wear dresses like that. But she was so short, they
only made her look shorter.

Then her eye caught sight of the wonderful ice cream
and banana concoction in Meg's hands. Jade straightened, her stomach
growling. "Is that for me?"

"Hell, no." Meg laughed and took another
bite. "Go get your own."

"Where? Are you guys eating without letting me
know? I've been working hard in here."

"Huh? It was lunchtime a good half hour ago.
Your stomach always lets you know."

Jade checked her computer. "Shit. I almost missed
it." She bolted to the dining room, followed by the sound of Meg's
laughter. The rest of the team sat eating and talking around tables.
The only spare chair was Meg's.

Jade heaped her plate with something that looked like
fish again and grabbed Meg's spot. No one had made a new place for Tony,
so he'd picked her chair.
Of course.

Shrugging it off, Jade focused on the food in front
of her.

"Hungry?" Tony asked curiously, watching
her eat.

She couldn't be eating that much more than everyone
else, surely? It only looked bad because she was the only one with food
on her plate. She nodded and ate several more bites. She had taken rather
a lot.

"Jade has a healthy appetite." Bruce smirked.
"I think she eats more than me. And where she puts it I don't know."

That started off a major joking fest – with
Jade being the brunt of it. She took it good-naturedly. As it was, even
with all she'd been eating, she could swear she was losing more weight,
or her shorts had stretched. Not good. The weight loss might be because
of the high temperatures here. She didn't know.

And as long as she didn't get sick, she didn't really
care.

"I think she has worms."

Shocked, fork halfway to her mouth, Jade stared at
Stephen in astonishment.

"What? That would be the first thing I'd have
checked." He grinned at her. Then forked a large bite into his
mouth.

She gasped mockingly, "Are you implying I'm a
bitch?"

"Well…."

Snatching up her napkin, she crumpled it into a ball
and threw it at him. "Be nice."

He held out his hands. "Mercy. I wouldn't think
such a thing, honest."

Jade rolled her eyes at him again and finished the
food on her plate. Replete, she pushed the empty plate back and sighed
happily. Then she finally clued in to the conversation around her. Bruce
had stopped in to speak to the authorities.

"What did they say?"

"In short, they don't want to hear about supposition.
If we have any proof of a crime then we're to contact them, but otherwise
don't bother them. I'm not surprised, actually. They're swamped with
more pressing problems."

Dr. Mike interjected. "I think their resources
are stretched to the max. They have their hands full dealing with current
crimes instead of possible crimes from a year ago – if not longer."

Bruce agreed. "Exactly. They did say that chains
are not part of any Haitian burial tradition – to their knowledge."

Surprise lit Susan's face. "Here I was so sure
it was an after-death ritual."

"Apparently not."

"Do we proceed as if this is a crime scene?"
Stephen asked, a frown creasing his forehead.

Studying him, Jade realized she'd enjoyed Stephen's
company these past weeks. He was her age, and unlike Bruce and Dr. Mike
who were her superiors, he was easy to talk to. She could see a nice
friendship developing here.

"Why is one way different than another way?"
Tony interjected, not at all happy with the situation. "We're not
here to solve crimes. We're here to find the remains of this man's family
members and take them home. Quick and simple."

Jade had been on the verge of saying something but
closed her mouth. She didn't want to rock the boat. Tony was right.
CSI personnel they weren't – and he paid the bills. She winced. True,
they couldn't justify spending more time on the manacled bodies than
on the others, but if they didn't, who would?

"Someone needs to consider these people."
Wilson lounged back in his chair, his face a study of exasperation and
anger. He glared at Tony. "We understand that you and your clients
are footing the bills for this job, but from the first, our understanding
was that we'd do what we could for the others in the grave as well.
Surely, being as meticulous as possible isn't beyond the scope of our
job? Reporting a crime scene and possible victims shouldn't be either."
A small tic played at the corner of his mouth. Jade held her breath,
waiting.

"As long as they are given the same consideration
as everyone else and not costing additional monies to process, then
there is no problem," Tony said stiffly.

"And if a little more money is required to properly
process these people, then what?" Wilson challenged.

Jade winced at the aggression but agreed with her
team member.

"I can't okay any expenses that aren't within
the parameters we first set out," Tony responded primly. "Bruce
knows exactly what those are. I expect him to enforce those limits."

Bruce grimaced. "Thanks for passing the buck."

Tony stood up. "I have no intention in doing
that. Just make sure you don't either. You are all here to do a job
for my client. That is all. Nothing more and nothing less. The other
people in that grave are to be processed, entered into a database and
reburied in the same grave if no one claims them. Finished."

He strode out of the room, leaving the rest of them
to stare uncomfortably at each other.

Wilson snorted. "That went well, didn't it?"

Dr. Mike shook his head. "Or not."

No lights. No guards. No brains. So much gear and
equipment left for the taking. He knew many men that would have cleaned
out the trailers in no time. Although, if he told them about the dead
bodies, he wasn't sure anyone would touch a thing. His people had respect
for the dead.

The hills cast long shadows though the moon offered
him lots of light for walking the clearing. Not that he needed it. He'd
spent his life here. The darkness held no secrets from him.

Avoiding the big reefer truck, he wandered to the
lab trailer, quickly picking the lock as he had the night before. The
women fascinated him. He'd never had a white woman. Their skin was so
silvery, and looked so soft. In the sun, they almost glowed. At first
he'd checked out the little blonde more closely, but decided to back
off – figured one woman for the boss and one for him was good enough.

Besides the bigger one would offer more fight. She
was older, more experienced and a little less likely to be controlled…
and that was fine with him. He wasn't his old man.

As his boss didn't like fighting, the quiet one would
suit him. He always walked away when Tasha and John got into it. Tasha
was not going to let a day go by without letting everyone around know
exactly how she felt. She'd always been like that. Easy and fast on
opinions and bossy to boot – only she was family. There was only so
much he could do to change her attitude.

He wandered around the inside of the trailer, intrigued
and repelled at the same time. How could they do what they did? They
didn't see it as wrong – he understood that. But to stand there day
after day and touch dead people? No, that just wasn't right. He walked
over the entrance to stand on the small porch.

He couldn't understand the women working in here.

Tasha would never touch a corpse. Then she did only
what she wanted to anyway. Their father had tried to rein her in a
long time ago, but with the death of their mother, she'd gained the
upper hand and look at his father now. Christ, Emile rather jump off
a cliff than finish like his old man. Speaking of which… He stared
off in the direction of Peppe's cabin. Chances were the old man hadn't
had anything to eat all day. Damn Tasha for passing that job to him.

He hated having to deal with his father. Sure Tasha
was pregnant, but women had been having babies since time began and
other women managed to get their work done. Why couldn't she?

Because she refused.

Well, he straightened – enlightened. Then so
would he refuse. Damn weakling, John could do it. He never refused Tasha
anything. He could take care of Peppe too.