Touched by Death (9 page)

At the open door, she watched Dane maneuver the machine
onto a trailer he kept parked there. He made it look easy as he handled
the equipment. She gave him a small wave as he hopped out.

"Hey. Didn't expect to see you here."

He walked toward her, that long loose-limbed stride
eating the distance in seconds. She watched appreciatively. "This
is where you'll find me most of the time. The others will come and go
from the hotel and the site. I'm likely to be a permanent fixture here."

"How are you making out?" He peered around
the corner of the door. "Dark."

She stepped out of the way so he could get a better
view. "I have lights only they're not very bright."

He shook his head. "You'll go blind in here over
the long term."

A small laugh escaped. "Good thing three months
isn't that long. I was actually hoping to move some of my work outside
if I could, only that's not practical. There's no standing room, let
alone a large enough deck, or tables out here."

He backed up several steps then walked around the
stairs looking at the simple plywood steps leading to the doorway. "Hmmm…"

Jade walked down the stairs and joined him, facing
the trailer and trying to see what he saw. "Hmmm…? What does
that mean?"

"I have a small portable porch with stairs that
attaches to my work trailers – for when we're onsite. It's not pretty
and it's really only meant to provide a bit of extra space, but it's
handy. I could exchange your stairs for that set." He walked closer
then glanced at her. "With a sheet of plywood on top of the railing
you'd have a workspace. Not pretty but..."

Waving her arms around the area, she pointed out,
"Do you see anything pretty here? The conditions are rough but
our equipment is top notch."

His face lit with understanding. "That's all
that counts. The job isn't nice to begin with so get in, get it done,
and then get out, right?"

She smiled. "Right."

His gaze stayed on her face longer than necessary.

She flushed at the naked appreciation revealed in
his gaze. It had been a long time since she'd seen that kind of look
in a man's eyes. She kinda liked it. Actually she liked it a lot. A
shy smile slipped out.

His gaze deepened, warmed. After a long moment, he
cleared his throat. "You should make sure you get out for a walk
everyday too. Being inside with poor light like that, well..."
He frowned at the dim light showing from the doorway of the trailer.

"Thanks, Dad."

Her teasing tone wiped the frown off his face. He
laughed. "Ouch. I guess I deserved that, didn't I?"

"Maybe." She enjoyed the bantering. "Well
maybe not. You are closer to my brother in age."

"Well thanks for small blessings." He studied
her face. "I tell you what; I'll forgive you if you let me buy
you a coffee."

She felt her face warm. Inside she was delighted at
both the invitation and the idea of a fresh brewed java. "Coffee?
Is there a place to get a decent cup?" Maybe staying here for three
months wouldn't be such a hardship after all. Her smile brightened.

"Ahhh. There is if you know where to find it.
It would be my pleasure to introduce you to the pleasures of Jacmel."

She laughed. "I can't wait."

J
ade watched as the truck and trailer, loaded with
his machinery, pulled slowly out of the clearing. With the lab trailers
parked as close against the rocks as possible, she figured Dane had
almost enough room to make the turn in one go. Again, his smooth exit
showed his exceptional handling skills.

She hated to see him leave. At the same time, he confused
her, stirred feelings she hadn't expected to feel...at least not here.
Not now. The competent air he projected was seductive. That wasn't unusual, power in all
forms attracted her. A year ago she'd lost her own power. She was determined
to make this trip work. To regain her power. To regain herself. To regain
her soul.

Dane seemed understated, simple, exuded quiet control
– a man to have in a tight corner. A man who wouldn't walk out and
leave someone hurting.

The opposite of her fiancé.

Ex-fiancé.
She doubted Dane would have trouble making simple
decisions in life. Like what to have on a pizza or where to go for a
special meal. Her ex would whine for hours when she brought him in on
the little decisions. However when she dared to have an opinion on large
things, like the type of vehicle she'd like to buy – watch out. He'd
thrown a hissy fit over that and stomped her choice into the ground.
She'd shelved the decision on vehicles . Good thing…considering.

She knew her brother hadn't been impressed with her
choice of partner and thankfully, he hadn't dared to comment when that
same partner bolted.

Her mental state wouldn't have withstood the criticism
from outside herself.

How had so much changed in a week? She now sat out
in the countryside of Haiti – a place she'd sworn she'd never
return to – was active in a job she also thought she'd never have
accepted, and had actually studied the muscular butt of one of the most
attractive men she'd come across in weeks – make that months. On top
of all that, she realized she hadn't cried since leaving home.

It was hard to admit, but she'd been so ensconced
in her private prison, she hadn't realized that the prison had been
a safety net to stop her from stepping back into the real world. She
had needed that time...in the beginning. But she'd been more than capable
of moving on months ago. Instead she'd chosen to stay a prisoner in
her own shell rather than face the real world. How long would she have
stayed there, if not for Duncan and this job?

She returned inside to continue her work with the
adult male currently on her table. Meg had taken DNA samples earlier,
while Jade did dental impressions. The body had been checked and charted,
photos taken. This skeleton was complete. The victim had been wearing
socks, heavy in nylon, encased in runners of some synthetic material
that had helped hold the feet together. This male was young, maybe nineteen
or twenty. He'd suffered a break to his right arm a long time ago.

Jade recorded everything she could see to identify
him. There were a few personal effects found near the remains that would
go down on his chart but would also be entered into a main database
in case they weren't his. The skeletons were so fragile rings fell off
fingers and the contents of the pockets could have fallen through to
the body below as the material holding them decomposed.

He'd had no wallet, watch, keys, cell phone or MP3
player. Then again, most bodies had been stripped of anything useful.
She'd seen that on her first visit. Pillaging had been rampant.

Straightening, she reached for her checklist and marked
off the last few items. Everything would help family members when they
were trying to recall identifying marks and characteristics of loved
ones.

As she slowly packed the remains back into the black
bag, she carefully checked the bones for other breaks or marks she might
have missed the first time and added those to the chart. Once everything
was back in the bag lying on the cart, she rolled it over to the door
for safe keeping until someone else came to help move it to the reefer.

In this way, she could operate on her own for a long
time.

She had a second bag ready and waiting on the other
side of her table. After opening the bag wide, she pulled the ends of
it down over the stretcher sides and started laying out the bones of
a small girl on her table. She grabbed a new numbered checklist and
wrote that same number in white permanent marker at the top of the body
bag.

And started anew.

It wasn't just a slow job. She'd also call it a careful
one, particularly when she could be looking at one of the three people
destined to return to Seattle. A child's skeleton lay in front of her,
the bone clean and bare.

She quickly determined the child was female and the
skeleton was relatively complete. She'd been wearing a sundress in a
red to orange color. Jade grabbed a magnifying glass and used it to
identify stars on the material. She made a notation of it, added a quick
sketch to her page before beginning the slow job of cataloguing the
details of the child. Her left leg was broken, most likely as a result
of the earthquake, and her skull showed a small fracture on the left
side. Jade spent the next hour learning every detail she could from
the small skeleton. There was a piece of plastic between the largest
toes on the one right foot and not on the other. The best deduction
based on the bright blue color was the child had been wearing flip-flops
at the time of her death. Testing for details wasn't an issue on this
job. No money. No time. No need.

Footsteps approaching the open door were followed
by Meg's cheerful voice. "Hey, how's the work going?"

Jade smiled at her. "It's moving. Not too quickly;
I'm trying to be really thorough so I won't have to do this twice."

"I hear you there. The smell isn't too bad in
here." Meg dropped her purse over by Jade's on the corner of the
counter. Her light sweater was dumped on top. "Have you done the
dental impression?"

"Nope." Jade looked down at the body on
her table. "That's next."

Scooping up gloves on her way, Meg walked toward her,
her work boots clumping on the thin floor. "Right. Then I'll work
on the DNA while you do that. Is the rest done on this one?"

"No." Jade reached for the silicone then
walked over and made the dental impression. "I'm not sure why we're
doing dental. How many of the kids here would have been to dentists?"

"Lots of them. Especially our girl. She had X-rays
done when she visited her grandpa last time. They'll be used to confirm
identity."

"Makes sense." The two women worked together
until each finished the job at hand.

Jade grabbed her checklist for the little girl and
marked off the completed steps. "Okay, she's done too." Writing
out a toe tag, she attached it with an elastic band around the bottom
of the small tibia and zipped the bag closed. She'd deliberately placed
the bones at the top end of the bag and rolled the excess plastic up
at the bottom. Working with bags was different than with boxes. When
she could, she laid out the remains properly and folded the spare plastic
under. It felt better to her. More respectful. Plus this allowed for
immediate visual confirmation of a child.

Not everyone's system…but this worked for her.

Meg gestured to the body bag. "Not using toes?"

Grabbing the cart, Jade pushed the stretcher toward
the door. "Not on the kids, too small. Leg bones are easier."

Meg walked behind her. "Let's move her first."

Lifting gently, they transferred the two sets of processed
remains to the reefer truck. Inside the truck, they shifted the little
girl first. Jade had added a simple system to let them know, without
opening bags or searching for charts, that this was a female child.
They were going to try and keep females on one side and males on the
other, with children separated off as much as they could – given
they didn't know how the population would break down into each demographic
until they were done. Lifting the second body bag, they placed it on
the male side of the refrigerator truck.

Like everything here, their system had to be flexible.
The conditions were rough and they didn't have the amenities they'd
like to have. As Jade checked her marking system to make sure it conformed,
she asked Meg, "How are the men doing?"

"Dr. Mike is ranting that he needs to get into
the labs but he's been busy securing more equipment for us. Bruce and
Susan have been in town all day, and Stephan and Wilson were at the
site, shoveling to remove more of the top layer."

"Good. Stephen's going to be doing the database
too, isn't he?" Jade was quite good with databases. In fact, she
half expected those skills to be called into service soon.

Meg frowned, brushing a hand through her curls. "Hmmm."
She rearranged the body bags until she was happy with them. "Are
you ready? We can take one back now, if you want."

Jade looked at her watch. "When, what and how
are we getting lunch today?"

"I think there were supposed to be bagged lunches
here. If there isn't any food, I can bring something back for you when
I run the morning's samples to the refrigerator Bruce had delivered
to the hotel.

They checked but couldn't find anything edible on
site. Once Jade realized it would be at least an hour before she could
eat, she suggested, "Let's move another body bag into the lab.
I'll keep working until you come back to feed me." She patted her
tummy, a big grin on her face.

Meg shook her head. "You and your stomach."

Jade's flashed her big grin again. "Hey, I lost
a ton of weight when I was here last time. I can't afford to lose any
more."

"I'll say. You're too thin now. Are you sure
you don't have worms?"

The discussion degenerated from there as they laughed
and teased each other. But they transferred another bag onto Jade's
table using the portable stretchers. Right now, it looked like the reefer
truck system might work out fine.

Stephen and Wilson had taken over looking after the
reefer trucks – with a maintenance guy at the end of the phone
should they have trouble. There was a backup generator large enough
to handle any issues, should a problem arise. On top of their temperature
concerns, condensation was becoming a problem.

As she walked out, Jade checked the temperature gauge
outside the reefer truck. It was normal. Good thing, considering the
daytime temperature of Haiti. She frowned. "Have to make sure we
keep an eye on the temperature."

Meg stepped over. "True. But it's fine now."