Compulsion (Max Revere Novels Book 2) by Allison Brennan Read Free Book Online Page A

even if someone had killed them and destroyed their bodies with sodium hydroxide, why leave only one empty container? Where did they do it? Why? They weren’t poor or rich. They had some credit cards and maybe five hundred in cash on them. Their cards haven’t been used since they disappeared. I only ran the numbers on the container because Max got into my head and I could practically hear her telling me to do it.” She stared at her cup. David recognized the expression.
    “You think it’s suspicious.”
    “Damn straight I do. I had forensics analyze the container to see if there was anything else odd, and they came back with bleach residue. No prints. Someone wiped it down with bleach? Why on earth would they do that except that they didn’t want their prints on it. So, it may have something to do with the Palazzolos’ disappearance.”
    She looked him in the eye, her expression determined. “I’m a good cop, Kane. I know when something is wrong, and this is wrong. And if I thought for one second that Bachman was involved, I would be all over his case. But it doesn’t fit, and nothing Max Revere says or does can force a square peg into a round hole. Even if the lye was involved in their disappearance or murder, that doesn’t mean Bachman was involved. He didn’t use lye on any of his other victims, and I went through each case—no containers or even a hint of the chemical was found at any of the crime scenes.”
    “I have a favor to ask.”
    She closed her eyes and sighed. “Of course you do.”
    “Take me to where you found the container.”
    “I have work to do, Mr. Kane.”
    “Then tell me where you found it and I’ll go on my own.” He smiled at her. He liked O’Hara, and he could see why Max liked her, too.
    “Shit.” She glared at him. “Fine, I’ll do it.”
    “May I look at the file?”
    “Don’t push it.” She got up and walked out. He followed.
    He’d get a look at the file before they were done.

 
     
    Chapter Four
     
    Max had a terrific seat in the courtroom with a great view of the jury box and prosecution in particular. She was on the defendant’s side of the room, but from her angle next to the center aisle, she also had a good look at Bachman’s profile, especially when his attention was on the jury or a witness.
    Charlene’s cocounsel was a doofus named Roger Hayes. He was older than Charlene and thought he should always be first chair, but in one of Richard’s more relaxed moods when he and Max had gone to a charity event together (as friends, but Page Six made more of it than it was), he’d told her how Roger was a screwup. Out of respect for the D.A., Max had never printed anything he’d said, but she itched to see Roger Hayes screw up firsthand so she could shine a light on his incompetence.
    The opening statements were standard fare—the prosecution outlined what they were going to prove, using lots of adjectives like “evil” and “cunning” and “premeditated” and “brutal.” Max ignored most of those because they didn’t tell her anything about their actual case. It was when Charlene explained to the jury how the victims died that Max’s ears perked up. Most of the specific details had been kept from the press during the investigation, and she’d only heard bits and pieces.
    “The state will prove that Mr. Bachman not only suffocated his victims with a clear plastic bag, but we’ll prove that first he tortured them for more than twenty-four hours.”
    Now that was news. No one had leaked anything about torture.
    Charlene continued. “The coroner will testify that each victim was suffocated to the point of losing consciousness, then brought back from the brink of death only to be suffocated again. The evidence will prove that the victims fought against their restraints to the point of cutting their wrists and ankles raw from the rope Mr. Bachman used to restrain them. And we will prove that Mr. Bachman, after torturing and killing each victim,