Fatal Consequences by Marie Force Read Free Book Online Page A

Gonzo said.
    “The lady wants her baby back,” a deep voice said from the foyer.
    Gonzo glanced over to find a giant of a man glaring at him. He had a red bandana tied around his long hair and tattoos on his neck and arms.
    “Take it easy, Rex,” Lori said. “He’s a cop.”
    “Doesn’t give him the right to hold onto your kid when you want him back.”
    “He’s my kid too,” Gonzo said, using his best cop glare on the guy.
    Rex’s eyes widened with surprise. “That so?”
    Lori nodded.
    Rex glowered at her.
    “You really need to go now,” she said to Gonzo. This time when she reached for the baby he let her take him.
    “I’ll go,” Gonzo said. “But I’ll be back. Soon.” With one last look at his son, Gonzo ushered Christina out the front door. Once they were outside, he took a deep gulping breath of fresh air. The stench of cigarette smoke clung to their coats. “She hasn’t even given him a name,” he said, filled with despair.
    Christina pulled her cell phone from her coat pocket.
    “Who are you calling?” Gonzo asked.
    “Nick’s lawyer friend Andy. He specializes in family law.”
    “I should probably check with Sam. She might not appreciate me calling on a friend of Nick’s without asking her first.”
    “I’m sure Sam would want you to do everything you could to take care of your son.”
    He hoped Christina was right. “How could she not even care enough about him to give him a name?”
    Christina squeezed his arm. “Don’t worry. We’re going to take care of him, okay?”
    Gonzo nodded. His entire world had been turned upside down by one tiny dimpled chin, and he was grateful for her cool competence.
     
    “Give me something, give me anything,” Sam said to Dr. McNamara. Regina Argueta de Castro lay on the table under the glare of fluorescent lights.
    “Twelve weeks pregnant,” Lindsey said.
    “Well, that’s interesting. How soon until you know if the fetus’s DNA matches Senator Lightfeather’s?”
    “A couple of days. I’m running it now.”
    “Anything else?”
    “I got a partial print off the bruises on her buttocks. I ran it through AFIS,” she said, referring to the Automated Fingerprint Identification System. “But no hits. Also, I found semen from two different men in her vagina.”
    “Of course there were two,” Sam said, frustrated that her slam-dunk case against Senator Lightfeather seemed to be falling apart. “Let me know what the DNA shows.”
    “Will do. So how’re the wedding plans coming?”
    “Fine. I guess.” Her stomach clenched when she thought of the wedding she’d agreed to in six short weeks.
    “A proposal in the White House Rose Garden.” Lindsey sighed. “So romantic.”
    “He does have his moments,” Sam conceded. “Get me some info, Doc.”
    “I’m on it.”
    Sam left the morgue and headed for the pit where she found Freddie popping pills. “Are you hungover too?”
    He startled and looked up at her, a guilty expression marking his handsome face. “What? No. Are you?”
    “Not me. Gonzo. Called in sick today.”
    “He wasn’t drinking that much because he had to work today.”
    “So what’s your excuse?”
    “I have a headache, if you must know. And it’s not from drinking. I didn’t sleep very well.”
    “Spare me the gories.” Sam was surprised when he didn’t fire back with the usual retort. “What’s the matter?”
    “Nothing.” He reached for some papers on his desk. “I’ve got McBride’s report from last night. She spoke with several security people at the Capitol who reported seeing Senator Lightfeather there yesterday afternoon into the early evening. One of them reported seeing him leaving around six, and he seemed to be in a rush.”
    Just as he’d said, Sam thought. “We’ve got a DNA match to his semen, but there was a second guy. Lindsey’s running it.”
    “McBride reported that they ‘interrogated the lock’ on his office door and his key card swipes matched up with his