Kiss of Death by P.D. Martin Read Free Book Online

you.”
    Once Taylor’s gone, Sloan and I start snooping.
    Sherry’s bedroom is covered in posters, with one wall dedicated to photos of Sherry and her friends and family. The room looks busy and lived-in, but still tidy.
    Sloan studies the posters and photos. “Nothing Goth-looking.”
    â€œNo.” I move over to Sherry’s desk. “We should get some computer techs onto this.” I glance at Sherry’s laptop, which is plugged in but switched off.
    â€œI’ll log a request this afternoon.”
    A glance at the bookshelf reveals that Sherry is into mostly fantasy and sci-fi, but there are also a couple of paranormal titles on the shelves. A closer look reveals two books set in the vampire world.
    â€œCheck this out.” I hand Sloan a copy of Kerri Arthur’s Full Moon Rising . “Maybe Sherry was secretly part of the Goth world.”
    Sloan reads the back of the book. “Doesn’t mean a thing, Anderson. Vampire fiction is in. And Sesame Street, remember? You said it yourself.”
    Sloan’s right, but it’s still interesting that we found something from the vampire world in Sherry’s room. I make a move for her wardrobe. If Sherry was involvedin the scene, she’d have to keep her clothes somewhere. I flick through the hangers, but find nothing except top-line designer clothes of the commercial variety. “Nothing in here.”
    Sloan pulls out the second-last drawer of Sherry’s chest of drawers. “I haven’t found anything yet, either.”
    I look around the room, soaking it in, while Sloan finishes going through the drawers.
    â€œNope.” She closes the bottom drawer. “Nothing unusual, and no Goth, either.”
    I sigh. “And nothing else that gives us an idea of how Sherry might have wound up at Temescal Gateway Park last night.”
    â€œNo.” Sloan leans on the chest of drawers for a moment, also looking around. After a few seconds she says, “Guess we’re done here, at least for the moment.”
    â€œYeah. Do you mind if I soak up the atmosphere for another couple of minutes? I’ll join you in a sec.”
    â€œYou gonna get into her head?” Sloan gives me a slightly teasing smile.
    â€œSomething like that.”
    â€œGood luck.” She moves toward the door. “I’ll let the Taylors know not to touch Sherry’s laptop and that someone will come by in the next day or two to pick it up.”
    I nod. “Thanks.”
    Profilers always try to walk in the victim’s and killer’s shoes, but obviously for me I want time alone to try to induce a vision. I had my first experience of seeing something that was about to happen when I was eight, but then this ability of mine went underground…until I was working the D.C. Slasher case nearly two years ago. Since then it’s been a bumpy road, fueled first by my own denial and then my acceptance. I can nearly always induce something, but the usefulness of what I see is often questionable. Like Sherry sneaking home one night—every youngwoman’s done that. Still, I always use my gift on a case and sometimes it does help.
    Sitting on Sherry’s bed and staring at the collage of photos on her wall, I’m conscious that I don’t want to be long, but I try to push that sense of hurriedness away. Instead I take long and deep breaths, close my eyes and concentrate on relaxing.
    I’m tired and my vision is blurred. People gather around me, but I can’t make out any faces…everything is so hazy. There’s a voice, a deep voice, but I can no longer focus on the words.
    The vision is brief, but the sense of wooziness makes me wonder if Sherry was drugged. The routine tox screen will answer that question. However, there was nothing in the vision that indicates time. While it may be related to her murder or the unaccounted hours prior, it could also be something entirely different. Maybe she took